The weapons system officer who was rescued after an F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran delivered a message over the radio after ejecting in which he praised God.

According to Axios, President Donald Trump noted that the officer said “Power be to God” after ejecting. Trump explained that the officer was a religious individual and that it made sense for him to issue this message. 

A defense official clarified that the exact phrase the officer used was “God is good.” The official added, “It was not completely clear early on, but we stuck with it and verified he was alive and not captured. And those who knew him said he is religious.”

The F-15 was shot down on Good Friday, leaving the pilot and the weapons service officer forced to eject. While the pilot was able to be quickly rescued, the crew member spent more than 24 hours in a mountainous region of Iran while wounded, waiting for special forces to rescue him. Roughly 200 special operations soldiers participated in the Easter morning rescue as “thousands of these savages were hunting him down,” said Trump. 

“Even the population was looking for him. They offered people a bonus if they captured him,” Trump explained. The president added that the Iranian military “got lucky” after shooting down the F-15 with a shoulder-fired missile. 

In a post on Sunday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reacted to the rescue operation with just a three-word message on X: “God is good.”