“It’s just a miracle.”

Those were the words U.S. Rep. August Pfluger used when asked his thoughts on the odds-defying rescue of two downed Air Force crewmen in Iran in early April. The two ejected from their F-15E Strike Eagle on April 3 after the jet was hit by an Iranian missile.

Pfluger, a former F-22 Air Force pilot who logged more than 300 combat hours, spoke with KOXE Radio after the conclusion of the Memorial Day observance Monday at the Central Texas Veterans Memorial.

American forces rescued the front-seater shortly after the shoot-down early on the morning of Good Friday. The back-seater was extracted around midnight Easter Sunday following a massive rescue operation.

“It was a very difficult weekend, because you have one that’s rescued and one that’s not, and of course you think the worse,” Pluger said. “But I remember being interviewed on TV on that Friday, and I said something to the effect of, this individual is well-trained and the rescue forces are well-trained and they’re ready for this moment, and we never leave anyone behind. And we didn’t.”

“They rescued this guy, and it’s just a miracle,” Pfluger said. “And it happens on Easter Sunday. You can’t help but draw the parallels here between Friday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I think that’s very, very representative of our country and what we’ve been through in the last 250 years.”

In addition to piloting the F-22 Raptor while serving in the Air Force, Pfluger also flew the single-seat F-15 C, a different version of the two-seat F-15E that went down in Iran.

Regarding the current situation with Iran, Pfluger said, “we’re hoping for a deal, and I know the president is working on it. It’s the top thing on his mind. The president took a very difficult position to take, but he put his foot down for all of humanity, for the eight billion people that live in this world. He said a terror regime will not have a nuclear weapon. And I know that it’s unpopular throughout our country in places.

“I support him. I know it’s unpopular throughout the world, but he had to do this very, very courageous act. When we think about Memorial Day, there’s a sacrifice that is worth making sure that these horrible regimes don’t get weapons of mass destruction. Of course, we want it to end. We want the strait to open back up. We want the world to continue to function. But even above and beyond that, we want this regime to not have a nuclear weapon.

Pfluger was asked what the experience of speaking on Memorial Day meant to him.

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“Dr. (Steve) Kelly, Mr. (Robert) Porter, so many people have been telling me about this incredible ceremony, and I don’t think there’s a more heartfelt and well-attended ceremony anywhere in Texas that means so much to the community,” Pfluger said.

“You can see by all of the memorial plaques here and the services that are represented, it just means the world to me as a veteran. But knowing how many people in this community knew people who gave the ultimate sacrifice, and that’s why we have such a great community and great country, is because of that ultimate sacrifice.”