BOLD RESCUE ATTEMPTS

OPERATION MAGIC CARPET

Operation Magic Carpet refers to the rescue of a community of Yemenite

Jews from oppression and destruction. From June 1949 to September

1950, about 49,000 Jews were transported to Israel by British and

American transport planes by making about 380 flights from Aden.

The operation was carried out in secrecy and it was not made public

until several months after it was over.

OPERATION EAGLE CLAW

The Operation Eagle Claw happened in 1979, when the Delta Force and

Army Rangers attempted to rescue 53 Americans who were captured and

held in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The Delta Force and Army Rangers

failed after their helicopters had been caught by an unforeseen sandstorm,

and a mid-air collision took place between one of their helicopters and

a plane.  The rescue was generally a failure, but it paved the way for

several changes in military operations in the U.S.

OPERATION PRIME CHANCE

The Operation Prime Chance was the ongoing Navy SEALs rescue,

Safeguard and protection of the U.S. oil tankers during the Iran-Iraq War.

Although this doesn’t describe a specific rescue mission in particular,

it was an effective deterrent and involved some of the most advanced

tracking and missile technology in the world.

THE RESCUE OF KURT MUSE

Operation Acid Gambit was the original plan to rescue Kurt Muse, an

American civilian who was arrested in Panama for his involvement in

the setting up of covert anti-Noriega radio transmissions in the country.

The plan did not materialize until Operation Just Cause entered the

scene in December 1989, when delta operators invaded the prison

cells through their roofs and retrieved Muse.

OPERATION GOTHIC SERPENT

What started out as a Somalian humanitarian effort quickly

escalated into a hostile situation in which 24 UN soldiers died.

The hostile ordeal resulted in the destruction of two MH-60 Black Hawk

helicopters, leaving its crew trapped inside a kill zone. In spite of the

fact that two Delta soldiers were killed and one more captured,

American soldiers where eventually rescued by an American,

Pakistani and Malaysian military convoy in what is considered one of

the most intensive close combat skirmishes since the Vietnam War.

OPERATION URGENT FURY

Operation Urgent Fury took place in 1983, when Delta Force attempted to

break into the  Grenadian prison to rescue all of its imprisoned political

figures. However, the Grenadian military thwarted the mission by firing at

the Delta Force helicopters forcing the Delta Force to abort the mission.

GRAN SASSO RAID

Gran Sasso Raid, more commonly known as the Operation Eliche,

was the rescue of Italian director Benito Mussolini during World War II.

Upon the orders of Adolf Hitler, the rescue was done on July 24 and

25, 1943 while Mussolini was being transported by his captors in Italy.

Troopers overwhelmed his captors, rescuing Mussolini and protecting

him until he was able to get on the aircraft and escape.

THE RESCUE OF JESSICA LYNCH

In 2003, the Joint Special Forces composed of the Marines, Army Rangers

and Navy SEALS rescued a 19-year old Private First Class named Jessica

Lynch who was captured as part of a convoy in March 2003. This became

one of the first major controversies of the Iraq War.