The “based on a true story” movie On Wings of Eagles was dramatic and exciting. It paled in comparison to the rescue our United States military accomplished on Easter Sunday.

In 1979, months before Iranian students seized the American Embassy, the CEO of EDS launched a private rescue mission to free two of his executives from an Iranian jail. Ross Perot’s mission became legendary. It was memorialized in a best-selling book and a less-accurate movie – both titled On Wings of Eagles.

Over Easter weekend, real life proved much more heroic, harrowing and honorable than Hollywood imagined.

After an American F-15 was shot down deep in Iranian territory, the Iranians saw a golden opportunity. Capturing the pilot or the weapons officer would be a PR and strategic coup. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – the driving force behind Iran’s internal and international terrorism – closed the province and rushed in military units. Local herdsmen, who carry rifles all the time, were offered a reward equal to 10 times their annual income to capture our personnel. In Hollywood terms, it was BAT-21 and Lone Survivor combined.

You know how the story ends. America mobilized incredible military and intelligence assets to locate and retrieve the injured weapons officer who had been evading capture for almost two days. (I imagine it will be a movie someday.) As an American, I am extremely proud. Not because we are the only force on earth that has the equipment and technology to pull off such a rescue, but because our warriors and our citizens so greatly value the men and women who volunteer to protect our country.

America is famously a capitalist country, but there is no cost-benefit analysis when it comes to rescuing an airman, sailor or soldier caught behind enemy lines. Without hesitation, their fellow warriors race into harm’s way. We saw how low the planes and helicopters flew when searching for a downed comrade. For a brief period, 98% of America put aside the partisan rancor focus on bringing our men home. (Sadly, some people are hopelessly consumed by partisanship, but that is their American right.)

Americans respect the ethos of our fighting men and woman. We should also remember the other beliefs and principles – liberty, equality, civic responsibility, morality – that set us apart from other nations and allow us to soar on wings of eagles.