At a Thursday press conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s top general, Dan “Razin’” Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke of the emotional moment when American pilots returned home to their loved ones following the strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, recalling “flags flying and tears flowing.”

“When the crews went to work on Friday, they kissed their loved ones goodbye, not knowing when or if they would be home,” he stated. “Late on Saturday night, their families became aware of what was happening, and on Sunday, when those jets returned…their families were there. Flags flying and tears flowing.”

“I have chills, literally, talking about this,” he declared.

“The jets rejoined into a formation of four airplanes followed by a formation of three and came up overhead Whiteman (Air Force Base), proudly in a traffic pattern, pitching out to land, right over the base and landing to the incredible cheers of their families, who sacrifice and serve right alongside their family members. Like I said, there were a lot of flags and a lot of tears,” he said.

. @thejointstaff "Crews went to work on Friday; they kissed their loved ones goodbye, not knowing when or if they would be home.

Late on Saturday night, their families became aware of what was happening, and on Sunday, when those jets returned from Whiteman, their families were… pic.twitter.com/xcA79ecLFR

— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 26, 2025

Last Sunday, Caine detailed how the strike was conducted, stating:

At midnight Friday into Saturday morning a large B2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States. As part of a plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy, a deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.

The main strike package comprised of seven B2 Spirit bombers, each with two crewmembers, proceeded quietly to the East with minimal communications. Throughout the 18-hour flight into the target area. the aircraft completed multiple inflight refuelings. Once over land, the B2‘s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex tightly-timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done with minimal communication communications.

This type of integration is exactly what our joint force does better than anyone else in the world.

At approximately 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time last night and just prior to the strike package entering Iran, a U.S. submarine in the central command area of responsibility launched more than two dozen Tomahawk plane attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Esfahan. As the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace, the U.S. employed several deception tactics, including decoys, as the fourth and fifth generation aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface-to-air missile threats.

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