Nobody did Independence Day like this military veteran

You haven’t celebrated Independence Day until you’ve shot an eagle out of a tree to save its life.

And that’s exactly how Army veteran Jason Galvin celebrated over the holiday weekend. In an impressive feet, Galvin, who served two tours in Afghanistan, used his .22 rifle to fire 150 shots at a tree branch to free an eagle that had been caught in a rope and was hanging upside down 75 feet in the air for more than two days.

Out on a bait run near his lake dock and cabin in Rush City, Minnesota, Galvin noticed the suspended eagle on a back road. Calls to local authorities turned up a familiar refrain heard by Galvin’s wife and other concerned neighbors: there was nothing they could do with it being so high up.

Galvin eventually joked that he might just have to shoot it down and his wife said in a more serious tone, “Yup, that’s what you’re going to do.” And he did for 90 minutes.

According to KARE 11, Galvin got the go-ahead from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officer Phil Mohs to try and save the bird with his rifle. Mohs watched from a safe distance through binoculars as Galvin patiently aimed and fired between bursts of wind.

After several branches were shot off, Galvin eventually hit the rope, severing it from the tree and sending the bird tumbling to safety in the brush below. Mohs was there to cage the bird and take it to a rehabilitation center.

Galvin and his neighbors have named the young bald eagle “Freedom” and word is that the five-year-old bird is eating and drinking and is hoped to make a full recovery.

“There was a lot of tears,” Galvin said of his final shot. “When it finally came down, it was breathtaking. It was a beautiful moment.”

There’s a lot to be thankful about freedom in this story. The freedom to own and use a gun, freeing a nationally treasured bird that has long represented our freedom, and the freedom to do what’s right when your local government can’t. It’s all represented in Galvin’s amazing story.

Watch the local news report below:

H/T The Daily Mail

Image Source: Screenshot from above video.