Army Sharp-Shooter Rescues Bald Eagle

Jason Galvin was at his family's cabin when he saw a bald eagle tangled in a piece of rope wrapped around a tree branch 70 feet off the ground.  So it was just dangling there.  It was too far up to rescue, and a wildlife official told him it had been there for almost three days.

Now... Jason is an Army veteran, he's done two tours in Afghanistan, and he's a pretty good shot.  His wife made him borrow a friend's rifle, and shoot through the almost 5 inch thick branch the eagle was tangled to. It only took 150 rounds from his buddies .22 caliber and about an hour and a half to snap the branch.

Here's the kicker. It was pretty windy, he had to shoot other branches out of the way just to get a clear shot.  None of the shots hit the bird, and the American Bald Eagle landed nicely in some brush. The raptor center at the University of Minnesota is planning to release it back into the wild after it recovers.

Apparently it's pretty young, hence... no white feathery head yet.

The bird got it's name that day.   "Freedom."

[Via: ABC News / KWWL]