'Lone Survivor' rescue hero retires
U.S. Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Jeff “Spanky” Peterson salutes Col. Matthew Burger upon the presentation of his Meritorious Service Medal during his retirement ceremony after 25 years of service at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Feb. 19. Spanky was a career HH-60 helicopter pilot assigned to the 305th Rescue Squadron here and was part of the Afghanistan rescue mission made famous by Mark Wahlberg in the movie “Lone Survivor.” During that 2005 mission, he ex-filtrated U.S. Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, who survived a four-man firefight against 200 Taliban. (U.S. Air Force photo by Carolyn Herrick)