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The Most American Thing That Can Ever Happen... Just Happened

July 4, 2016

On July 2, Army veteran Jason Galvin spent over an hour unleashing rounds from his rifle into tree branches to rescue a helpless, dangling bald eagle.

Galvin said he was on a bait run when he spotted the eagle dangling from a rope attached to the tree. He estimated the bird was hanging about 75 feet off the ground.

The eagle has been entangled in the rope for two days. Neighbors called the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources but were told there was nothing the agencies could do because of how high the eagle was in the tree.

Galvin was not about to let the symbol of America die in that tree alone. He joked to his wife that he might have to "shoot the bird down" to which his wife responded "that's exactly what you're going to do," according to Kare 11.

Galvin then spent 90 minutes taking roughly 150 shots from his rifle "while mowing down three branches, and finally the rope, holding up the eagle."

Thankfully, the underbrush below the tree helped break the eagle's fall. It was a chance worth taking considering the bird was most likely going to die anyway.

The Minnesota DNR placed the bird in a kennel and took it to a rehabilitation center.

"It rode in the front seat with me and the whole time his head was up and he was alert," Minnesota DNR conservation officer, Phil Mohs said. "It looked good considering it had been hanging there for two days."

The bird was taken to University of Minnesota Raptor Center to recover, but not before Galvin was able to give the bird an appropriate name: Freedom.

A veterinarian said Freedom was eating and drinking, while its long-term prognosis was still being assessed.

Galvin told Kare 11 that "it was a good weekend for it to happen. Fourth of July, you know, that's our bird. I can't let it sit there."

(h/t) daily mail