Leaders praise Missouri B-2 bomber pilots steering ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’

Several leaders have praised Missouri’s B-2 stealth bomber pilots steering “Operation Midnight Hammer.” 

Whiteman Air Force Base’s B-2 stealth bomber pilots led Operation Midnight Hammer on Saturday to take out three key Iran sites that are said to have nuclear weapons. 

The mission was the first-ever operational use of bunker buster bombs. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he thinks the scope and scale of the strikes should “take the breath away of almost any American.”

“I think Tehran is certainly calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America, in Missouri, and we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities,” said Hegseth.

West-central Missouri Congressman Mark Alford, a Republican whose district includes the base, says the targeted strikes can cut the head off the snake without American boots on the ground. 

St. Louis Democratic Congressman Wesley Bell says he’s proud of the skill and bravery of the pilots but he is “extremely worried that the massive risk of escalation will further put our service members at risk.”