Army veteran Jason Galvin was joking when he told his wife he could use his rifle to save a young bald eagle trapped in a tree.

But his wife said that with the authorities having given up on the bird, already trapped 70ft up for the last two days, he and his .22 rifle were the eagle’s only real chance of survival.

Ninety minutes, and 150 bullets later, the rope entangling the bird had been shot away, and the eagle fell towards the ground where it was caught in the undergrowth and passed over to experts. Now the eagle, which naturally enough has been named Freedom, is on its way to a full recovery and Mr Galvin is being lauded as a July 4th hero.

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“I was on the way to the bait shop when I saw the bird caught in the tree,” Mr Galvin, who completed two tours in Afghanistan, told The Independent.

“When I got home and told my wife, she starting calling everyone - the police, the wildlife authorities, the sheriff’s office.”

His wife, Jackie, said she was told that there was nothing anyone could do and that they were preparing to write off the bird. She told him that, he should do his best to save it.

Mr Galvin, from Rush City, Minnesota, said he shot slowly and carefully, not wanting to hurt the US national bird, which is protected by federal law. “I would not have done it, if I did not think I was capable of doing it,” he said.

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Phil Mohs, a conservation officer from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, arrived on the scene and gave Mr Galvin permission to start shooting, reasoning the eagle would probably end up dying anyway.

“He told me he was a veteran in the service and he wouldn’t do it if he couldn’t do it safely,” Mr Mohs told KARE TV.

Once the bird was shot free, Mr Mohs wrapped it in a blanket and transferred to the Raptor Centre at the University of Minnesota.

Mr Galvin’s mother, Mary Ann Galvin, witnessed the entire incident last Thursday and praised her son’s accuracy. “He’s a good boy. I raised him well,” she said.