Bryan Stern and Grey Bull Rescue, his volunteer organization, have rescued 8,400 people in more than 40 countries.
Stern, a combat veteran of the Army and Navy who spent much of his military career in special operations, has been involved in 800 missions in four years, including the recent extraction of 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado from Venezuela to Oslo, Norway, so she could receive her award in person.
"Overwhelmingly, this is the hardest, most high profile, most delicate operation we've conducted," Stern told CNN this month.
"Because of her face, because of her signature, because the entire Venezuelan intelligence service, the entire Cuban intelligence service, parts of the Russian intelligence were all looking for her for months, and specifically this week, in particular, because of the Nobel Prize, [it] made this operation significantly more high risk than we've ever done before," he said.
Machado, a Venezuelan politician, activist, and prominent leader of the opposition to the administrations of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, has lived in hiding for 16 months due to persecution by the Venezuelan government.
Grey Bull Rescue is a nonprofit organization staffed by more than 80 former special ops and intelligence veterans. No one gets paid, and the organization doesn't take government money, according to the New York Post.
"We don't come home until they come home," Stern said. "If I've got to stay in [expletive] Haiti for a month to make that happen, I guess I'm staying in Haiti."
Stern started the nonprofit in 2021 during the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Since, they've rescued 8,400 people across more than 40 countries, carrying out 12 jailbreaks from Russia and five hostage rescues from the Gaza Strip, as well as hurricane evacuations and California wildfire missions.
Their clients range from millionaires to people with nothing to spare.
"Grey Bull is a true representation of America," Stern said. "I've got Black and white operatives; I've got men and women.
"I've got hairy, bald, fat, skinny. I've got guys with 'Hillary Clinton for president' bumper stickers and guys with MAGA tattoos.
"You name it, we got it."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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