GOP Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) joined War Secretary Pete Hegseth and fellow Republican Lone Star State Sen. John Cornyn to visit with three of the soldiers who were hurt in Operation Absolute Resolve, the stunning raid carried out in the wee hours of January 3^rd to nab Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from his compound and whisk him back to the U.S. to face justice. Although U.S. soldiers dispatched dozens of Venezuelan soldiers and Cuban security forces, no Americans were killed.

On his podcast, "The Verdict With Ted Cruz," released Friday, the senator reported that the servicemen were in good spirits and well on the mend. One thing they wanted to keep, though, he said, was reminders of how close they came to a much less happy ending:

During a discussion with the soldier, Cruz said Hegseth extended an offer for anything the soldier needed.

"[The soldier] said, ‘Well, actually, there is something you could do,' and Pete says ‘what?’" Cruz said. "[The soldier] says, 'I'd really like the bullet,' the bullet that went into his leg."

Hegseth quickly granted the request. Then a second soldier, whose arm was gashed down its entire length by flying debris, wanted a memento of his own:

"He had the exact same request," Cruz said. "He said, 'I'd really like the shrapnel.' They had the piece of metal that had cut his arm open, and again, the hospital said, 'We have it, but we're not allowed to give it to him without the waiver.'"

Hegseth also signed off on the second soldier's request, according to Cruz.

"Both of those, I assume that they're going to frame it or otherwise keep it as just a memento to the injury, the Purple Heart that they earned fighting for their country, but also being a part of profoundly impacting history," Cruz said.

On today’s episode of Verdict, we discuss our visit with soldiers injured during the raid on Maduro, my meeting with María Corina Machado, and my meetings with Sec. Hegseth and Elon Musk.

Don’t miss today’s episode of Verdict: https://t.co/e4tyrXZV3Z pic.twitter.com/sY1Viw28SS

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 16, 2026

We wrote about the first soldier before: despite being hit three times, he completed the mission:

HERO: What to Do If You're Shot 3X During Maduro Operation? If You're This Chinook Pilot, You Finish Mission

Cruz told the soldiers, who have not been identified, that they were heroes:

"With all three of the soldiers, I took an opportunity to tell them, ‘Look, you were part of history. You were part of history in a way, without exaggeration, that changed the entire Western hemisphere. What you did was profoundly important … and I took the chance on behalf of Texans and Americans just to say, ’Thank you. Thank you for your bravery.'"

On a funnier note, however, the Chinook pilot got into some humorous banter with Hegseth:

"Hegseth asked him, ‘How are you feeling?’ And he said, 'I'm ready to go again,'" Cruz said. "I said, ‘Great, can you do Saturday?’ And he said, ‘Well, can we hold off till Monday?’ So, that kind of gives you a sense of the spirit [the soldiers had]."

Proud to join @SecWar to thank our heroic wounded warriors from Operation Absolute Resolve. These brave service members and their families have sacrificed much for our nation.

Thank you to the team at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for their tireless work. May God… pic.twitter.com/R1QleTPtHi

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 12, 2026

May God continue to bless our troops.

Cruz also talked about his visit with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who, as we reported, gave her Nobel Prize to Trump on Thursday. Watch the entire episode here:

Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.

Help us report on Trump and Hegseth's successes as they make our military great again. Join RedState’s VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.