US Pilot Scott O'Grady's Marian Apparition when shotdown over Bosnia in 1995

I am indebted to author Steve Brady for permission to use an excerpt from an article titled The Medjugorje Marian Apparitions
This is copyright and may not be used without his permission. The full article is compulsive reading.

On June 2, 1995 American pilot, Scott O'Grady was patrolling a no-fly zone in his F-16. He was shot down by a Bosnian Serb Army SA-6 surface-to-air missile near Mrkonjic Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina. O'Grady ejected safely and survived for a full six days, eating leaves, grass and ants, and avoiding Serb patrols all while trying to contact NATO's airborne command center. He managed to evade capture and the U.S. Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit rescued him on June 8, 1995.

This story, compelling as it is, has a spiritual dimension. According to Scott O'Grady himself, he experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary while praying for rescue.
"On the third day of my hiding out, thinking about how survival is first of all a spiritual test, I experienced something amazing and unrepeatable. All of a sudden, in the stillness of my hiding place, I remembered the accounts of my mother's friend who, before the war broke out in Bosnia, had visited Medjugorje," O'Grady explained.

He continued, "That afternoon I turned to Our Lady in prayer. Immediately I felt her presence. It became more and more clear and palpable right up to the moment that I saw her. It is hard to describe in words. The vision came through the strength of my feelings, and that feeling was indescribably warm, full of bliss and peace. Someone existed that prayed and kept watch over my return home. That vision was the most important thing that happened to me in Bosnia. It gave me the courage to hold out in the most difficult moments.....