Aborted Attempt To Rescue Iran Embassy Hostages
The US Monday honored eight American servicemen who died trying
to rescue American hostages in Iran 25 years ago.
A ceremony in Washington, on the 25th anniversary of the
ill-fated rescue attempt, brought together the families of those
killed, their comrades and those servicemembers who carry on the
special operations mission.
In November 1979 Iranian militants took 53 Americans in the US
Embassy in Tehran hostage. It was the most egregious violation of
the principles of diplomacy in the history of statecraft, L. Bruce
Laingen, the highest-ranking American taken hostage, said at
today’s ceremony.
On April 25, 1980, the rescue attempt, dubbed "Operation Eagle
Claw," came to a flaming end on the floor of the desert near
Tehran. Eight Americans -- five airmen and three Marines -- were
killed when the rotor of a helicopter sliced into the fuselage of a
C-130 transport aircraft.
The eight killed in the failed rescue attempt were:
- Air Force Maj. Richard L. Bakke
- Marine Sgt. John D. Harvey
- Marine Cpl. George N. Holmes Jr.
- Marine Staff Sgt. Dewey L. Johnson
- Air Force Maj. Harold L. Lewis
- Air Force Tech. Sgt. Joel C. Mayo
- Air Force Maj. Lyn D. McIntosh
- Air Force Capt. Charles T. McMillan II
Monday's ceremony, sponsored by the White House Commission on
Remembrance, also brought together 10 of the hostages. The hostages
were finally released by the Iranians after 444 days in
captivity.
There was sadness at the ceremony, but there was also admiration
for the courage the men showed and the knowledge that out of the
fires of Desert One -- as the site in Iran was known -- came the
impetus for a new, stronger, more integrated military and special
operations force.
Air Force Lt. Gen Norton Schwartz, director of the Joint Staff,
called the failure of the Iran hostage rescue mission a seminal
event in recent American military history. He said the mission was
"so important that the nation’s self-image, it's standing and
reputation in the world community, and the fate of a presidency
hung in the balance."
When the mission failed, media reports were full of
recriminations, and nations around the world called the United
States a toothless lion. "Yet at the same time, the memory of
Desert One propelled a generation, of which I am a part, to assure
that America would never again repeat that searing, transforming
experience of the 25th of April 1980," Schwartz said.
"Never again would we be so unprepared, so ill-equipped, so
entirely dependent on the skills, resourcefulness of our people,
who, despite shortcomings in force cohesion, equipment and external
support, lifted off into the darkness with only one mission
imperative: bring Americans home," he said.
Schwartz said the often-maligned heroes of that mission lifted
off from the deck of the USS Nimitz with the "conviction that
completing the mission served interests far larger than themselves,
at a moment in time when the nation's reputation and American lives
truly hung in the balance."
The general said that all Americans
share the grief of the families who lost loved ones that day. But
they died trying, Schwartz said. They kept the promise. "Because on
that murky night, when they faced America's adversary and their own
fears, your men did not submit," Schwartz told the families. "They
did not retire. They didn't then, and we, their successors -- in
large measure in their honor -- do not and will not now."
Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin was one of the would-be rescuers
that day. He said that accident "was the greatest disappointment of
my professional career because we didn't bring home 53
Americans."
Now principle deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence
and warfighter support in the Pentagon, Boykin also called the
mission one of the proudest moments of his career. He said all the
men in the rescue effort knew the risks. "None of us wanted to die;
none of us expected to die, but we knew the risk," Boykin said. "We
knew that we were up against an entire nation with a force of
barely 100 people."
Thomas O'Connell, assistant secretary of defense for special
operations and low-intensity combat, said the sacrifices of those
eight men were not in vain. Special operations forces have been in
the forefront of the fight against terrorism today.
"If you need inspiration in these tough days, give thanks for
those who risked and gave all on this mission, but also give thanks
for those who survived and made great strides for our national
security," O'Connell said.