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N0KFQ > TODAY 24.04.17 13:14l 50 Lines 2281 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 30392_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 24
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<LU4ECL<N0KFQ
Sent: 170424/1213Z 30392@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1980
Hostage rescue mission ends in disaster
On April 24, 1980, an ill-fated military operation to rescue the
52 American hostages held in Tehran ends with eight U.S.
servicemen dead and no hostages rescued.
With the Iran Hostage Crisis stretching into its sixth month and
all diplomatic appeals to the Iranian government ending in
failure, President Jimmy Carter ordered the military mission as a
last ditch attempt to save the hostages. During the operation,
three of eight helicopters failed, crippling the crucial airborne
plans. The mission was then canceled at the staging area in Iran,
but during the withdrawal one of the retreating helicopters
collided with one of six C-130 transport planes, killing eight
soldiers and injuring five. The next day, a somber Jimmy Carter
gave a press conference in which he took full responsibility for
the tragedy. The hostages were not released for another 270 days.
On November 4, 1979, the crisis began when militant Iranian
students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the
ousted shah of Iran to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment,
seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's
political and religious leader, took over the hostage situation
and agreed to release non-U.S. captives and female and minority
Americans, citing these groups as among the people oppressed by
the U.S. government. The remaining 52 captives remained at the
mercy of the Ayatollah for the next 14 months.
President Carter was unable to diplomatically resolve the crisis,
and the April 1980 hostage attempt ended in disaster. Three
months later, the former shah died of cancer in Egypt, but the
crisis continued. In November, Carter lost the presidential
election to Republican Ronald Reagan, and soon after, with the
assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful negotiations
began between the United States and Iran. On the day of Reagan's
inauguration, January 20, 1981, the United States freed almost $8
billion in frozen Iranian assets, and the 52 hostages were
released after 444 days. The next day, Jimmy Carter flew to West
Germany to greet the Americans on their way home.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Winlink: n0kfq@winlink.org
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