Previously Held NEC BM-0000-Boatswain's Mate
FT-0000-Fire Control Technician
FT-1113-Tartar WDS MK4 Technician
FC-1143-AEGIS Fire Control System MK99/Operational Test System MK1 Tech
FC-9585-Navy Recruiter Canvasser
Description The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic standoff between Iran and the United States. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981 after a group of Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. It stands as the longest hostage crisis in recorded history.
The crisis was described by the Western media as an “entanglement” of “vengeance and mutual incomprehension.” President Jimmy Carter called the hostages “victims of terrorism and anarchy” and said, “The United States will not yield to blackmail.” In Iran, it was widely seen as a blow against the United States and its influence in Iran, including its perceived attempts to undermine the Iranian Revolution and its longstanding support of the recently overthrown Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had led an autocratic regime.
After his overthrow in 1979, the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was purportedly admitted to the United States for cancer treatment. Iran demanded that he be returned to stand trial for crimes he was accused of committing during his reign. Specifically, Pahlavi was accused of committing crimes against Iranian citizens with the help of his secret police, the SAVAK. Iranians saw the decision to grant him asylum as American complicity in those atrocities. The Americans saw the hostage-taking as an egregious violation of the principles of international law, which granted diplomats immunity from arrest and made diplomatic compounds inviolable.
The crisis reached a climax when, after failed efforts to negotiate the hostages’ release, the United States military attempted a rescue operation using ships, including the USS Nimitz and USS Coral Sea, that were patrolling the waters near Iran. On April 24, 1980, the attempt, known as Operation Eagle Claw, failed, resulting in the deaths of eight American servicemen and one Iranian civilian, as well as the destruction of two aircraft.
Shah Pahlavi left the United States in December 1979 and was ultimately granted asylum in Egypt, where he died from complications of cancer on July 27, 1980. In September 1980, the Iraqi military invaded Iran, beginning the Iran–Iraq War. These events led the Iranian government to enter negotiations with the U.S., with Algeria acting as a mediator. The hostages were formally released into United States custody the day after the signing of the Algiers Accords, just minutes after the new American president, Ronald Reagan, was sworn into office.
The crisis is considered a pivotal episode in the history of Iran–United States relations. Political analysts cite it as a major factor in the trajectory of Jimmy Carter’s presidency and his loss in the 1980 presidential election. In Iran, the crisis strengthened the prestige of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the political power of theocrats who opposed any normalization of relations with the West. The crisis also led to the United States’ economic sanctions against Iran, further weakening ties between the two countries.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1979
To Month/Year
December / 1981
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember SN Ditto
Memories USS PROTEUS AS-19, temporary home port Long Beach, California. Reported in the summer of 1979 as a BMSN. Reported to 2nd Division, Deck Department. Sent TAD to Fire Watch Division. Then reported back to 2nd Division. Went on Sea Trials, ending in a lost anchor, extensive damage to Forcastle, to include anchor chain taking out a Fire Station.
Informed that I picked up / made BM3 1st. Increment in the fall. In December; I dropped my request for early discharge / separation, rather than re-enlisting on that ship. There was no love loss. I knew that I would not be able to keep my crow working for the people that I did.
I sewed on BM3 in the mandatory reserves.
