THIS DAY IN HISTORY – Iran hostage rescue mission ends in disaster – 1980

Via History.com

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.

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4 Comments
Iska Waran
Iska Waran
April 24, 2019 9:24 am

We also need to remember the good things of the Carter presidency – his being terrified of a rabbit and his brother Billy getting caught taking a leak outside during a parade.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran
April 24, 2019 9:28 am

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MrLiberty
MrLiberty
April 24, 2019 11:00 am

I can’t help but believe that these soldiers were simply sacrificed by the Deep State to insure that Carter would not get re-elected and that their puppet Ronnie, would. The evidence is clear that the hostages were certainly being used as pawns as part of the election shenanigans, so why not the soldiers too?

AB
AB
  MrLiberty
April 24, 2019 12:00 pm

Exactly, is there anyone here who thinks otherwise? Then you’re a FOOL!