"To you all, from us all, for having the guts to try"

[Renegade One]

Just saw the movie "Argo" today with my wife. I recommend it to ALL of you, especially those of you/us old enough to perhaps remember the American anger, frustration, and "agony of defeat" attendant to the US Embassy hostage crisis of 1979-1981. As with most motion pictures "based on a true story"...don't get up and leave at the end. The "credits portion" of the movie contains much "good stuff" about the real people involved in that particular EXFIL of Americans from Iran, including a pretty nice "voice over" from President Carter about why credit had to reside with the Canadian Government at the time, and some great "side-by-side" photos of the real folks and their movie personna. Pretty damned good casting.​

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My only complaint: To the average/younger movie-going crowd of today, the film implies that all things in those 444 days ended peacefully and without loss of life. Not quite true. ​

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I kept looking for at least a "readable" salute to the eight gallant American airmen and Marines who lost their lives at "Desert One" during the failed military hostage rescue attempt of April, 1980, known to us as "Operation EAGLE CLAW". I think that not doing that diminished telling "the full story", or at least colored it askew.​

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So in my own way...a salute. I recall that after the survivors of "Desert One" recovered back to their staging base at Masirah, two British Airmen quietly delivered two cases of beer with the words "To you all, from us all, for having the guts to try" scribbled across the cardboard lid of one of the cases. ​

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So...lest we forget: The five American airmen who died that night were Major Richard L. Bakke, Major Harold L Lewis Jr., TSgt Joel C. Mayo, Major Lyn D. McIntosh, and Captain Charles T. McMillan. The three Marine casualties were Sgt John D. Harvey, Cpl George N. Holmes Jr., and SSgt Dewey L Johnson. "Aim High" and "Semper Fi". ​

 

[hscs]

Well spoken. Mark Bowden's book, "Guest of the Ayatollah" is also an excellent account.

 

[zipmartin]

Having been aboard the Nimitz and watching the helos that night, leaving on their way to the desert rendezvous, I can attest to the feelings first of elation that we were finally doing something, and then finding out later that things had gone horribly wrong, the punch in the gut feeling and the great let down. I later served with one of the hostages, CAPT Don Sharer, when he was the CO of NAS Dallas. Thanks for the recommendation, R-1.

 

[HeloBubba]

Read the book "The Guts to Try" by Colonel Kyle, I thought it was a well done first-hand account of the entire rescue operation.

 

[Phantom309]

Well said Renengade "Aim High" and "Semper Fi"....I caught the tail end on one of the thousand "ography" channels I get, I wished I had seen it all. Awesome mission carried out by awesome agents. One of the things they made mention of though that CIA operated out of an office called "Studio six" (I think) but anywho, while running hostage rescue missions from there. The CIA and studio six were actually pitched a few movies from Hollywood.

 

[flaps]

i was a tomcat instructor rio there from '75-79. worked with hot dog brown. he highly recommended it. will see it soon.

 

[Catmando]

i was a tomcat instructor rio there from '75-79. worked with hot dog brown. he highly recommended it. will see it soon.

Saw Argo yesterday, and would definitely recommend seeing it.

Also I found Hot Dog's comments on another forum about his memories of the Tehran Embassy and surrounding environs very interesting.

My short visit to the embassy there was most interesting and enjoyable. But that was not long before the fall of the Shah. How quickly some things can change!

 

[Renegade One]

Read the book "The Guts to Try" by Colonel Kyle, I thought it was a well done first-hand account of the entire rescue operation.

Read it long ago...just re-ordered another copy to do it again. I went through Armed Forces Staff College in 1994 with an AF O-6 who flew C-130s on that mission. Not nice that I can't remember his name.

 

[Renegade One]

i was a tomcat instructor rio there from '75-79. worked with hot dog brown. he highly recommended it. will see it soon.

If I don't know you personally, I surely knew a bunch of your compatriots: "Indian", "Boose-Man", "Hot Dog"...etc. Another gallant Naval Officer..who shall remain unnamed...I think he may have been at the Embassy or some other "echelon" above your unit, actually went on "Eagle Pull" as a Farsi-speaking truck driver. He was a "volunteer" Navy O-6 at the time of the attempt...and obviously never got beyond "Desert One". He and I served together at AIRPAC some years later...in the 86-87 timeframe. He remains a hero...earned MANY times over...having flown with the "Black Ponies" of VAL-4 in Vietnam...and much, much else. But that's a whole 'bother story.

 

[Renegade One]

One of the things they made mention of though that CIA operated out of an office called "Studio six" (I think) but anywho, while running hostage rescue missions from there. The CIA and studio six were actually pitched a few movies from Hollywood.

No spoiler alerts here...but, yeah...need to go see the movie. "Studio SIX" name was a head-nod to the six hostages who were the object of the exercise.

 

[flaps]

If I don't know you personally, I surely knew a bunch of your compatriots: "Indian", "Boose-Man", "Hot Dog"...etc. ]

lemme see, in addition to hot dog we had joe travethan, will baouk, smoke watts, vince lesh from the navy.. grumman guys included dale barkman, mule holmberg, cosmo sallabello, joe becker, gary ferguson, tom pavlock and cash calaway, skip mienhold several other namse have evaporated among my dead brain cells.

 

[Renegade One]

Color me friend/squadron mate of 4 of them...on immediate recall.

 

[robav8r]

i was a tomcat instructor rio there from '75-79. worked with hot dog brown. he highly recommended it. will see it soon.

Amazing pic !!!!

 

[flaps]

thanks... minolta srt 101 as i recall.

 

[BigIron]

Amazing pic !!!!

I wonder if these birds are still flying...