Yep, it was November 4th, 1979 that the U.S. embassy in Iran was stormed and they took Americans hostage and held them for 444 days, even through a failed rescue attempt.
Even though I was pretty young at the time, I remember that pretty clearly due to the fact that I had a newspaper route at the time. I remember seeing the headlines on the Des Moines Register the next morning when I picked up my paper and thought the nuclear weapons were going to fly and I would be dead within the week (to be fair, I was a pretty nuclear war obsessed child and had long accepted that the nukes were going to fly and I wouldn't make it through high school).
Of course today will be marked in Iran by some anti-American speeches (and I bet I wouldn't have to search hard for some anti-Iranian screeching today on the web from Americans).
30 years later there are signs of another potential shift in Iran as we saw with the dramatic protests against the disputed presidential election earlier this year.
Once again, I urge everyone to see the film Persopolis (now on DVD). Based on an animated novel, it tells the story of a young woman who grew up during the revolution. It's a little said that some of the better commentary I have seen on the Iranian revolution in the U.S. comes from a cartoon (says a lot about our political commentators to say the least!)
Just thought it was a worthy anniversary to mention today.
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4 comments:
Nice Job Hale. What a hard time that was for our country.
Damn, I missed my chance for 15 minutes of fame. I've been wanting to burn their flag for some time. Not because Imanutjob is crazy, just for the publicity. Hey, I'm honest about it at least. Maybe we could do it at the next get together. Too bad the flag store on Main street went out of biz. Anyone good at sewing?
I had to start work very early in the morning back then. I remember hearing about the failed rescue attempt on the car radio as I drove on the dark, empty streets.
Orbs, I remember the paper the day of the failed rescue as well. Even though I was only 11, I remember living this through the headlines of the papers I delivered.
NPR had a piece a few years ago on the failed rescue which was an amazing case of bad luck and rotten timing. They encountered a haboob for crying out loud (which became one of my favorite words).
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