I was on the air back in 1979 when the AP ticker clicked a “FLASH” story; “students” had seized the US Embassy in Iran.

For the next 444 days, the incident became a watershed in US society in so many ways.

Fifteen of the surviving hostages, and five survivors of the “Desert One” mission to try to rescue them, including a few of the charter members of “Delta” force, had a reunion over the weekend at West Point:

This reunion is not only about catching up with old friends, but also educating cadets who weren’t even born when the hostage crisis occurred. They are attending panel discussions about their experiences and Iran.

“We’re going to have people involved in a crisis in American history actually talk to the future leaders of our military about something that is very, very important,” said [former embassy press secretary Joe] ]Rosen.

In 1981, the hostages were flown to nearby Stewart Airport and driven in a caravan of busses to the military academy. Yellow ribbons and cheering crowds welcomed their return. Today, even in the snow covered hills, the feelings are just as warm.

The mayor of nearby Highland Falls NY had his townspeople put yellow ribbons in front of their houses, as well.

Temple University historian David Farber wrote a book on the hostage crisis called, “Taken Hostage” and says the crisis brought Americans together during a difficult time for the nation. Farber told Fox News, “This was a time of economic crisis. ” He says “that ironically in their debacle, in their frustrating experiences was a place where Americans could unify; Conservatives, Liberals, Democrats, Republicans… everyone was behind the dream of getting those hostages home safe.”

The group will meet local people at a wine and cheese party, attend the Army-Navy basketball game, and reflect on the meaning of their ordeal. They will also meet five survivors of the ill-fated rescue mission that resulted in the crash of helicopters that killed 8 U.S. servicemen.

The West Point Chief of Staff, Colonel Charles (Gus) Stafford, was one of the cadets who welcomed them home in 1981. He told Fox News that “to physically see those people here and know how happy they were and that they were and home and they were free, it just made your heart burst, it was wonderful.”

The reports noted that this is really the first time that the bulk of the former hostages, and their would-be rescuers, have been gathered together in all these years.  Given all that’s happened in the past thirty years – especially the past ten – it’s a crying shame.

For those who weren’t around back then, it’s impossible to overstate how important the Hostage Crisis actually was, even today:

• It changed the media; it gave Cable News Network, which launched months after the hostages were seized, a subject for the sort of instant, 24/7 coverage that we now live with, day in and day out.  ABC turned Ted Koppel’s nightly reports on the hostage crisis into the long-running “Nightline” , the Big Three’s first nod to the notion that the traditional news cycle was dead.
• It changed the military.  Desert One followed on the tails of several military debacles – Vietnam, the Mayaguez incident – that showed the US military had a very difficult time adjusting to wars that weren’t like World War 2.  The response launched a push for reforms that led to sweeping changes in the military and, in 1987, the civilian control of the military, with the Goldwater Nichols Act of 1987.
• It changed politics.  While conservatism had been creeping its slow way back to the fore of GOP politics for some years, the crisis – and the Desert One debacle – fatally undercut the Carter administration, which was clearly overmatched.  It helped sweep Ronald Reagan into office, which not only ended the crisis, but changed much of the world we live in today.

Reading about the reunion has been a fascinating blast from the past.

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Monday, January 24th, 2011 at 6:07 am and is filed under History And Its Making. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.