European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 21, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The hostages families a myriad of changes captors showing blindfolded hostage to crowd at embassy in Tehran last by Peter Arnett associated press they swarmed across the High Walls of americas Tehran embassy and into International notoriety More than a year but the Youthful iranians who took americans hostage remain As obscure and unpredictable to the outside world As when they first burst onto the a concerned United states anxiously sought in formation on the shadowy militants who emerged from the chaos of the iranian revolution to invade he nearly 100 americans were captured but from the beginning of their unlawful Esca Pade that began the fanatical band of captors preferred to remain backstage and virtually in they stayed in the inner recesses of the Block sized their spokesmen appeared Only rarely for interviews with even the most senior iranian leaders such As president Abolhassan Banisadr claimed ignorance on the identities and backgrounds of the embassy and after the United states launched its aborted Rescue at tempt in the captors receded even deeper into one trait became apparent their they jealously held their burying them behind not Only the embassy Walls but also legions of grim Well armed iranian demonstrators who often gathered on the streets would look beyond the guards to the steel Gates festooned with ant american posters and into a courtyard decorated with pictures of religious beyond the courtyard were the buildings where the hostages were known to have been kept in the first few months of their Only a few visitors were Ever allowed and the captors even resisted major efforts by their own government to penetrate this Wall of secrecy and make direct Contact with the further protecting their secrecy was the Patron age of the Ayatollah Ruhollah supreme Leader of revolutionary the militants even called themselves the students following the path of the a reverential name accorded the religious they invoked his name to justify their every but Page 14 iranians who took Over embassy were mainly students in their the stars and stripes there was Little evidence to indicate that their relation ship with Khomeini was anything More than simply a mutually advantageous one at a critical time in iranian from the beginning of the hostage american observers were tempted to Label the embassy occupiers As marxist extremists and the captors used Only first adding to the but As More information filtered it became apparent that while a wide Range of political views were rep the captors were mainly moslem students in their 20s from Tehran four just As workers had taken Over hundreds of businesses after the ouster of the Shah of so did this student committee decide to occupy the american announcing it would not release the hostages until the Shah was returned to his Homeland to face the tightly disciplined group numbered about and for the first few months those not on duty at the 27 acre embassy would return to their Homes or drop in on classes at their but As pressure increased from within Iran to release the the student leaders became no students were then Al Lowed to leave the embassy for fear they would become contaminated by outside moderating hostage Richard released in july because of said some of the students began complaining that they were missing their that just too Queen recalled telling the students helped generate their own fanaticism through daily prayer sessions and ideological Pep they sought to influence a wider audience by releasing documents seized in the embassy that tended to incriminate some Active iranian they harangued the crowds gathered daily and even organized an International seminar of resistance groups in a downtown Tehran but iranian authorities moved against these first Banning the students from state and then ignoring their political the militants pulled Back to their original Mission holding the the few american hostages released Early were reluctant to talk publicly about their captors for fear of the safety of those still but they indicated that there was not much propagandizing or physical As the months according to Les than formal relationships developed with some there were table Tennis games Between hostages and and some English speaking militants even engaged their captives in games of but the militants rarely gave news of the outside world to their mail was censored and few publications Queen told of bitter arguments he had with his Hamid the about Why 90 sacks of mail destined for the hostages last Christmas went he was a he told us All our mail was Deli Queen but he Learned 90 bags were stored Hamid blamed All our troubles on the he was by Jack Lesar United press International Barbara Rosen daubed lipstick on the Mouths of her two children and pressed their lips to the letter she sent to her somewhere in Eleanor lonely for her phoned a new Singer Tony for a Bonnie worried about her Hus took up painting and and Barbara Timm became a persistent Thorn in the Side of president Carter and the state the changes wrought upon the families of the 52 Amer ican hostages were rituals hobbies and causes were taken up to fill hours of loneliness and assuage a deep sense of most never when iranian militants stormed the embassy at Tehran on that the siege would last More than a few Days or a few weeks at the As it dragged holidays became a cause for Hope by perhaps by birthdays became target dates for family but disappointment after disappointment spawned sometimes bitter the emotional Strain took its toll on the health of some family in it produced a More perhaps More diabolical lipstick imprinted letters were the Only link Between hostage Barry the embassy press and his wife and two Barry wrote that he wanted me to keep his memory alive with the said who moved in with her parents in Brooklyn after her husband was taken the she were intended to boost his make his Captivity More but she was never sure of their i cant decide whether it makes him feel worse or snapshots were a part of her regular and she she would Call the children almost put lipstick on their lips and have them kiss a the Strain of the hostage crisis was especially evident in the for a Long my son got very upset if i talked about she eventually he started bringing the subject up he can Point out Tehran on the Globe and he recognizes Khomeini on if you can believe that a 4 year old kid years who even heard of the place Kupke and her of Francis had their spirits lifted by a new Friend Kupke said his wife got pretty but found Singer Tony Orlando could really pick her Orlando recorded the song tie a yellow ribbon round the old Oak tree the rallying Anthem for the hostages and their he met the Upkes Dur ing an appearance in Northern Kupke later went to Las vegas As his Kupke said Orlando did his wife More Good than she will Call him and he often Calls he in Graves took up an old Hobby Art to fill the lonely hours while she waited for the return of her hostage John in not a great artistic she a certain tension within me extended into my but life goes Timm was just another housewife in the quiet town of Oak until her Marine Kevin was taken she emerged As a controversial critic of the White she visited her son in Iran earlier this year and was there during the ill fated Rescue she appeared at a news conference with iranian officials to decry the raid and apologize for when she returned she found herself a target of threats and congressman even suggested she might be tried for treason though he never pressed the Timm emerged As an outspoken critic of the embarking on a Public crusade to con Vince the government to apologize for past involve ment in Charles father of hostage air Force David coped with the Strain by switching off his they say one thing one Day and rescind it the he so i stopped he said he knew he just had to go on with my life and was sure that is what his son wanted him to he said the ordeal made his sons an anxious but she is an air Force officers Dave has been overseas on assignments before and she has adapted she would have adjusted if he had died in but this not knowing this is when the militants captured the Virgil sick Mann didst Tell his he was sure it would be Over in a few hours his Marine Rocky sick released and he didst want to worry he could see no end to and the tension began taking a physical Sickmann said she developed High blood pressure after the embassy takeover and worried her husband could have a heart she said she worried about her husbands pent up emotions but he opened ii to reporters and their regular questions provided a Builtin release for hostage Marine Steven Kirtley marked his 22nd birthday his family once hoped he could celebrate it at when he missed the Kirtley family just quit putting deadlines on their his Mother in Little said she was afraid to speculate if she would see her son for if you try to look you set yourself up for Ive Learned that the hard Betty Kirtley when it i never thought it would take this Long to get them at first they said by then they said within 24 then it was within 48 hours another the Best time was when they said he might be Home in 48 that was not Long after he was taken hos i rushed out and bought everything he likes and fixed the place up real Nice like hed want when they iranians changed it was like they slammed the door in my i really cant even Tell you exactly when that All my Days just ran together since Rescue Mission a tragic fiasco by Fred Hoffman associated press Iran refusal to free the american hostages led to one of the most humiliating episodes in Mili tary history failure of a commando Mission sent to Rescue when that Effort came to a disastrous end in the iranian the mighty United states looked like a Clumsy that failure stood in Stark contrast to Little israels dramatic Success four years earlier in saving some of its citizens from pro palestinian terrorists holding them in the United which prides itself on technological was frustrated by mechanical the Mission was scrubbed in the predawn darkness of april 25 because three helicopters had been forced out by this reduced the Al important helicopters to five one fewer than the minimum deemed essential for eight american servicemen they met their deaths after the Mission was called they were burned to death in a fiery collision Between a helicopter and a c130 transport plane As the expedition prepared to take off from a Remote refuelling the 90 picked commandos and 90 air crewmen never got closer than 200 Miles of their the City of Tehran where 53 american men and women had been held hostage since the previous 4 in the embassy and the iranian foreign soon after the Mission was defense Secretary Harold Brown insisted that we continue to keep All our options but it was evident that the United states could not try the iranian militants hurriedly scattered their Ameri can prisoners to a number of locations around the coun by any it would be impossible to catch the Irani ans by Surprise in a second the so sue Little margin to compensate for mistakes or Plain bad Luck report on Rescue Cess fully maintained by the United states during six months of planning and was in another it appears that the secrecy of which american officials were so proud May have contributed to the failure of the that was suggested by a special panel of Active duty and retired generals and admirals who studied the entire Mission from beginning to they blamed zealousness for tight Security for failure to bring the entire strike Force together for a dress rehearsal in the United for withholding assignment of at least two More helicopters As a margin of and for not sending weather reconnaissance aircraft Over the iranian desert to detect what turned put to be an unexpected heavy dust which contributed to the helicopter Many which in the opinion of the review group could have been done to enhance Mission were not done because of strict operations Security con the special panel reported to the joint chiefs of staff last in the Wake of the embarrassing president Carter said in his the operation had a very Good Chance of these views were echoed by defense Secretary Brown and David chair Man of the joint chiefs of but the special panel of senior while obviously sympathetic with their fellow military professionals responsible for planning and executing the under Cut Carter in their they cited what they considered key planning flaws and other weaknesses which helped doom the Rescue the government has made Public details Only of the first stage of the expedition ending in the desert the investigating panel spoke of the entire opera planned to culminate in whisking the 53 americans to As a High risk the investigating officers there was Little margin to compensate for mistakes or Plain bad but despite the flaws highlighted by the investigating the panel said the Rescue missions concept was valid and that the operation offered the Best Chance of getting the hostages out alive with the least danger of starting a War with in All nobody will Ever be Able to prove or disprove that january 1981 the stars and stripes Page 15