European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 3, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Hedrick Smith february 1981 hostages7 release rekindled the National spirit from to san the cheers were the tears were the emotions were unabashed and people stood on cars and fences and shouted themselves hoarse at the passing motorcade or wept by their television in their Homes and they Sang god bless America along with pres ident Reagan and Bruce the for Mer charge affaires in it was an extraordinary National a of patriotism that revealed As much about the mood and psyche of about the National hungering for a moment of As it said about the grit and Char Acter of the 52 returned suddenly their trauma became a Tri humiliation Over the seizure of the american 14 months of pent up frustration Over the nations inability to wrench them free and rollercoaster anxiety Over their Fate gave Way to Cele bration and instant adulation so super charged that it made some of the expos tages not since former John Glenns Orbi Tal Mission in 1962 and the return of the Apollo astronauts from the Moon in 1969 has the nation indulged in such a massive Public outpouring Over officially feted he the returning prisoners of War from Korea and Vietnam and the Crew of the intelligence ship seized by North Korea in met a much More mixed and modest even though in Many cases their ordeals in Captivity were either longer or harsher or Kven amidst the current some believed it was being sever Al former hostages themselves made a Point that they did not feel like but their families had shown real a few were Quick to sign Book but others disdained being transformed into in stand celebrities by weeks were so weary of hoopla that they sought i dont consider myself any More of a hero than the thousands of foreign service officers who serve freed Diplomat Donald Cooke told a television interviewer last i really dont want to be in the Public but now it turns out since i didst go to the press conference at West Point and haunt been talking to the in the mystery hostage who for some reason or not talking about and now in getting More attention than i was Many people saw higher heroism among the who took part in the aborted Mission to Rescue the captive americans last in which eight men unhappy Vietnam feeling shortchanged by comparative Lack of rec arranged a protest March sunday in i am second to no one in my Relief and grateful happiness at their 444day delayed retired army Howard Wickert said of the hostages and their or in a letter to the Washington Star in Korea and 52 Good sol Diers were killed every morning before breakfast on routine scouting and patrolling and few hearts in this country bled for drafted farm hideously Are today in Veter ans totally forgotten and Forsa Ken by All but their Kin and the Hospital returning Vietnam heroes True combat heroes have been spat figuratively and by their country men on their return do we have any proportion or balance not manipulated by professional tube hampers As More than one historian has much Public reaction to returning Vietnam the korean pos and the Pueblo Crew was coloured by the feeling that those groups were tainted by controversy or anguish Over their cause or Over their conduct during by the euphoria Over the hos tages was fed by a Public feeling that this time America was clearly in the both because a mob had illegally seized the embassy and so far As is All 52 hostages showed their Mettle under the extent of their mistreatment is still in and it obviously varied greatly from individual to but so far no Case of collaboration has come to this in itself helped redeem National Pride and it provided the kind of positive image that americans had been aching for after a decade of painful scenes flitting across their television rang ing from the Panicky evacuation of the Sai gon embassy roof to humiliated hostages paraded in blindfolds in in contrast to other recent episodes of americans in this time television enormously magnified Public identification with the hostages and their satellite relays of angry iranian mobs and split screen family reunions made millions of strangers vicarious participants in the hostages their release broke a mood of National it re kindled the National reviving patriotic feelings among some who said they had not been so strongly moved since the Early in a very real the roles were Sud Denly reversed at West the nation that had worried so Long about giving re Assurance to the hostages now found itself nourished by the reassurance of their exam in Laingen America was re furbished by their nations have a Way of creating heroes when they need and we desperately needed some commented Harvard historian Frank in the Vietnam War we engaged in a Litany of and we had the same thing going on during the iranian now we can be not just that these 52 people Are out but because they behaved so this is analogous to the Way we reacted to John Glenns Orbital flight after the soviet sputnik beat us into he the joyous Homecoming also seemed to trigger a National a nation that had stifled its bitter resentment toward Iran and restrained its military Power to let eco nomic attrition work its persuasive suddenly exploded with Flag waving Parade goers talked of the release of the pent up tensions they had it was something i simply Felt i had to said Lois who spoke for Many she drove 200 Miles from to participate in the Washington Wel id been glued to the radio and Tele feeling the Hurt and i  go Over to Iran and but i could come to Washington and yell and in the ubiquitous yellow ribbons and the signs proclaiming we never forgot there was a subliminal note of atonement for the nations impotence at the height of the captives its As if we paid 30 pieces of and now we Are awash in said a senator with an exemplary military i dont want to take anything from what these Fine people have but i wonder whether were doing some great National Inea almost a great National apology for not having done More to free i guess we Felt so degraded As a nation that we wanted this Chance to express our re c new York times now Alt we have is Sajid Rizvi Iran still jittery about Iran fears of which led to the just resolved hostage still persist and May become the main fac Tor in delaying normalization of ties be tween the two or while the paranoia lurks in the corridors of the ruling mosque elite of Teh the fears Are potent raw material for a new crisis All that is to sever the wests thin Bond with unstable the iranian fears linger As Tehran Over flows with sentiment and the hos Tage agreement initially considered a Mureall for americas troubled tie with its former ally awaits a review by the Rea Gan Ayatollah Ruhollah who kept Iran out of the recent islamic Summit in saudi summed up his re Gimes anxiety when he accused his islamic neighbors of plotting against All key participants in the Summit titular by saudi Pakistan and Jor Dan have been dismissed by Tehran As Khomeini charged some of the islamic leaders actually had decided to create discord Between Iran shiite mos Lem majority and its not Small sunni moslem minority of warlike bal turkoman and some Arab tribesmen along sensitive for such a plot would have an ominous since sunni discontent directed at the ruling shiite clergy already has bred violence in the provinces of bal turkoman Lores Ham and although sunni leaders blame the Vio Lence on provocations caused by agents of the Tehran rejects the argue maintaining that the sunnis would not revolt unless they were directed by for eign the fallout of Khomeini allegation Al ready has drawn smudges across much of the ground cleared by the hostage his chief Ayatollah Ashiq Hussein directly accused the islamic leaders Friday of the official pars news in a recent said the anti Iran plot was inspired by Henry Kissinger for Long was the butt of iranian charges that he persuaded the Carter administration to bring the late Shah to the an act which Tehran branded As a plot to restore the Shah to Power and which led to the takeover of the embassy it is no help to the cause of the tie that Tehran now sees Kissinger closer to the White House than when Carter was added to the plot syndrome has been the concern in Tehran ruling circles that Carters noninterference pledge now hangs free along with other provisions of the hos Tage the idea May seem laughable but when Carter pledged the would not interfere in Iran Tehran took the pledge literally but ignored the statement that no intervention had taken place in the first reagans review of Carters it May prove As crucial to the Iran tie As it became critical in freeing americas 52 c United press International