European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 9, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                February 1981 the stars and stripes Page 19 continued from Page 15 stuffed inside the rear Jerry who worked in the communications Sec Tion of the was cleaning the embassy probably sometime in he when he found what he called an american socialist newspaper that mentioned the failed in a letter from a Young american he he Learned that eight americans had died in the Lopez recalled that someone in Europe had written to Gary who was one of my saying some thing to the effect that so far eight had but Many More were willing to give our lives to save he went we figured it was More or less a Rescue we we rent quite we didst really find out All the details until we were someone in the Boston who never identified began sending whose Hometown is the sports Page from a local news every Day the sports Page went out and it would come in Keough sometimes on the Back of the sport pages would be sometimes it would be the the doonesbury comic of let me know that this had become a subject of widespread discussion in the Gary Trudeau is an astute political commentator and just Reading that cartoon strip about iranian students let me know the extent to which this was being handled in the on the Back of the sports pages we would see an advertisement for one of the channels running a to tucked in there was a statement about the recent Rescue we would pick up news that the 14 Issue of sports tucked in that was the announcement that the game had been interrupted with the announcement that the Shah had died in last Keough algerian diplomats brought him a Christmas package from his wife that contained socks and three the captors withheld a Book on the presidential elec Tion in the United but they let Keough have a Book of crossword puzzles and a copy of the 1981 world Alma to the Delight of the contained a summary of the major news events of that sort of thing was taking place All the Keough information was coming you cannot suppress a group of Strong americans who Are an intelligent Koob found out about the Canadia assisted escape of a group of the hostages toward the end of her stay in a compassionate guard brought a Magazine account of the incident to Koob and told she that he hoped it would help keep her spirits it was the most incredibly Beautiful thing Ive read in my whole she letters from relatives and in some Strang ers also provided news on their the information from relatives was As if they sensed that direct reports on the hostages would be blocked by the letters were getting through with on liners stuck in the Middle of this Long thing about aunt thelmas Apple pie said Gary the administrative said his let him know about the death of the Shah by reporting that an nonexistent Uncle Shaw had Donald a 25yearold vice said he understood the Rescue Effort had failed after he asked his family to Send him a set of Curtis Lemay stoneware and they we sent the but you didst get it got All in the vietnamese Curtis an air Force advocated bombing americas enemies Back to the Stone some of the hostages discovered that Richard Queen had been sent Home when More Fields wrote that Queen was suffering with multiple they wondered How Morefield could know we put two and two said and figured that he had gotten and had an interview on and that what Morefield was trying to Tell she didst come right out and say he because they hated whenever someone wrote and gave us information like most of the hostages said that they had come through the experience surprisingly but there were had there been conflict among the captives said there were quirks or characteristics that were very did anyone Ever come to blows he seriously sometime Early in their Queen began trying to assemble a some of us helped him said they sorted books and tried to classify and then one Queen was no longer Koob and Swift realized that something had changed when the amount of food they had been preparing was Cut they had taken Over the cooking for six people after their captors had difficulty doing burning food and the All of a they found themselves cooking for Only at they had no idea for whom they were cooking they eventually found out by Reading notes hidden in a wastepaper or occasionally the guards would allow a note on the signed by the boys in the backroom and asking for More salad or some other the Shah died july quite a while Michael who worked in the political Section of the he read about it from a line in sporting news something about a horse at he the realization raised our till we found that he had died quite awhile and if Hes what we we doing Here the depth of the ant american feelings of their captors impressed the in those Long mid dle months of their they had time to study the people who had seized to differentiate among the various Levels of even to Confer nicknames upon their some were old enough to be graduate students work ing on their fourth or fifth Keough said Skepi but Many of them seemed to be genuine i dont think the terms student and terrorist Are necessarily mutually said the women prisoners Felt that they had fared better than most of the men said the probable explanation was that their captors islamic beliefs demanded different treatment for she divided her captors into three she were students very conserva Tive 16 to 22 years of men and who had been picked from the various universities around they were the the second All ranged in age from the mid20s to the Early they were they All were All we have no Koob but they plainly the third group was the they were highly trained and she there for a known As tooth because of a Gap in his front Teeth he said he had studied computer science at Berkeley and he spoke fluent the chief said was named another was called pretty another another Bozo the remembered they were i committed revolt he Kennedy thought the nicknames were a bad idea be like you treat a some guards were said Duane particularly those who had been to prison but even these were careful not to let others see them being he to speak out against the treatment would have Al Lowed the other militants to turn against that student and his life would have been in he some guards achieved an of Fandon rapport with the a High school football had beaten one of them repeatedly in Arm and one night in the guard challenged the sergeant to a real wrestling with two hostages and four guards As Sickmann threw the guard across the they had to take him to the Hospital and he came Back with a Sling on his the sergeant other guards would argue with their Limbert told about one of them said to Why is America the greatest enemy of Mankind that where the conversation would then id no wonder you dont go to you know you know that the causes droughts in India and floods in Bangka i envy you have such simple my 8 year old son thinks better than you other guards used their captives As we helped them study for their said we helped them with their one girl was learning English for medical purposes and was studying the names of t other guards tried to stir dissension among the Sickmann first they would favor one of his by delivering letters from then they would favor but wed sit Down and talk it he and say this is just what there trying to because we knew there were people writing to the attempt he said All letters were it was like they had read that this is the Way hostages Are treated in treat them in random said it was like they had taken a hos tages and they were doing it id have Given them a c Swift remembers that the students were quite willing to die for what they believed and during the first four or five Days they repeatedly told me they were going to be martyrs because the United states was going to come in militarily and Rescue after 11 months of Captivity in which mob denunciations of the United states had become the hostages suddenly heard a most outlandish sound waft into their cells one Day a stirring band record ing of the quintessentially american stars and stripes William Keough the news got three cheers for the White and Blue was being played through the not for the Benefit of the hostages but to stir iranians to patriotic Heights in the new and sudden War that had erupted with Iraq inva Sion in late Moorhead Kennedy deduced the mean ing of the familiar martial we figured Iran must be involved in a local War of some probably with Kennedy the guards didst react to All the War sounds in a Way that threatened so we knew we we rent Frederick Kupke listened in fascination to the Sousa music and then tried to decipher the chants of the new Street demonstrations outside rallying cries that re minded him of nothing so much As a familiar football cheer get big red get Tough while Kennedy had no certain confirmation until a letter arrived weeks later from his hostages closer to the War action saw tracer bullets shooting through the air As they peered through the tiny windows of their we could feel some of the Rodney Sickmann there was shelling and blackouts and stuff like they were telling us this was just their that they were practising for air Force Paul Needham leaped happily to the conclusion that a nighttime bombing was the work of the United not knowing the planes were he that these were not american we put our candles in continued on Page 20