American Hostages in Iran, 1979

From Tim Wells, editor. 444 Days: The Hostages Remember. San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. 36-41, 44, 54-56, 62-63, 68-69.

Victor Tomseth (chief political officer): That day [November 4] was a double anniversary. I think it was the anniversary of the day that Khomeini had gone off into exile in Turkey back in 1964, and also the first anniversary of a major riot in Tehran during which people had been killed at Tehran University. So there was a demonstration scheduled for that day. We had our staff meeting the first thing in the morning, and I remember the main debate was whether we should lower our flag to half-mast in recognition of the anniversary on which these three our four people had been killed at Tehran University. It was decided that we would not lower the flag. . . .

John Limbert (political officer): November 4 had been proclaimed Student Day, and there was going to be a march and rally at the University of Tehran. The university is in the western part of the city. The routes of march for people going to the rally from the east or northeast would lead in front of the embassy. It was quite normal for marchers to pass the embassy on their way to some kind of gathering at the university, and as they went by, to shout some anti-American slogans. That morning groups started going by, and occasionally we would hear their anti-American slogans. There was not anything unusual about this. . . .

Joe Hall (warrant officer, at the chancery): We had a radio in our office so we could hear what the marines and security officers were saying to one another. That way we could keep up with what the hell was going on. "Bulldog" was the code name for the security officer, Al Golancinski. Suddenly I heard on the radio, "Bulldog, someone's cut the chain on the gate and there are two or three Iranians inside." It was said in a very relaxed manner. . . .

John Graves (public affairs officer): I happened to be at the window of the press office where I could actually see the gate, the main gate. I don't know quite how it opened; normally there's a big chain around it. But all of a sudden the gates opened and the first flood of students came in. They were mostly women carrying signs like: "Don't be afraid. We just want to set in." Set, not sit. No sign of weapons or anything like that. It didn't look at all serious. . . .

John Limbert (political officer): I was down on the ground floor of the embassy near the marine station right at the front door. It must've been about 10:30, perhaps 10:40, when the students started coming over the wall. There were some closed-circuit television cameras around the embassy, and I could see it on the television monitor.

We had very heavy iron doors at the south and main entrances, which were immediately shut. They were very heavy doors. They could resist almost anything short of a bazooka. I can't remember there being any panic. The marines clearly knew what they were doing. . . .

Lee Schatz (agricultural attache, at his office across the street from the embassy compound: When they entered the compound, they split and went off in two different directions. Which seemed odd. you'd think that if a crowd was hyped up and ready to . . . take the embassy, the normal impulse would have been for everyone to rush straight up to the chancery. But they took off in two different directions, with one group heading back toward the consulate. Instead of a mad rush at the chancery, it appeared that some people were stationed at strategic observation points, where they were close enough to holler from one person to the other. You know, someone would stop and stand by the corner of a building where he had a clear view of the courtyard or the motor pool. It had the appearance of something that was well planned. . . .

Sgt. William Quarles (marine security guard, at the Bijon Apartments): I was just trying to be cool. I said, "I can't believe this. I don't believe these little knuckleheads think they're going to take over the embassy." You know, I was really pissed. I kept saying, "What in the hell do they think they're doing? They can't do this. They think they're going to take over the American embassy with all these marines around?" I was really eager to go over there and kick somebody's ass. I really was. I just wanted to bang a few heads." . . .

Joe Hall (warrant officer, at the chancery): The Iranians got into the basement real quick. At the time, I was in the defense attache office on the main floor, and we were wondering what the hell to do with our classified stuff. We'd actually been pulling documents out of the files in order to destroy them, when the word came through that the militants had managed to get into the basement. Everybody was immediately ordered upstairs to the second floor. We thought, well shit, we can't carry our classified stuff with us. If the militants did get through, we'd meet them in the hallway with our hands full. So Colonel Schaefer said, "Let's lock it up." We put all the classified documents in the safes and spun the dials. . . .

Malcolm Kalp (economics officer, at the chancery): Gradually everybody filtered upstairs. We cleaned out the basement . . . and the first floor, and got everybody up there--the Americans as well as the Iranian workers. Everybody sat along the walls on either side of the hall. The marines came around and started giving out gas masks. . . .

The Iranians came up to the second floor and tried to burn the door down. Now how you burn down a steel door, I don't know. But they tried to burn it down. A couple of the marines got excited and started yelling, "They're burning the door! They're burning the door!" They kept feeling the back of it with their hands, and spraying with fire extinguishers. I felt the door and couldn't feel any heat, but figured if it made the marines happy to spray, let them spray. . . .

Col. Charles Scott (chief of the Defense Liaison Office, at the chancery): When the time came to surrender, everyone conducted themselves in an exemplary manner. There was a feeling of genuine fear among all of us, but there wasn't any panic. No one was yelling or screaming or falling apart. A couple of our Iranian employees were hysterical, but all of the Americans took it calmly, and did what they were supposed to do in order to avoid any unnecessary violence.

John Limbert (political officer, in the stairwell):The militants took me downstairs and out the front door. I was very relieved to get out of that gas and smoke. It was rainy and cold. It was good to be in the fresh air. I was feeling relieved to be alive. At that point, I remember thinking, being alive was a pretty good thing.

Bill Belk (communications officer, at the chancery): When we opened that door we were taken over immediately. The Iranians swarmed in. One guy looked at me and said, "Walk out the door." So I walked out the door. Two guys grabbed me, one on either side, put my hands behind my back, and tied my hands. They had a long nylon rope that they used to tie us up. After my hands were tied, this guy tried to cut the rope with a knife. The rope slipped and he gouged me, stabbed me in the back. I said, "Ouch!" And he said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Which amazed me. They were much more gentle than I'd expected.

They blindfolded me, and I didn't know what to do. I'd never experienced a blindfold before. I thought maybe they were going to take us out and shoot us. I just didn't know what to expect.