Today marks the 40th anniversary of Operation Eagle Claw. In the early morning hours of 25 April, 1980 President Carter announced to a stunned world that the United States had undertaken an ambitious raid into Iran to liberate 52 American hostages held illegally at our Embassy compound in Tehran. The assault force can be seen here, loading C141s.
Unfortunately, Operation Eagle Claw was unsuccessful and we lost eight American servicemen in a horrible aircraft ground collision.
However, their deaths were not in vain. The hostages were eventually repatriated and the accident was the watershed event that created, over the next several decades, the world’s preeminent Special Operations capability; USSOCOM and its components. Forty years later, we wouldn’t be where are without the determination of that fledgling task force. Join me in remembering those that had the guts to try.
On the 30th Anniversary I had the pleasure of meeting several of these men as well as Ross Perot, stand up Americans to the man, inspiring to be among men like that. Though that mission had it’s challenges many great things came out of it. Thank you…
In spite of statements I’ve since read to the contrary…these men did NOT die in vein. RIP and thank you for the sacrifice of your lives
Did they die in artery?
God bless these men
God bless bro’s.. hard times create hard men, hard men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times.. and so on.. duty is a mountain that a man must climb.
The holsters and some of the other load bearing equipment was custom made for them by holster maker John Biyanchi. He said in an interview, that he had now idea what the equipment was for untill he recognized the faces of the men who died on TV
One of the outcomes, based on promises made, was the impetus that became the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Today the foundation has nearly 900 children of fallen SOF’s in the pipeline for college educations. Not just checks given but a robust support network…
https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Eagle-Claw-1980-disastrous/dp/1472837835/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=operation+eagle+claw&qid=1587770713&sr=8-1