Thirty-five years ago, the U.S. aborted a Delta Force operation to rescue the U.S. hostages in Iran.
Here’s a story excerpt from The Washington Post:
“The United States tried and failed to rescue the American hostages in Iran with a commando-style raid in which eight U.S. crewmen were killed, the White House announced today.
The military operation, according to a post-midnight statement from the White House, was ‘aborted’ because of an equipment failure, followed by a collision of two aircraft, at a remote desert location, in which the eight were killed and others injured.
The American troops, including the injured, were then airlifted safely from the unknown staging site in Iran, according to the statement issued by White House press secretary Jody Powell….”
A page one headline from the suburban Chicago newspaper, The Daily Herald:
The Daily Pennsylvanian published an AP story titled, “Hostage Rescue Aborted, Ends In Plane Crash”:
“The White House announced early this morning that a daring military effort to rescue American hostages held in Tehran was aborted because of ‘equipment failure.’ A collision of two U.S. aircraft on the ground in an Iranian desert resulted in the deaths of eight crewmen the announcement said.
….President Carter, who ordered termination of the mission, ‘accepts full responsibility for the decision to attempt the rescue,’ Powell said.”
President Carter delivered a televised statement on April 25th. Here is an excerpt:
