9781422277133

MISSION REPORT : A FIGHTING FORCE

The 1979 capture of the American embassy in Tehran, Iran, was a turning point in the development of Delta.

First Missions On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the US Em- bassy in Tehran. They took 52 US diplomats as hostages, and US President Jimmy Carter denounced it as an act of terrorism. For months, the United States worked to get the hostages freed, but every effort failed. As the situ- ation became more and more tense, Carter finally turned to a military solu- tion. In April 1980, the president authorized Delta Force to plan a mission to enter Iran and free the hostages. Unfortunately, Delta Force’s first mission—called Operation Eagle Claw—was a failure. Not all the helicopters that were supposed to go to the scene arrived. Colonel Beckwith, who was commanding the mission’s ground

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