Today was the 30 year anniversary of Desert One, also known as the Iran hostage rescue attempt. Our very own Third Wave Dave wrote about it here as did Rokdrop. Tragically, it devolved into a disaster leaving 8 Americans dead and Iranians who tried to help left to unknown fates.
A brief account from one who was in the Marine Corps at the time of that operation, once again, H/T to Bones:
I was in the Marine Corps at the time. That op cost me 52 hours w/o sleep and nearly cost my marriage. We were locked down on base for nearly a week prior and just after it all went down. Sent over a dozen people and a lot of parts and supplies along for the ride on this op. I worked in hydraulics. 6055/6152/6153. Had a chance to go along on Desert One, myself, but they wouldn’t tell us what the ‘detail’ was about, so I didn’t ‘volunteer.’ Corporal Davis went along for the ride, instead.
…and I was nowhere near the theatre of operations.A friend of mine has a lot of info about that disaster located here:
Jimmy Bancroft was in HMM-165 out of K-Bay when I was in HMH-361 in Tustin, CA. I was later stationed with HMM-165, myself, and worked with and knew some of the men who were more directly involved. At one remove or another, almost every USMC helicopter squadron on the West Coast and the FMFPAC provided material support or manpower for this op. Another friend I keep in touch with, who was also more directly involved, is Tim Harrington. Both men are still politically involved and are still keeping their Oaths to The Constitution.
The Dame Truth 