Operation Eagle Claw

Operation Eagle Claw Memorial

I remember the fall of 1979.  I was a senior in high school.  And it was an eventful time.  Some of the events seemed more significant at the time than they would be in the long run, such as when the Pittsburgh Pirates  defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.  It was before the Washington Nationals existed.  So the Orioles were as close to a local team as we had. 

Other events from that time became ingrained in my memory because of how they affected me on a personal level, such as when several fans of The Who were killed at a concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.  A combination of “festival” (unassigned) seating and too few entrances being opened resulted in eleven kids being trampled to death when the crowd surged forward trying to enter the concert.  Those kids were all approximately my age, and I remember thinking that it could have been me.

Still other events were even more significant in nature and would have rippling effects on history.  One of those events would come to be known as the “Iran hostage crisis.”  It started on November 4th, 40 years ago today, when hundreds of Iranian Islamic fundamentalists who supported the Iranian Revolution under the Ayatollah Khomeini, mostly students, took over the United States Embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage, demanding that the U.S. send the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial.  or days nothing was known of the hostages’ condition until their captors finally released all female and black hostages. Later, one other man was released for medical reasons, leaving 53 Americans captives.

By spring of the following year the situation had reached a standstill.  All diplomatic attempts to secure their release had failed.  So President Jimmy Carter authorized a secret joint-services military operation on April 25, 1980, to rescue the hostages.  The plan, known as Operation Eagle Claw (Operation Tabas in Iran), called for a rendezvous of helicopters and cargo planes at a remote desert site in Iran, known as Desert One, before attempting the actually rescue of the hostages. However, the mission was aborted when two of the aircraft collided.  The ensuing explosion and fire claimed the lives of eight American service personnel.  They included three Marines:  Sergeant John D. Harvey, Corporal George N. Holmes Jr., Staff Sergeant Dewey Johnson; and five Air Force personnel:  Major Richard L. Bakke, Major Harold L. Lewis Jr., Technical Sergeant Joel C. Mayo, Captain Lyn D. McIntosh, and Captain Charles T. McMillan.  Their bodies could not be recovered before the surviving aircraft had to abandon the desert staging area. Shortly thereafter the eight bodies were returned to the United States. 

The failed rescue operation resulted in some rather undesirable consequences. Firstly, the hostages were scattered across Iran, to make another rescue mission impossible. Also, the US government received heavy criticism from governments around the world for making such blunders in a very critical situation. As a matter of fact, experts and President Carter himself believe that the failure of Operation Eagle Claw was a major reason he lost the presidential election to Ronald Reagan.

Only 20 minutes before Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President on January 20, 1981, Iran finally released the hostages.  They were held for 444 days, making it the longest hostage crisis in recorded history.  

On this lunchtime bike ride I visited a monument dedicated to the memory of the gallant servicemen, who died in the valiant effort to rescue the American hostages.  It is located in Arlington National Cemetery, near the Memorial Amphitheater.  The monument consists of a white stone marker that bears a bronze plaque listing the names and ranks of the three Marines and the five airmen killed in Operation Eagle Claw.

NOTE:  Although it was a failed mission and its widespread failure would be a moment of profound humiliation for the United States, the operation has since become known as the “most successful failed mission in history.”  Many tactics and procedures were first used and developed by the military personnel of Operation Eagle Claw, including blacked out landings, landing on unprepared runways, multi-aircraft air field seizure, clandestine insertion of small helicopters and many other procedures, some of which are still classified to this day.

Nationals Park

Nationals Park

The Washington Nationals played their last home game of the 2013 regular season yesterday, and beat the Florida Marlins by a score of 1 to 0 in an exciting end-of-the-year finale.  In picking up the win, Pitcher Jordan Zimmermann threw the first no-hitter in franchise history, and the first no-hitter by a Washington major league pitcher since Bobby Burke of the Washington Senators no-hit the Boston Red Sox on August 8, 1931, at Griffith Stadium.

The Nationals go into the post-season as the League’s top seed after having clinched their second National League East title in three years when they beat the rival Braves, the team that knocked them out of the top spot last season, in Atlanta back on September 16th.  With yesterday’s win they finish the regular season with a record of 96 wins and 66 losses, the best in the National League, and quite a change from their first season at Nationals Park just six years ago, when they finished with a league-worst record of 59 wins and 102 losses.

In recognition and celebration of their successful season, on this bike ride I rode to Nationals Park. The ballpark is located at 1500 South Capitol Street (MAP), within site of the U.S. Capitol Building, in the fast-developing Capitol Riverfront district along the Anacostia River, near The Washington Navy Yard in the Navy Yard neighborhood of southeast D.C.

Nationals Park was designed by Populous and Devrouax & Purnell Architects and Planners.  It was originally estimated to cost $611 million, but eventually cost $693 million to build, with an additional $84.2 million spent on transportation, art, and infrastructure upgrades to support the stadium for a total cost of $783.9 million. The exterior facade of the park features an innovative design of steel, glass and pre-cast concrete to create a facility that uniquely reflects the architecture of the National Capital City. Inspiration for the look of the ballpark was taken from the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, a structure designed by famed architect I.M. Pei.

The ballpark was originally designed to seat 41,888 fans, but for a variety for reasons the park’s capacity has been reduced over the last few years to 41,546 in 2010, then 41,487 in 2012, and finally down to 41,418 and 79 luxury suites on three levels around the infield in 2013.

It should be noted that Nationals Park is bicycle friendly, with a free bike valet for every Nationals game in Parking Garage C, which is located at the corner of 1st and N Streets. Additionally, there are over 250 bike racks in and around the Park. Each year the team also has an “Annual Bike to the Park Day” in conjunction with the Washington Area Bicycle Association and “National Bike to Work Day.”

Ground breaking for the park took place in early 2006, and thanks to an ambitious construction schedule it was completed just two years later. The George Washington University Colonials christened the park, playing the first game there on March 22, 2008. The local collegiate team beat Philadelphia’s Saint Joseph’s University Wildcats in a 9 to 4 victory. One week later the Nationals played their first game in the new ballpark, defeating the Baltimore Orioles, 3–0, in an exhibition game on March 29, 2008. The following day, the Nationals opened the 2008 MLB season in Nationals Park with a rare one-game series against the Atlanta Braves, which served as the first official MLB game at the park. True to tradition, President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch. In an omen of things to come, the Nationals won the game by a score of 3 to 2 with a walk-off home run from Ryan Zimmerman.

    

    
[Click on the photos to view the full-size versions]