The TOP SECRET Mission to Land In Iran & Extract American Hostages | Operation Eagle Claw

[@fliegeroh]

Great video. Thanks for your service. "Success has a hundred fathers, failure is an orphan."

[@amgraz99]

I was in my kc 135 over Saudia Arabia in support of eagle claw when we got the word that it was terminated because of the helicopters issues.

[@S62bhas]

My Brigadier General for the 108th ARW for Fraud and Investigations was also a member during the Eagle Claw Operation

[@JosephGithegi-tl3ug]

​

[@e.r95]

What was the reason of the helicopters crash?

[@garyoakes6554]

I was a little kid when this happened. I never seen my dad cry. He never served but was a patriot. I remember him saying, "what brave young men ". Never forget it.

[@petetorres7464]

Excellent interview. Very humble man. A real professional. Thank you for your service.

[@Stoney_AKA_James]

Here is a little known fact regarding operation Eagle Claw: One of the plans was to get the hostages out of the embassy compound and move them to a nearby soccer stadium where the helicopters were to pick-up everyone and fly to the fixed wing aircraft approximately 30 miles away in the desert. An element of select Rangers were sequestered months ahead of the op. We were tasked to secure the soccer stadium, I was one of the best snipers in our company and was selected to participate. We began running long distances as a contingency in case we would have to travel on foot to the desert. "Luckily or unfortunately", however you want to look at it, our part of the plan was canceled and we stood down. There were many lessons learned from this and I salute each and every airmen and SF-OD operator who at least tried.

[@eddie197200]

As an Iranian now live in Canada for long time, I remember when operation Eagle Claw happened. I was almost 10(now 53) in Tehran, and then government celebrated that as a victory and miracle which came from above!...This is the best ever documentary I watched and It sounds very neutral and honest, also very emotional. Thanks to Colonel George Ferkes and his comrades for their services and their daring and fearless rescue mission without any political views. Also, I am sorry about the 8 Americans who lost their lives try to rescue others. Thanks.

[@geekypicky810]

Average foreigner, visa lickers ☕

[@PrayedForYou]

I enjoyed listening to this Colonel he is really well spoken and intelligent and given his age he doesnt seem to have lost even a bit of his wit and self. Thanks for this amazing interview im honored to be able to keep the memory of his sacrifices alive. From one George to another I want to extend my sincerest appreciation and gratitude.

[@johndilday1846]

Thank you for your service! Thanks for sharing your memories with us. 👍❤️

[@tommychew6544]

This one hit home with as a Marine in the mid 80's. I was a volunteering type and would have gone if I had the chance to during my time. I'm so glad these stories are being documented, if not they would be lost to history. Living free off the backs off the men lost to wars was always on my mind and still is!

[@Mikeabq1]

Well said George. Honored to call you a friend over all these years. Cheers!

[@Autobotmatt428]

The more I learn about Eagleclaw the more it looks like a Herculean task.

[@Big6Duke]

Where was enough cooperation between services to ever pull this off.

[@jacekpaszkowski2000]

Regan had the hostage situation prolonged so that Jimmy Carter would lose the reelection. Soon as Regan got the Presidency the hostages were released. There's a story in the New York Times called "A A Four-Decade Secret: One Man’s Story of Sabotaging Carter’s Re-election" that explains the whole story.

[@clarkgriswold-zr5sb]

I remember the day afterward when we saw the news reports. The images of the helicopter crewman on the ground is still burned into my memory. Thanks to your and your teammates for trying.

[@zillsburyy1]

THE OPERATIONS ROOM has a great video on this mission!!!!

[@nomdeguerre7265]

I was in the service during this debacle, from the feckless government tolerating Iran's outrages, to the loss of brave men due to incompetence and political interference. I thought confidence in our government could never get lower than it was at that time. Silly me.....

[@josephbadulak9146]

w a nameplate "Nom de guerre" such as yours, am guessing you're a proponent of wars..... Embassies.... UN.... US acting as self-appointed World Police..... government spending 'budget' beyond limits of Intergalactic Laxatives¿ Silly me.... oops.

[@mohamadalakhras9750]

Thank you guys for these awesome videos can't appreciate it enough

[@Leslie-1996]

My grandpa revealed the same thing in an interview I found after he passed, said “I was getting drafted anyways so I figured I’d volunteer so I can pick my branch.” Ended up an aerial gunner because they weren’t in need of more pilots at the time (so he said ha).

[@Patrick-sb2sb]

I think You're actually mistaken about the time. It was early 71, not 70 (I think). I was stationed in Quang Tri and served as a crew chief on a v-100 Commando Car. WE were escorting the convoys going from Dong Ha toward Ke Sahn on highway 9 during Lam Shan 719. We got hit by a rocket propelled grenade and were lucky to come out alive.

[@travisingraham7116]

Thank you sir for youre service!!! Commendable man, youre a warrior and hero.

[@Telluridepilot]

Thank you for your service ! I knew Staff Sgt Dewey Johnson. I saw him a several months before the operation at my aunts house in North Carolina. He was a very kind man and dedicated to his country and the Marine Corp. it was several weeks before the names were released to the public about the losses in the desert. This county lost good men that night. 🇺🇸

[@jacekpaszkowski2000]

Regan had the hostage situation prolonged so that Jimmy Carter would lose the reelection. Soon as Regan got the Presidency the hostages were released. There's a story in the New York Times called "A A Four-Decade Secret: One Man’s Story of Sabotaging Carter’s Re-election" that explains the whole story.

[@AA-xo9uw]

@@jacekpaszkowski2000 pogue

[@AA-xo9uw]

"Marine Corp"(sic) Marine Corps

[@jacekpaszkowski2000]

@@AA-xo9uw I never wrote anything about the Marines, you responded to the wrong comment

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Wow, what a story, thank you Sir! In 2004, I worked comms in Iraq as a sailor activated reservist. The Army and Marines couldn't talk with the Australian P3s flying overhead giving reports of enemy troop movements but I had comms with both of them at Camp Victory (radio to text comms) so acted as a relay. I was told that the terrain around Fallujah interfered with the radio comms. Thanks for explaining your mission roles in Vietnam!

[@dirtnapz996]

Incredible!

[@markmoulton3137]

I’ve met George Ferkes when he was inducted into the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame of which I am a co-founder. I myself am a resident of his hometown…Noblesville, Indiana.

[@maddog46]

Thanks for going fella's and welcome home.

[@craigm.9070]

There are several very good books still available on this mission, "The Guts To Try" by Col (ret) James Kyle is one of the best reads as far as detail from pre-planning to how the mission failure modernized America's Armed Forces (at that time) I was stationed at Hurlburt Field in the mid to late 80's and there is a stained glass window in the chapel dedicated to the men killed at Desert One. Thank you for your service sir.

[@jacekpaszkowski2000]

Regan had the hostage situation prolonged so that Jimmy Carter would lose the reelection. Soon as Regan got the Presidency the hostages were released. There's a story in the New York Times called "A A Four-Decade Secret: One Man’s Story of Sabotaging Carter’s Re-election" that explains the whole story.

[@chocolatefrenzieya]

After the pick-up hightailed it, I might have called it. What a cluster! Thank you, sir, for your part in attempting to retrieve our people.

[@stevemizar4143]

Thank you for your service! God bless you!

[@Aspectus]

These are the stories that the general media misses. The depth and context was enlightening.

[@j1st633]

What a story. Thanks.

[@redwatch1100]

I remember Operation Eagle Claw like it was yesterday. I can't believe it was 43 years ago already and whatever additional years after this comment it will be.

[@BeautifulPlanet-blue]

Salute and respect, thank you for your service sir.

[@russguppy8761]

We can deal with this. Words of a leader.

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Thanks for this great history eyewitness and planner to the Iran rescue attempt under Carter! I joined the Navy Jan. 1981 right before Reagan took the oath. I remember being a kid growing up under Carter and like to say I was balls-y enough to join up under Carter, lol.

[@boeing-lt4el]

Those brits don't know how much those two cases of beer meant to the men.

[@robertspeakman6523]

I was in the Army over in Germany during this time and they put us all on alert. I was shaking in my Army combat boots.

[@KazuhiraMiller46]

🤡

[@bobd9193]

​@@KazuhiraMiller46 You're calling him a clown because he served his country in the military? What kind of an ass-hat are you? What have you ever done for this country? What have you ever done with your life to make a difference in the world? My bet would be nothing !! And I think that's a pretty safe bet. In case you don't know it, Freedom isn't Free. The thing that really pisses me off is the fact they those of us who have served, Because our sacrifices gives people like you the opportunity to disrespect the people who you don't even deserve to lick their boots. If you're going to be a coward, at least have some respect for those of us who have put our lives on the line for this nation. U.S. NAVY, RETIRED

[@josephbadulak9146]

Was Germany too, once upon. After getting a taste of bout 4 Marks to da $, many tasty meals, and oh yessiree.... das bier! Yeah, me can see them boots sweating on me too! Orders for da jungles¿ Glad you made it back!!!

[@Mike44460]

From a book I read on the operation, there was a meeting in Washington about the plans. Colonel Beckwith was asked many questions. It seems the main point of concern was how our soldiers would deal with the "students" guarding the hostages. The Colonel explained that he didn't feel that the "students" would care to engage fully trained combat soldiers. Again, the same questions are coming he way. His answer to put the issue to rest was along this line, we are going to shoot each one, twice, between eyes and they should have enough copper and lead in them to cease to be a problem.

[@hunter-kq2pu]

Noblesville, Indianapolis!! In the house.

[@melinda5777]

Hero!

[@judgejimbobrowntown3214]

Well said right place right time doing the proper actions

[@q-man762]

Was on a rapid deployment forward air base team and we were outprossesed with our gear on the flight line when the whole thing was cancelled. We found out later why.

[@S62bhas]

Colonel God Bless You And Family Praying In Jesus Name Amen

[@Mark-r2z9u]

The beer jesture was a class act by the Brits!

[@jeraldsamuel5598]

What an ABSURDLY COMPLICATED plan.

[@duckwalker1]

American Men and Women are awesome people.

[@newbeginning1510]

They song sandstorm was playing during the storm

[@rezadaneshi]

I think any helicopter landing in the desert creates local sandstorm to bring the chopper down. Should’ve consulted NASA is a sarcastic remark. 🥴

[@KVSWF]

My dad was a part of this.

[@anlerden4851]

Thank you so much for your service and lovely dedications to Our Beautiful USA Dear American Sir.🙏❤🤍💙🇺🇲💪🏻👍

[@tttuu3309]

Dedicated for politicians if y are honest with yourself

[@frankmagana4542]

The Guts To Try...

[@jefftroyer1151]

I was in the Army 82nd airborne during this time. We all believed we would be sent to Iran

[@KVSWF]

You may have served with my dad!

[@35t10b]

@@KVSWF I was csc 1/508 82nd airborne I hope your dad is still with us

[@KVSWF]

@@35t10b he is! Retired probably 20+ years ago. It’s always interesting to get his take on this!

[@TankerInTexas]

HE IS "THE MAN IN THE ARENA"

[@tonyak8354]

Had the guts to try.

[@banditeastlick2471]

The start of it actually was ten years before that.

[@milt6208]

Sadly the country under Jimmy Carter was so weak because of the backlash of the Vietnam War. I have always blamed Carter for allowing the the Shah of Iran to come to America for medical treatments when there were many other places for him to go. Those Americans who died there didnt have to.

[@maurotolari9215]

Weak? The Mayagguez incident under Gerald Ford was a disgrace, and a few marines were left behind.

[@milt6208]

​@@maurotolari9215Ford was only a replacement. Jimmy Carter was a disgrace. I was in the military during the Carter years and we had no money to repair anything on my ship. None of our weapons systems worked properly. The boilers were shot it was terrible. We all voted for Reagan and were damn glad he won.

[@thetaggman5311]

Well it was Carter who brought the Mullahs to Iran, it was only fair for him to take the Shah in.

[@gazza1196]

Didn’t the SaS offer to help but America insisted they wouldn’t need it. Shame as they would have pulled it off..rest in peace to the fallen

[@e.r95]

The operation was defeated but Americans learned a good lesseon from that : never ever think to invade IRAN

[@tondog9070]

♥

[@carolecarr5210]

From a FUBAR operation eventually good things came out of a tragic situation. Politics blew this right up the President's derriere.

[@S62bhas]

I was in India 11th grade when this incident happened

[@manmon9094]

The mistake firstly occured when Sgt Matthew detonated a tanker lorry which actually carrying kerosene for fuel then Lt Col Patrick exploding the bus passing by which actually a logistic apparatus to sending the troop to nearby camp. They all are stupid.

[@richschmitt100]

Introduction narrator has it wrong emission didn’t start on February 24, 1980 but rather April 24, 1980. Shame on you for getting that key date wrong.

[@barto4678]

Operation Eagle Claw = Operation Zapata 2 ...

[@leerubybritvic1990]

🎉🎉

[@jhacksb1399]

Bring them home, Joe!

[@robertjones8598]

I could never see how this hostage rescue mission could have succeeded even if they had been able to move those strike troops into Tehran on the helicopters. The Iranians would have had some notice they were coming in. There would have been resistance and likely a lot more casualties and possibly dead hostages. The mission was a Hail Mary play by Jimmy Carter to bolster his weak image, save his presidency and win re-election.

[@alipahlavi7382]

The military threats posed by Iran's enemies have made the Iranians a military superpower. Iran's power will undoubtedly be to destroy the aggressors ❤🇮🇷

[@AA-xo9uw]

Someday all of those mullahs will end up being stacked like cordwood.

[@caleb3781]

Idk, the way Iran's talking about Israel these days, looks like they want their entire military flattened in under a year lol

[@geekypicky810]

​@@caleb3781operations eagle claws, and the 8 years of war Iran had with Iraq (Iraq was backed up by the most strongest countries, USA,Germany,France, they had soldiers from Morocco, Pakistan backed them up politically, etc) Iran still won even tho they were weaker. That's enough to know that this country will never lose, cuz God is on their side

[@syncopatedfeb4770]

thieves

[@Drew_Hurst]

♾💚🕊

[@j1st633]

What are the qualifications to get into flight school?

[@josephbadulak9146]

NORMALLY, when leaders cooperate to prepare & coordinate, a High Priority, Top Secret mission, they make sure ALL personnel have properly prepared themselves & their equipment (to incl. ALL aircraft, beyond maintenance, repairs, and fueling), BEFORE liftoff. That mission presented the Air Force & Marines as a clusterfuk. That is NOT fair! Any branch of military can be staged in either a positive or a negative light. Charlie both selected his DELTA team operators, navigated Pentagon strategically to help Generals (and a civilian) poise US for mission success, and drilled his entire team to predispose becoming the ultimate anti-terrorist weapon for US. DELTA was dependent on aerial transport, to get them to the CORRECT place professionally. The result made headlines of embarrassment. A military operation is NOT anything like taking slipshod vacation. The planning alone takes up much time and intelligent effort; with ultimate goals of SUCCESS.... not blunder. .....unless, the aircraft were sabotaged, by a trusted guard. Any branch of military can have its Special Ops; just like there may be good quality soldiers vs. the ones just 'going along for the ride'. For DELTA's mission to be aborted, those helicopters had BAD maintenance (for such a high failure rate). To help DELTA's odds w the CH-53s, Charlie negotiated for 8; knowing they would need a minimum 6 (which again took 53's failure rates into consideration). As far as the meaning of Maintenance, consider my taking a cross-country trip, from Philly to Sacramento, in a 25 y/o Ford Ranger, w over 600,000 miles on it, and just enough cash to pay for 25 mpg round-trip! My entire mission was success. The mechanic, who pre-tripped the pickup, was NOT in a fancy garage at all. But, let's just say, he's no slouch getting job done RIGHT! So, don't be blaming the helicopter! The mission had too much dependency on 'wild cards'; Did Pentagon keep a 100% lid on secrecy (or did they let-out snippets for appeasement of curious diplomats)? If they having a birthday party at Pentagon, they can prolly tolerate a slight change in the coffee blend served.... but the getRdun end of SOC MUST be respected w direct line of communications..... Charlie emphasized that from early-on. Boy, they brutally sweated the gentleman!! Perhaps Pentagon generals should have IQs looked at? Perhaps those generals might have personality assessments, to discover excessive pride, jealousy, over-active ego¿ Too many cooks in the already crowded kitchen¿ ...after all, we're not making cornflakes, right?

[@jeraldsamuel5598]

A smart plan would have been to impose a navel blockade of Iran until they let the hostages go.

[@saeedvazirian]

Where Iran defeated the US

[@jeraldsamuel5598]

They landed next a road!!!!!!🤨

[@philipbuckley759]

so what was this....poor planning, or a poor leader...Carter....

[@josephbadulak9146]

me wonders who ordered George (& others, no doubt) to not tell that the fiery explosion disappeared the habub? Is it still Top Secret?

[@josephbadulak9146]

😮

[@FryingTiger]

Crap planning. Too much risk.

[@AA-xo9uw]

Too many fingers in the pie.

[@banditeastlick2471]

The advertisement for this video was grooming children by way of promoting homosexuality so therefore I can't like this video. I left the comment to help the algorithm anyway

[@psyched91]

lol

[@headers12]

You people are delusional an idiotic. Trying to turn a video about a great veteran, into your own narrative. Have some respect and go do something productive for once, like getting a job.

[@paulprigge1209]

Never saw it!

[@banditeastlick2471]

@@paulprigge1209 I guess KZbinrs just trying to piss people off. There has to be a name that goes along with this activity

[@madartisphoon5531]

So they actually lost to the sand-storm. What utter display of failure.

[@martintwist5159]

I would love to see you say that to their faces, you utter coward.

[@PanSearedRibeye68]

Marine pilots flying Navy helicopters caused the errors. They are different and had trouble maintaining their positions with the winds. They drifted into the C-130 which caused the explosion.

[@madartisphoon5531]

@@PanSearedRibeye68 yes we all understood that part kid. Still shows the incompetence of us armed forces.

[@daniellee100]

@@madartisphoon5531 So because one guy crashed a helicopter the armed forces are incompetent? You are an actual clown

[@AA-xo9uw]

Never flown in a haboob in a rotary winged platform, have you.

[@roberthorst5790]

i dont condone the hostage taking but the americans should never have ousted Mossadegh back in 1953

[@walkashanger]

The past few generations need to see this. They need to see just how pathetic there gen. is.

[@NicholleChristineEdwards]

So like I says to myself “WHY NOT?” 🇺🇸👏🏻👏🏻