rules. Blue Shirt disappeared, and we waited for another hour. He came back with exciting news. We would be allowed to film inside the exhibit hall but David would have to use their camera. This prompted further discussion. What kind of camera did they have? Would it be compatible with the digital cassettes David used in his camera? He left with those questions, then returned to report that they could not find their camera.
“You will have to hire a camera,” he said.
“But I have a camera!” shouted David, holding up his impressive Sony model. “You can inspect it if you like.”
Even the Revolutionary Guards behind the counter felt our frustration. They joined in the argument —“What’s the big deal? Let them take pictures with their camera.” No, a camera would have to be rented. As a car pulled away to find a rental shop, another official came running with the news that they had located their own.
After a long day of waiting, David and I were finally escorted through the small pine grove at the east end of the compound, past the old two-story white ambassador’s residence where most of the hostages had spent their first days in captivity tied to chairs, and into a small new office building at the rear of the site where the tennis courts had once been. The “official” camera turned out to be exactly the same as the model David was carrying. After exchanging a round of thank-yous and handshakes, he clipped a cassette in it and we set off at last for the chancery building to film the exhibit.
We got about ten steps. Blue Shirt came running back out.
“No, it has been decided that you can only take still pictures, no moving pictures,” he said.
We gave up. We had taken still pictures on the first visit. As we left, crossing the sidewalk out on Taleghani Avenue to hail a cab, the three young Revolutionary Guards from the guardhouse came running out after us. We thought for a minute that the rules had changed again.
They all spoke to Ramin in Farsi, smiling and gesturing toward us, and then he relayed their comments.
“They want me to tell you that they are embarrassed. That they think this is silly. They want to apologize on behalf of their country.”
Ramin grinned as the soldiers kept pulling at him.
“They want me to tell you that they love America. And to tell you, ‘Yeah George Bush!’”
And right there in front of the “Death to the USA” sign, in front of the faded banners denouncing the Great Satan, one of the soldiers stuck his thumb into the air, and said in halting English:
“Okay for George W. Bush!”
Appendix
Fifty-two Americans were held hostage in Iran for the full 444 days. They were:
Thomas L. Ahern, Jr., 48, McLean, VA. CIA station chief.
Clair Cortland Barnes, 35, Falls Church, VA. CIA communications specialist.
William E. Belk, 44, West Columbia, SC. State Department communications and records officer.
Robert O. Blucker, 54, North Little Rock, AR. Economics officer specializing in oil.
Donald J. Cooke, 26, Memphis, TN. Vice consul.
William J. Daugherty, 33, Tulsa, OK. CIA officer.
Lt. Cmdr. Robert Englemann, 34, Hurst, TX. Naval attache.
Sgt. William Gallegos, 22, Pueblo, CO. Marine guard.
Bruce W. German, 44, Rockville, MD. Budget officer.
Sam Gillette, 24, Columbia, PA. Navy communications and intelligence specialist.
Alan B. Golancinksi, 30, Silver Spring, MD. Security officer.
John E. Graves, 53, Reston, VA. Public affairs officer.
Joseph M. Hall, 32, Elyria, OH. Military attache with warrant officer rank.
Sgt. Kevin J. Hermening, 21, Oak Creek, WI. Marine guard.
Sgt. 1st Class Donald R. Hohman, 38, Frankfurt, West Germany. Army medic.
Col. Leland J. Holland, 53, Laurel, MD. Military attache.
Michael Howland, 34, Alexandria, VA. Security aide; one of three held in Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Charles A. Jones, Jr., 40, Communications specialist and teletype operator.
Malcolm Kalp, 42, Fairfax, VA. CIA officer.
Morehead “Mike” C. Kennedy Jr., 50, Washington, D.C. Economics and commercial officer.
William F. Keough, Jr., 50, Brookline, MA. Superintendent of American School in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Cpl. Steven W. Kirtley, 22, Little Rock, AR. Marine guard.
Kathryn L. Koob, 42, Fairfax, VA. Embassy cultural officer.
Frederick Lee Kupke, 34, Francesville, IN. Communications officer and electronics specialist.
L. Bruce Laingen, 58, Bethesda, MD. Charge d’affaires; one of three held in Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Steven Lauterbach, 29, North Dayton, OH. Administrative officer.
Gary E. Lee, 37, Falls Church, VA. Administrative officer.
Sgt. Paul Edward Lewis, 23, Homer, IL. Marine guard.
John W. Limbert, Jr., 37, Washington, D.C. Political officer.
Sgt. James M. Lopez, 22, Globe, AZ. Marine guard.
Sgt. John D. McKeel, Jr., 27, Balch Springs, TX. Marine guard.
Michael J. Metrinko, 34, Olyphant, PA. Political officer.
Jerry J. Miele, 42, Mount Pleasant, PA. CIA communications officer.
Staff Sgt. Michael E. Moeller, 31, Quantico, VA. Head of marine guard unit.
Bert C. Moore, 45, Mount Vernon, OH. Counselor for administration.
Richard H. Morefield, 51, San Diego, CA. U.S. consul general in Tehran.
Capt. Paul M. Needham, Jr., 30, Bellevue, NE. Air force logistics staff officer.
Robert C. Ode, 65, Sun City, AZ. Retired foreign service officer on temporary duty in Tehran.
Sgt. Gregory A. Persinger, 23, Seaford, DE. Marine guard.
Jerry Plotkin, 45, Sherman Oaks, CA. Private businessman visiting Tehran.
MSgt. Regis Regan, 38, Johnstown, PA. Army noncom, assigned to defense attache’s officer.
Lt. Col. David M. Roeder, 41, Alexandria, VA. Deputy air force attache.
Barry M. Rosen, 36, Brooklyn, NY. Press attache.
William B. Royer, Jr., 49, Houston, TX. Assistant director of Iran-American Society.
Col. Thomas E. Schaefer, 50, Tacoma, WA. Air Force attache.
Col. Charles W. Scott, 48, Stone Mountain, GA. Army officer, military liaison.
Cmdr. Donald A. Sharer, 40, Chesapeake, VA. Naval air attache.
Sgt. Rodney V. (Rocky) Sickmann, 22, Krakow, MO. Marine guard.
Staff Sgt. Joseph Subic, Jr., 23, Redford Township, MI. Military policeman (army) on defense attache’s staff.
Elizabeth Ann Swift, 40, Washington, D.C. Chief of embassy’s political section.
Victor L. Tomseth, 39, Springfield, OR. Senior political officer; one of three held in Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Phillip R. Ward, 40, Culpeper, VA. CIA communications officer.
Freed on July 11, 1980, because of an illness later diagnosed as multiple sclerosis, was:
Richard I. Queen, 28, New York, NY. Vice consul.
Six Americans escaped the embassy and were hidden and ultimately smuggled out of Iran by the Canadian and Swedish embassies. They were:
