Good to see you! Welcome back! He smiled and shook hands--there was David Behne, there was Dick Morrison, the faces blurred and the words melted into one big warm hello.
When Paul and Bill walked in with their wives and children, the cheering rose to a roar.
Ross Perot, standing at the front, felt tears come to his eyes. He was more tired than he had ever been in his life, but immensely satisfied. He thought of all the luck and all the coincidences that had made the rescue possible: the fact that he knew Simons, that Simons had been willing to go, that EDS had hired Vietnam veterans, that
And he thought of all the things that might have gone wrong. He recalled the proverb: success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan. In a few minutes he would stand up and tell these people a little of what had happened and how Paul and Bill were brought home. But it would be hard to put into words the risks that had been taken, the awful cost if the thing had gone badly and ended in the criminal courts or worse. He remembered the day he left Tehran, and how he had superstitiously thought of luck as sand running through an hourglass. Suddenly he saw the hourglass again, and all the sand had run out. He grinned to himself, picked up the imaginary glass, and turned it upside down.
Simons bent down and spoke in Perot's ear. 'Remember you offered to pay me?'
Perot would never forget it. When Simons gave you that icy look, you froze. 'I sure do.'
'See this?' said Simons, inclining his head.
Paul was walking toward them, carrying Ann Marie in his arms, through the crowd of cheering friends. 'I see it,' said Perot.
Simons said: 'I just got paid.' He drew on his cigar.
At last the room quieted down, and Perot began to speak. He called Rashid over and put his arm around the young man's shoulders. 'I want you to meet a key member of the rescue team,' he said to the crowd. 'As Colonel Simons said, Rashid only weighs a hundred and forty pounds, but he has five hundred pounds of courage.'
They all laughed and clapped again. Rashid looked around. Many times, many times he had thought about going to America; but in his wildest dreams he had never imagined that his welcome would be like this!
Perot began to tell the story. Listening, Paul felt oddly humble. He was not a hero. The others were the heroes. He was privileged. He belonged with just about the finest bunch of people in the whole world.
Bill looked around the crowd and saw Ron Sperberg, a good friend and a colleague for years. Sperberg was wearing a great big cowboy hat. We're back in Texas, Bill thought. This is the heartland of the U.S.A., the safest place in the world; they can't reach us here. This time, the nightmare is
We're home.
EPILOGUE
Jay and Liz Coburn were divorced. Kristi, the second daughter, the emotional one, chose to live with her father. Coburn was made Manager of Human Resources for EDS Federal. In September 1982 he and Ross Perot, Jr., became the first men to fly around the world in a helicopter. The aircraft they used is now in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. It is called
Paul became Comptroller of EDS and Bill became Medicaid Marketing Director in the Health Care Division.
Joe Poche, Pat Sculley, Jim Schwebach, Ron Davis, and Rashid all continued to work for EDS in various parts of the world. Davis's wife, Marva, gave birth to a boy, Benjamin, on July 18, 1979.
Keane Taylor was made Country Manager for EDS in the Netherlands, where he was joined by Glenn Jackson. Gayden continued to be head of EDS World, and therefore Taylor's boss.
John Howell was made a full partner in Tom Luce's law firm, Hughes and Hill. Angela Howell had another baby, Sarah, on June 19, 1980.
Rich Gallagher left EDS on July 1, 1979. An easterner, he had never quite felt one of the boys at EDS. Lloyd Briggs and Paul Bucha, two more easterners, left around the same time.
Ralph Boulware also parted company with EDS.
Lulu May Perot, Ross Perot's mother, died on April 3, 1979.
Ross Perot, Jr., graduated from college and went to work for his father in the fall of 1981. A year later Nancy Perot did the same. Perot himself just went on making more and more money. His real estate appreciated, his oil company found wells, and EDS won more and bigger contracts. EDS shares, priced around eighteen dollars apiece when Paul and Bill were arrested, were worth six times that four years later.
Colonel Simons died on May 21, 1979, after a series of heart attacks. In the last few weeks of his life, his constant companion was Anita Melton, the zany stewardess from the Boeing 707. They had an odd, tragic relationship: they never became lovers in the physical sense, but they were in love. They lived together in the guest cottage at Perot's Dallas house. She taught him to cook, and he started her jogging, timing her with a stopwatch. They held hands a lot. After Simons died, his son Harry and Harry's wife, Shawn, had a baby boy. They named him Arthur Simons, Jr.
On November 4, 1979, the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was once again overrun by militant Iranians. This time they took hostages. Fifty-two Americans were held prisoner for more than a year. A rescue mission mounted by President Carter came to an ignominious end in the deserts of central Iran.
But then, Carter did not have the help of Bull Simons.
APPENDIX
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, DALLAS DIVISION
ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORP. IRAN
VS.
SOCIAL SECURITY ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN, THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELFARE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN, THE GOVT. OF IRAN
NO. CA3-79-218-F
Neither EDSCI nor anyone on its behalf procured the contract unlawfully. No evidence showed bribery of any official or employee of Defendants in order to secure the contract, nor did the evidence suggest the existence of fraud or public corruption in procurement of the contract ...
The price of the contract was not exorbitant; rather, the evidence showed that the price was reasonable and in accordance with amounts charged by EDS to others for similar services. The price did not compare unfavorably with amounts charged by others in the health care industry for similar services ...
The failure by SSO and the Ministry to provide written notice of nonacceptance of unpaid invoices was inexcusable and therefore constituted a breach of the contract. The assignment of Dr. Towliati to SSO as Deputy Managing Director did not effect such an excuse. I do not find evidence that Dr. Towliati's services influenced the process of approval for invoices, nor do I find evidence that Dr. Towliati functioned improperly in his review of performance under the contract. Rather, the evidence showed that the Ministry and SSO had full and continuous opportunity to monitor EDSCI's performance. Moreover, I do not find credible evidence of trickery or that EDSCI conspired with anyone to gain wrongful approval for payment of its invoices or to deny the Defendants fair opportunity for their evaluation of EDSCI's performance under the contract ...
EDSCI did not materially breach its performance obligations under the contract; rather, EDSCI substantially
