US Navy
Iranian Hostage Crises
1979-1981
Commander Donald A. Sharer
(Bedford)
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States. More than sixty Americans were held hostage for 444 days (November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981) after a group of Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The students were protesting against the US allowing the deposed Shah to enter the US for medical treatment.
Cmdr Sharer, an expert in naval aviation with 234 missions over North Viet Nam, was assigned to the embassy to assist the Shah of Iran's government with the eight F-14 Tomcats that had recently been purchased from the United States.
On the morning of November 4, 1979, after the protestors stormed the embassy, Sharer, along with others made it up to the third floor which was the secure floor. Officials in Washington told them to lay down their weapons and surrender. The Americans were blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs. An American sergeant, trying to win favor with his captors came through and identified each of the Americans.
Sharer endured 444 days of terror and boredom. His captors would sit him in a chair while he was blind folded and stick a gun against his head. This was repeated several times a day.
He fought against the boredom by exercising, and reading. Also he and the other captives developed a tap code where they could communicate with each other by tapping on the wall.
Their food consisted of a little rice, beans and che. His most memorable meal while a captive was on Thanksgiving 1979 when the guard brought in rice and a can of food that smelled like tuna. After eating some of it, a guard came running in and telling him to stop, it was a can of cat food. Sharer quickly gulped down the rest before it was taken away.
The hostages were returned on January 21, 1981. Sharer was flown to Wiesbaden, Germany before returning to the United States.
Sharer upon his release showing off a t-shirt that had been sent to him as a gift.
Photo taken in 1988 at a reunion of the hostages.
Vice Admiral David F. Emerson
(Angola)
Vice Admiral Emerson enlisted into the Navy in 1944 and served on an LST in the South Pacific. After the war, he was accepted into the US Naval Academy, graduating in 1950.
Earning his wings during the Korean War, he was seriously injured during a carrier landing and became a line officer. He served in Vietnam with distinction, retiring in 1980.
