(Image from USS Midway, CV-41, Cruisebook 1979-80. We thought we were going to war with Iran 45 years ago).
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So, the discussion was solemn this morning talking about the three Yanks killed and 34 wounded- KIA/WIA is the was we used to say it. We wanted to try Amanda’s Disclaimer and take it around the block and ease that concern that a single sentence would absolve us of liability. Then we argued a bit- nicely- about how to handle a real tragedy in the here-and-now.
Reports are still a bit jumbled and except for those three soldiers who died, we have seen figures on wounded vary from the mid-twenties to the mid-thirties.
(Please save a prayer for each of our KIA: Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia. Remember the sacrifice of the wounded. The Pentagon was fairly brief in their announcement this morning, stating our young people were killed or injured in the Jan. 28, 2024, in Jordan).
There is much more. The US base was part of a network of installations across Iraq, Jordan and Syria. The one struck was known as “Tower 22,” and occupied a position in NE Jordan near the tri-state borders of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. There is talk that happenstance was a key contributor to the disaster. Apparently a Hizbollah Un-manned Aerial Vehicle was sent to penetrate air defenses. At the same time, a US drone was returning from a mission and defensive systems took on the wrong target.
We were never in that kind of danger 45 years ago, but we have been jousting Iran’s proxy warriors for most of our lives. We thought something horrible was going to come from Iran’s desire to be a regional power. When the Shah was still in power we even agreed with it. Our part in this? We were dispatched from our homeport in Yokosuka, Japan, to perform a presence mission in the Indian Ocean, and show our gray steel resolve in Australia and Africa.
While we were enjoying the many pleasures of Perth, Western Australia, the US Embassy in Tehran was seized and our Embassy staff taken prisoner.
The following weeks of our cruise were filled with assumptions. The first of those was the assumption that we were going to do something about it. We were right, but it took longer than we expected. More ships arrived as we circled GONZO Station in the IO’s placid azure waters. We were underway for a hundred days, and when USS Nimitz and Coral Sea arrived on station they let us go “home” to Japan.
Operation Eagle Claw, the big rescue attempt, was ordered by President Jimmy Carter and scheduled for April of 1980. It was an act of war, but not in the way anyone expected. The rescue attempt failed and eight Delta Force troops were kiilled in the crash of a helicopter and C-130 transport at staging site DESERT ONE. The mission was aborted, though the 52 Embassy staff held were eventually released amid a US General Election campaign. So, those were the first Americans to die in the long twilight struggle.
That was high drama, followed by years of uncertain relations that melded over time into a White House that seemed to believe the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was going to let everyone step back from the brink of war. Last week two SEALs died in an interdiction attempt of a merchant ship in the Red Sea. The Iranians provided the UAV used for the attack on Tower 22. So, eight plus two plus three makes the count thirteen.
We now have more than a dozen lives lost. Status is unknown for what will happen next. There are calls for swift and deadly response. There are reports that the Iranians are only weeks away from an atomic capability. We have been expecting trouble with them for nearly fifty years and it finally appears to be here.
We took a poll, and decided we prefer an honorable peace. Problem is, we are not sure who send it to.
Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
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