Feb. 23, 2023

Seaborne Evacuation of Iran

Almost one year after Jimmy Carter became president of the United States a revolution erupted in Iran that would bring about major social, political, and economic change. It would also compel Western nationals living there to leave the country in a rather urgent manner.In the wake of the Iranian Revolution (January 1978 - February 1979), many

Feb. 22, 2019

Remembering the U.S. Navy's Iranian Evacuation of 1979

Forty years ago this week, as American citizens and other foreign nationals were scrambling to flee Iran following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, four U.S. Navy ships were off the coast in international waters preparing for an evacuation operation. I was on one of those ships, the San Diego-based guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 31). We