Recalling the sacrifices of the Iran mission, 1980

VFW Magazine, Jan, 2003

Thanks for "Calamity at Desert One" (November) by Rudy Wright. It is about time the heroes of that mission are known to the public. Both EC-130s involved were on loan from the Airborne Battlefield Command & Control Squadron (formerly the 7th ACCS). A brass plaque still rests in tribute in the cockpit of aircraft #1857 in memory of those killed that tragic night.

John M. Taggart, Seale, Ala.

This article was right on the money from everything I can recall. As a junior officer, I served as the historian for HMH-461, MAG-26. That squadron lost two enlisted Marines in that terrible tragedy. Later, I flew with the man who co-piloted the helicopter that crashed into the C-130.

The fact they tried and we, as a country, learned so much from that awful day shows we were not defeated. To the contrary, we succeeded in ways not yet imaginable, namely in the creation of the Special Operations Command.

Chuck Meachum
Lewisburg, Pa.