OPERATION HOTFOOT (STFU, Jimmy Carter; here's what Perot/Green Beret Simons did about Iran hostages)

Also, because of malfunctions, the helicopters arrived on station late, blowing the rescue schedule had to fly below 200 feet even though the military detected Iranian radar signals at 3000 feet. This, of course, caused a dust storm which lead to the accident.

Thanks for taking the time to write this. I read an excerpt also, chapter 1.

Have you seen the 5 part mini series based on the book with Burt Lancaster?

Did not see the miniseries.

I met Bull back in the day. I would of followed him into hell with a spit ball and a pompom. He was that kind of guy.

Simons was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery Branch in 1941, and was initially assigned to the 98th Field Artillery Battalion, a part of one of the Army's pack mule units (the 347 mules being used to carry the 75mm Pack Howitzer M1, the lightest American artillery piece in WWII). In his first assignment as a Platoon Leader, the new lieutenant was so quiet and reserved (he later said he wanted to learn from the sergeants that seemed to know their business well) that one of his sergeants came to believe that Simons was a mute. The unit was dispatched to Australia, but immediately diverted to New Guinea in the early stages of World War II, and Simons thrived in the harsh jungle environment. He was soon promoted to Captain and served as a Battery Commander in the battalion from 1942-43. The mules themselves did not prove suitable in the jungle, and the unit was dissolved in 1943. CPT Simons took his battery to the newly forming Ranger Battalion that would come out of the dissolution of his old unit. He would soon become the commander of "B" (Baker) Company and later the Battalion Executive Officer (XO) of the 6th Ranger Battalion under LTC Henry Mucci. Simons participated in several hazardous landings with the Rangers in the Pacific. He led a team of engineers and Navy personnel tasked to de-mine the Leyte channel before the invasion of the island began in earnest. On Luzon in the Philippines, he participated in the famous Cabanatuan Raid that rescued approximately 500 POWs who were mostly survivors of the Bataan Death March.[citation needed] (For his actions in the raid he was awarded the Silver Star.)[citation needed] He quickly rose to the rank of Major and continued to prove his worth as a combat leader. At the conclusion of the Second World War, Major Simons left the active Army for five years. Simons was recalled to active duty in 1951 to serve as an infantry instructor and Ranger trainer in the Amphibious and Jungle Training camp at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Other assignments included a year as a Public Information Officer (PIO, now "Public Affairs Officer" or PAO) at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, a job that he despised (he held a low opinion of the media, one that would prove itself in later years and assignments. "The press hasn't done very well for the American soldier," he would later remark.) Simons also completed tours with the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Turkey and XVIII Airborne Corps before joining the 77th Special Forces Group in 1958. In 1960 he served as Deputy Commander/Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Special Warfare Center. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1961, he commanded the 107-man Operation White Star Mobile Training Team in Laos from 1961 to 1962 and was the first commander of the 8th Special Forces Group, Panama from 1962 to 1964. From Panama, he was assigned to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACVSOG), which conducted numerous behind-the-line missions in Southeast Asia. In 1970, Simons was hand-picked to be the ground commander of Operation Ivory Coast, a joint special operations effort to rescue American prisoners of war from the Son Tay prison in North Vietnam. While the mission rescued no prisoners (due to an intelligence failure, the raiders were not notified that the prisoners had been moved a few months earlier), it did force North Vietnam to consolidate all of the prisoners into a few central compounds in Hanoi, resulting in a boost in the prisoners' morale and improved treatment. They were also heartened to know that a rescue effort had been attempted. While the mission did not accomplish its primary objective, the North Vietnamese were given pause at the ease in which Americans could invade so close to their capitol, and no American lives were lost in the operation (and only one minor injury, a sprained ankle). For his outstanding leadership, Simons was decorated by President Richard M. Nixon with the Distinguished Service Cross at the White House on November 25, 1970. Simons' nickname "Bull" was taken from a physical training game called the "bull pit," whereby one Soldier climbs down into a pit in the ground, and other Soldiers engage in trying to pull the first Soldier from the pit. Simon's large physical stature and great strength (even in his fifties, he did 250 push-ups every day) made him a formidable challenge to remove from the pit, and the name "Bull" stuck.

It makes sense that they portray the Americans as embezzling the Iranian’s money,

BUT Iran during the Shah’s reign was one of the third or fourth riches countries in the world. How could they go bankrupt?

The movie arrived last week, and I watched it during the holidays. kind of hard to believe at one point where they have Rajeeve insighting a riot and the breaking in of the prison.

Reminds me of what an utter useless Jimmy Carter was.

A country of thugs hijacked our embassy. Our marines don’t shoot and are all captured.

There were many things the USA could have done to get them out starting with a full milatary blockage of their ports.

Of course, they didn’t have precision bombing then.