Once upon a time, the Village of Highland Falls, New York was the center of the Universe. Well…maybe I’m exaggerating a little. But it certainly seemed that way on a cold winter day almost 45 years ago.

The date was January 25, 1981, and the Village’s main streets were crowded with local residents, visitors and media personnel from all parts of our country waiting eagerly with joyful faces for one reason: The return of 52 American hostages who had been in captivity in Iran for 444 days. They were imprisoned after a violent takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran on November 4,1979 by Islamic militant students.

This attack had resulted from a revolution in Iran which overthrew the monarchy of the Shah of Iran and replaced it with an Islamic fundamentalist government under the leadership of followers of the Ayatollah Khomeni. Among other demands, the Shah was in the United States and the revolutionaries wanted him returned for trial. President Carter refused.

Actually, 66 Americans had been present at the time of the takeover but shortly after, all women and African Americans were released. In July of 1980 another hostage who was seriously ill was released, leaving 52.

These diplomats had been employed in various capacities at the Embassy. This included the Charge d’Affaires, CIA, U.S. Marine guards, and other staff members. During their captivity, the hostages were variously mistreated-- beaten, blindfolded, kept in prisons, held in solitary confinement, and repeatedly threatened with execution.

Back home in the United States television reporters and newspapers updated us on the crisis every single day. The families of the hostages lobbied President Carter continuously for action. One of the wives tied a bright yellow ribbon around a tree in her front yard explaining that she would leave it there until her husband came home. This began a national explosion of yellow ribbon-tying and ribbon-wearing and yellow became the symbol of our concern and hope.

Time passed slowly. Sanctions and international diplomacy met with no success. A failed rescue attempt sorrowfully cost the lives of 8 United States servicemen. There appeared to be no progress in getting our people back. Churches prayed for them. School children sent them Valentines. Average citizens sent letters of encouragement and Christmas cards. Then another year went by and another set of Christmas cards.

Finally, with Algerian diplomats as intermediaries, the return of the hostages was negotiated and became a reality. While our new president, Ronald Reagan, gave his inaugural address on January 20, 1981, the hostages were released and flown by the Algerians to the American base in Wiesbaden, Germany to be medically evaluated before return to the U.S.

So that brings us back to my first statement. The plan was for the hostages to be flown from Germany to Stewart Airport to be reunited with their families in privacy and security at the Hotel Thayer at West Point and remain there for a few days for rest, recuperation, and the hospitality of the United States Military Academy. They would travel from the airport by bus.

Excitement built from the moment of the announcement. The entry point to West Point would be through our own Highland Falls, through OUR little village. As the world rejoiced, we became a symbol for all the villages, towns, and cities across the United States filled with citizens who had been waiting and hoping for this proud moment. At a special moment in our history, we represented an America single-mindedly united by happiness and hope fulfilled. The 52 hostages were free and being safely returned to us.

Yellow-bedecked crowds lined the streets and poured up the embankments. Highland Falls had become “Hometown, USA.”
The thunderous joyful noise that erupted as the buses turned north off Mountain Avenue toward Thayer Gate is something that those who were there can never forget. So many individuals shouting, waving, bursting with happiness, trying to get a glimpse of the faces inside the buses—faces we’d all been praying and thinking about for 444 days. The ground seemed to be shaking. Because here they were, on this long-waited day, together with the ex-captives, celebrating freedom at what surely felt like the Center of the Universe.

The Town of Highlands Historical Society will be remembering the return of the hostages with a special multimedia exhibit titled “Hometown U.S.A: Remembering the Return of the Iran Hostages” the Highland Falls Library from Saturday, September 28 at 12 noon through Saturday, October 5 at 2 p.m. The public is invited.

The exhibit came to life when Fort Montgomery student Grace Suchanyc approached Coffey with the idea of doing an exhibit because she was taking a course at American University in Iranian American Relations.

“She had asked me early in the Spring about the Hostage homecoming and I provided her with some pictures” Coffey said this week. “Her teacher, an Iranian refugee, was impressed with Grace’s report and Grace got the idea that it is a forgotten moment in our history and that maybe she and I could work on an exhibit together, focusing on the role of our community in that homecoming.”

Coffey had just learned that the Historical Society had received a donation of several boxes of artifacts from the collection of William Daugherty, one of the hostages. “So, the exhibit will include many artifacts from that collection as well as items from the historical society’s archives,” she said.

Suchanyc will speak at 12:30 p.m. on the September 28 opening of the exhibit. On Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m., there will be a brief presentation by Coffey.