Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1981)
Ex-hostages come home to tears, cheers WEST POINT, N Y. (AP) - The 52 hostages came home Sunday, home to a sun splashed welcome, home to a nation’s love. Home to America A presidential military jet called "Freedom One” carried the former prisoners of Iran to a hillside airport and the private embrace of their families. Then — together at last — the hostages and their relatives rode at dusk through cheering, waving crowds lining Hudson Valley roads to a wild hello at the gates of the U S. Military Academy at West Point, where they have been promised two days of privacy. Pres. Reagan stayed at the White House to give the hos tages and their families what they most wanted: the chance to talk to each other, alone Reagan met with the families Sunday morning in the State Dining Room at the White House to send them off to the reunion. It was an emotional moment; he choked up. Tears in his eyes, the new president said, "Since we all didn’t get to church this morn ing because of this (ceremony), can we just say, Dear God, thank You. Thank You for what You’ve done And God give you the understanding and the pa tience that you’ll need now with regard to this homecoming and get-together. Amen.” A great national welcoming, led by Reagan, is scheduled for Army airlifts ex-hostage to ailing mom’s bedside JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Regis Ragan, one of the 52 American hostages who re turned to the United States Sunday, was flown immediately to his hometown so he could be at his ailing mother’s hospital bedside. Ragan, 38, flew with the other hostages from West Germany to Newburgh, N.Y., then was taken by a small aircraft to John stown's Cambria County Air port, according to the John stown Tribune-Democrat. He was met by Lt. Col. Jim Peterson, who had been as signed by the Army to aid the family after Mrs. Anna Ragan was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after taking the first telephone call from her son when he landed in West Ger many. She was reported in stable condition in the coronary care unit of the hospital and authori ties said her condition had not worsened State Department spokes woman Susan Pitman at West Point, N.Y., confirmed that Ragan went home, but she would not disclose any details. Asked if any of the other ex hostages had left, she would only say, “I can't tell you that." Peterson would not comment on Ragan’s plans, and it was not known whether he planned to join the other hostages Tuesday in Washington for a meeting with President Reagan. Mrs. Ragan, 69, had been de scribed as having been under tremendous pressure during the "\4'/2 months her son was held in Iran. Moscow blasts Carter policy; U.S. calls claims ‘scurrilous’ MOSCOW (AP) - The Soviet Communist Party, ignoring U S. protests, published a commen tary Sunday accusing former President Carter of using Iran’s seizure of the American hos tages as a pretext to build up U S. military might in the Persian Gulf region. The article in the party news paper Pravda followed two days of U.S. government pro tests against Soviet media coverage of the hostage crisis. A separate Pravda commen tary by the same author, Boris Orehkhov, condemned Carter as a "shortsighted figure” and an “unreliable partner in inter national relations," but held out hope for improved relations with the new administration of Pre sident Reagan. The Soviet media have con sistently proclaimed its sym pathies for the Iranians who held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days and repeatedly stressed the hostages were “arrested" on charges of ‘espionage.’' The U S. Embassy in Moscow delivered notes Friday and Sat urday to the Soviet Foreign Ministry protesting those reports Mid-Winter Sale reg. now NorthFace Polarguard Jackets $75.50 $49.95 NorthFace Polarguard Vests $47.50 $29.95 French Guide Sweater— $56.00 $30.00 100% Virgin Worsted Wool; the best! Sale runs Mon., Jan. 26 through Sat., Jan. 31 Hours: M-Sat. 9:30-5:30 Sun. 12-5 686-2332 57 W. Broadway On the Downtown Mall aC / /vw Washington on Tuesday — a week after the hostages' release after 14'/2 months in captivity. This was the most dramatic homecoming the nation has seen since prisoners of war flew home from North Vietnam in 1973. For the hostages, the trip started early Sunday at the Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany There was a somber moment, though, when the motorcade carrying the hostages and their families twisted through the hills to West Point. It passed eight flagpoles flying American flags at half staff, in memory of eight servicemen killed in a failed rescue attempt last April. As the hostages passed through the village of Highland Falls, a church bell pealed 444 times, once for each day in captivity. Finally the hostages’ long trip was over and they poured into the Hotel Thayer where the assistant manager, Lee Curtis, offered them iced shrimp, chips, dips, hors d’oeurves and drinks, and left them on their own. When the plane landed at Stewart Airport at Newburgh, N Y., the first hostage off, a Ma rine, kissed American ground. Eight more Marines followed, crisp in fresh uniforms, and each saluted America as he stood in the plane doorway The hostages’ families flood ed the tarmac ‘ Thank God!’’ they cried "God bless America!” When the'plane landed and its doors flew open, the hostages emerged, one by one, smiling and waving But some had to be helped down the stairs. At the gates of the U S Mili tary Academy at West Point, several thousands persons gathered. They chanted: -"U S A ! U S A !” —And: "Fifty-two, we love you.” Many waved flags in the cold, brilliant, weather. After half an hour of privacy, the hostages and families boarded buses for the ride to West Point. Women were seen walking arm-in-arm with their long-gone husbands, wiping tears from their eyes R R R Mg i J ,**• R R iR $ I ,**■ k K'f [R R R v1^ R I i** R R i € R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Texas Instruments i ncorpora1 E D /V / R • •• ^ >v / *r> ^ .*■ /s sj >' * / 6%A<N> $ / TI-58C The advanced programmable calculator with plug-in Solid State Software modules. Texas Instruments new Tl Programmable 58C with Constant Memory feature is a revolutionary advance in personal programmable calculators. 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