University of South Carolina Spartanburg - Carolana Yearbook (Spartanburg, SC)

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1980 ' S— WHERE TO, WHAT NEXT? Vol. 1 No. 1 Spartanburg, S.C. uses RESCUE ATTEMPT FAILS April 25, 1980 (AP)— A dramatic effort to free the U.S. hostages in Tehran failed Thursday and the bodies of eight American servicemen were left behind in blaz- ing aircraft wreckage on an Iranian salt desert. The mission was doomed by the malfunction of three helicopters in a fleet of eight. Iranian recolutionary leader Ayatollah RuhoUah Khomeini and the militants holding the 50 American captives reacted with a chilling threat to kill the Ameri- cans if President Carter tries another silly maneuver. Defense Secretary Harold Brown said 90 military men f rom four services plus air crew were involved in the operation that brought aircraft from the carrier Nimitz to Posht Badam, a refueling site in the Iranian desert late Thursday, Iran time. Two of the helicopters had trouble en-route. Brown said. One landed in the desert, its crew then boarded another chopper. Then a second helicopter mal- functioned and returned to the Nimitz. At Posht Badam, 200 miles from Tehran, a third RH-53 chopper was put out of commission by hydraulic problems. That, Brown said, caused the mission to be cancelled. It had been decided a minimum of six helicopters needed to be oper- ational for the mission to continue from the fueling point. By then the rescuers had only five. As the task force prepared to head back, lifting off in the blackness of the desert night, a helicopter and one of six C-I30 transports collided and burst into flames. Eight of our men were killed and four others suffered burns, Brown said. To ensure the safe evacuation of the rest of the party, the commander on the scene directed his men to leave helicopters and depart on the remaining C-130 ' s. (AP) — Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, quietly submitted his resignation to Carter before the rescue at- tempt failed in an Iranian desert because of equipment failures and other mishaps. Sources said Vance was so upset by the decision that he would have left even had it succeeded. FREIGHTER CAUSES DISASTER May 10, 1980 (AP)— A freighter tore out a 1,300 foot section of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge during a blinding thunderstorm Friday, sending a Greyhound bus, a pick-up truck and three cars hurtling 140 feet into Tampa Bay. At least 32 people were killed, authorities said. Eighteen bodies, including that of a baby, were recovered before divers called off their search until the next morning because of foul weather. All 23 people aboard the Miami-bound bus were killed when it sank in 20 feet of water and tangled in the twisted 6teel from the mangled bridge, said Coast Guard Capt. Marshall Gilbert. The toll could go higher, much higher, said Gilbert. There are a number of vehicles underwater and entangled in the bridge, Gil- bert said. There are bodies in at least two of (the vehicles) and we think there are additional vehicles. No injuries were reported aboard the ship, although chunks of the bridge wreck- age landed on its bow. (AP) — Alfred Hitchcock, world reknown master of suspense mov- ies, died in Los Angeles at the age of 80. 13

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