Iran Hostage Memorial - Arlington, Virginia
Posted by: 
flyingmoose
N 38° 52.606 W 077° 04.440
18S E 320089 N 4305146
Memorial to the lives lost during a rescue mission located in Section 46.
Waymark Code: WM14KJF
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 07/21/2021
Views: 7
This memorial is located between the Challenger and Columbia memorials. It is a stone slab in the upright position with a plaque that contains the following text:
In honor of the Members of the United States Armed Forces who died during an attempt to rescue American Hostages held in Iran.
25 April 1980
US Marine Corps
John D Harvey SGT 20 May 1958
George N. Holmes Jr. CPL 20 July 1957
Dewey L, Johnson SSGT 26 May 1948
US Air Force
Richard L. Bakke MAJ 13 May 1946
Harold L. Lewis Jr. MAJ 26 February 1945
Joel C. Mayo TSGT 26 October 1945
Lyn D. McIntosh MAJ 11 October 1946
Charles T. McMillan CAPT 4 October 1951
Taken from the Arlington National Cemetery webpage:
The Iran Rescue Mission Memorial commemorates the role of U.S. service members during a hostage crisis that took place amidst the Iranian Revolution of 1979. In January 1979, Iranian leader Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi fled into exile after a year of escalating protests. Iran's new leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, declared the country an Islamic republic, and his fundamentalist regime encouraged anti-American sentiment. On November 4, 1979, a group of several hundred Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 66 of its employees hostage. The captors released women and African American hostages during the next two weeks, but 53 Americans remained captive.
By the spring of 1980, diplomatic negotiations had reached a stalemate, and President Jimmy Carter authorized a secret military operation, to begin on April 24, to rescue the remaining hostages. During mission preparations, however, a helicopter collided with a transport plane, killing eight American service personnel. The rescue mission was aborted. Iran did not release the hostages until January 20, 1981 — day 444 of their captivity, and the day of President Ronald Reagan's inauguration.
Dedicated in 1983, the Iran Rescue Mission Memorial consists of a white marble column with a bronze plaque listing the names and ranks of those who lost their lives during the mission. Three of the men — Maj. Richard Bakke, Maj. Harold Lewis Jr. and Sgt. Joel Mayo — are buried in a grave marked by a common headstone, located about 25 feet from the group memorial.