--- title: "What British civilians did for special operators after ‘Desert One’ will tear you up" description: "A documentary from Filmmaker Barbara Koppel, \"Desert One,\" explores the leadup and fallout of Operation Eagle Claw." date: "2021-09-03" modified: "2022-10-24" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake.md" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/british-civilians-desert-one/" categories: - "History" - "Special Operations" - "Tactical" tags: - "Iran" - "Military History" - "Special Operations" --- # What British civilians did for special operators after ‘Desert One’ will tear you up ![crash at desert one special operations command]() *The remains of special operations aircraft at Desert One the day after the doomed mission. (Airborne and Special Operations Museum)* "To you all from us all for having the guts to try." These were the words [written on the cases of beer]() waiting for American special operations troops in Oman on Apr. 25, 1980. They were gifted to the U.S. service members by British civilians working at the airfield. **Also Read: **[Operation Eagle Claw: The story behind the failed hostage rescue in Iran]()**** The British didn't know for sure who the American troops were, but what they did know came from news reports in Iran and the United States that a group of Army Delta Force soldiers, United States Marines, and Air Force aircrews flew out of their base to an unknown destination and returned many hours later. British airfield operators also knew that not everyone had come back. By the time President Jimmy Carter gave Operation Eagle Claw the green light, hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran had been held for 174 days. The operational ground force commander was also the legendary founder of Delta Force, Col. Charlie Beckwith—and no one was more eager to get going. A documentary from filmmaker Barbara Koppel, "[Desert One]()," explores the lead-up and fallout of Operation Eagle Claw, the U.S. military's failed attempt to rescue the hostages. It also details every angle of the event from people who were on the ground, with interviews from those who were there. The interviewees include veteran members of the Eagle Claw mission and their families, Iranians who were holding Americans hostage at the embassy, a handful of the hostages, an Iranian who was part of a group of locals who came upon the landing site in the middle of the night, and even remarks from President Carter and Vice-President Walter Mondale. Carter, dedicated to achieving the release of the hostages through diplomatic means, still charged Beckwith with creating a hostage rescue plan. Carter exhausted every channel before giving Beckwith the go-ahead, but Beckwith was ready. The plan was incredibly complex, and with so many moving parts, many felt it had little chance of success, even then. And it was a view even many of the Deltas agreed with. Coming into a remote desert location near Tehran, codenamed "Desert One," three U.S. Air Force C-130s would deliver 120 Delta Force operators destined for the Embassy, Special Forces troops to retrieve hostages from the foreign affairs ministry building, a U.S. Army ranger team, and a handful of Farsi-speaking truck drivers. Desert One would be the staging area for the planes and refueling bladders, guarded by an airfield protection team. Eight RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters from the USS Nimitz would be dispatched to Desert One to refuel and take soldiers to another desert site, Desert Two, where they would hide until nightfall. CIA operatives would take trucks to Desert Two and drive soldiers to Tehran. There, the rangers would capture an abandoned air base outside of the city as a landing place for two C-141 Starlifter aircraft. During the assault, the helicopters would fly from Desert Two to a soccer stadium near the embassy in Tehran to kill the guards, pick up the hostages, and fly them to the Starlifters. The helicopters would be destroyed on the ground, and everyone would fly aboard the C-141s to Egypt. The rescue mission never made it past Desert One. A number of unforeseen incidents, including Iranian citizens, an intense dust storm, and mechanical failures, contributed to the failure of Eagle Claw. After a tragic accident at the airfield claimed eight lives and the mission lost the minimum number of helicopters needed, Carter ordered them to abort. To this day, Carter accepts responsibility for the failure of the mission, as he did on Apr. 25, 1980, when he made a televised address to the American people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Km3dx7wppA "I ordered this rescue mission prepared in order to safeguard American lives, to protect America's national interests, and to reduce the tensions in the world that have been caused among many nations as this crisis has continued," the president said. "It was my decision to attempt the rescue operation. It was my decision to cancel it when problems developed in the placement of our rescue team for a future rescue operation. The responsibility is fully my own." When looking back on his time as President, whenever Carter is asked what he would do differently in his administration, his answer is [always the same](): "I would send one more helicopter." When the Americans returned to Oman and the British civilians realized who they were and from where they'd just come, they rounded up any beer they could and left the now-famous note. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]() ## More - [Operation Eagle Claw: The story behind the failed hostage rescue in Iran]() - [The history of American-Iranian relations is a lesson in unintended consequences]() - [The first Muslim Green Beret was also in Iran’s Special Forces]() - [The founder of Delta Force was almost impossible to kill]() - [This C-130 crashed testing a system designed for the (second) mission to rescue the Iranian hostages]() - [The human cost of the most daring special operations raids in history]() - [This special operator was a real life ‘Jason Bourne’]() - [Delta Force finds its best counterterrorism operators with the ‘Long Walk’]()