Bucher's petition eventually resulted in the Navy's supporting an amendment to the POW Medal statute to allow eligibility for service members taken captive during situations other than armed conflict. Congressman Robert Lagomarsino, author of the original POW Medal legislation, also agreed with Bucher. He said in an affidavit that the "Pueblo" crew were denied the medal due to a "technicality," and claimed that "it was never my intent to preclude the crew members of the U.S.S. Pueblo from eligibility for this medal." Others, including the military hostages held during the US Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran, Iran (from 1979–1981) likewise objected to their ineligibility. Responding to May 1989 congressional inquiry on behalf of the Iran hostages, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense David J. Berteau noted that "many Service members have been held as hostages, detainees or internees who do not meet the criteria for award of the POW Medal."