IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 256
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in remembrance of 
the brave servicemen who perished in the disastrous April 24, 1980, 
rescue attempt of the American hostages in Iran. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 3, 2005
Mr. SAXTON (for himself, Mr. HAYES, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. AKIN, Mr. 
ANDREWS, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 
LOBIONDO, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. KLINE, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, 
and Mr. MCINTYRE) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Armed Services 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in 
remembrance of the brave servicemen who perished in 
the disastrous April 24, 1980, rescue attempt of the 
American hostages in Iran.
Whereas on November 4, 1979, Islamic extremists stormed 
the United States Embassy in Tehran and took 66 Amer-
ican hostages, 13 of whom were released on November 19 
and 20, 1979; 
Whereas after months of diplomatic negotiations, planning, 
and intergovernmental debate, a complex rescue mission 
dubbed ‘‘Operation Eagle Claw’’ was approved by Presi-
dent Carter on April 16, 1980;
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Whereas on April 24, 1980, a Task Force comprised of 
United States Army Special Operations Forces, Army 
Rangers, Air Force Special Operations Wing personnel, 
and United States Navy, Marine, and Air Force pilots 
succeeded in moving thousands of miles undetected until 
reaching a remote location in the Iranian desert known 
by the code name ‘‘Desert One’’; 
Whereas due to mechanical failures and weather problems 
only 6 out of 8 helicopters successfully arrived at Desert 
One; 
Whereas at Desert One, a combination of helicopters and 
MC–130/EC–130 gunships rendezvoused with the inten-
tion of rescuing the hostages 200 miles away in Tehran 
the following evening; 
Whereas 6 helicopters was the minimum number of heli-
copters that could successfully complete Operation Eagle 
Claw; 
Whereas the bravery, dedication, and level of operational ex-
pertise of the men who participated in the mission were 
evident from the onset and tested by the mechanical and 
weather problems suffered in route to the rendezvous 
point; 
Whereas within minutes of the arrival of the MC–130 Com-
bat Talon at Desert One, the ground security force 
stopped a bus with 44 Iranians aboard and then a gaso-
line truck was blown up when it tried to pass through a 
roadblock that shielded the western entrance to Desert 
One; 
Whereas once all of the helicopters had arrived, the rescue at-
tempt was dealt its final blow when it was learned that 
one of the helicopters had lost its primary hydraulic sys-
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tem and was unsafe to use fully loaded for the final as-
sault on Tehran; 
Whereas once the aircraft began moving into position to re-
turn to their respective launching points, one of the heli-
copters collided with a C–130 aircraft on the ground; 
Whereas flames engulfed the helicopter and the C–130 and 
resulted in the death of 5 airmen and 3 Marines; 
Whereas other soldiers were burned but survived, while their 
fellow soldiers acted bravely in restoring order and man-
aged to evacuate the wounded men and salvageable 
equipment back to friendly territory; 
Whereas Members of Congress were dismayed with the poor 
equipment, lack of funding, and inattention given to our 
special operations forces that came to light because of 
this aborted mission; 
Whereas in response, legislation was enacted to form the 
United States Special Operations Command; 
Whereas USSOCOM continues to prove its immense value to 
our national defense as witnessed by the sterling per-
formance of our special operations forces in Afghanistan, 
Iraq, and many other countries of the world; and 
Whereas we owe a great debt of gratitude to the members 
and families of our Special Operations Forces: Now 
therefore be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) recognizes the bravery, sacrifice, and patri-
otism of the soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines 
who participated in Operation Eagle Claw; and