Steve Crowley Sergeant Steven J . Crowley ( March 27 , 1959 – November 21 , 1979 ) was a Marine Security Guard killed during the 1979 U . S . embassy burning in Islamabad . Life . Steven Crowley was blonde , 6 ' 5 " tall and was from Port Jefferson Station , New York . He attended Comsewogue High School where he graduated in 1977 . While attending Comsewogue he participated in varsity Cross Country and Track & Field . Individuals who knew him described him as chivalrous and cordial . A few months prior to his death , Crowley had begun dating Beth Rideout , the 17 - year - old president of the student body at the International School in Islamabad . Siege Of The Embassy . On November 20 , 1979 , a Saudi Arabian Islamic zealot group led a takeover of the Mosque at Mecca . Iran ' s Ayatollah Khomeini immediately claimed that Americans were behind the attack on Islam ' s holiest place , and this claim was repeated in media reports the morning of November 21 . On the afternoon of November 21 , 1979 , Pakistani students , enraged by a radio report claiming that the U . S . had bombed Islam ' s holy site at Mecca , stormed the U . S . Embassy at Islamabad . At the time of the attack , Steven Crowley was a corporal assigned to the Marine Security Guard Battalion Detachment in Islamabad . Police assigned to protect the Embassy were driven back by rioters , who used a battering ram to break down the brick column holding the gate to the Embassy . When the gate fell , the mob surged onto the Embassy grounds . Shots were fired , and stones and other missiles began to break the building ' s windows . Crowley , who was posted on the roof of the Embassy to assess the demonstration , was shot by a sniper just above his left ear and was brought back into the building by two of his colleagues . As the rioters swarmed towards the chancery doors , the embassy staff took shelter in a steel - encased , windowless vault on the top floor of the building , which the rioters had set on fire . Crowley was in another part of the vault under the care of Fran Fields , a registered nurse and the wife of Administrative Counselor Dave Fields . While in the vault , the staff members organized themselves into groups by blood type similar to Crowley ' s in case they were to be rescued and a transfusion were needed . This did not end up being necessary as Crowley never regained consciousness . As the siege dragged on throughout the day , Political Counselor Herbert G . Hagerty was informed that Corporal Crowley had died at 3 : 55 PM . Fearing that the news would set off a panic inside the vault , Hagerty and others declined to inform the rest of the staff . At 5 PM , as the sun dropped and temperatures began to cool , the rioters began to disperse . After ensuring that it was safe to leave the vault , the staff members climbed out and onto the roof of the embassy . The MSG Detachment Commander , Gunnery Sergeant Lloyd Miller , informed the staff that he was not going to leave his dead Marine in the building . Miller climbed up to the auditorium roof , then onto the main roof and to the hatch of the vault . Miller emerged a few moments later and slowly climbed down the ladder , rung by rung , with the body of Corporal Crowley over his shoulder in a fireman ' s carry . Aftermath . On November 23 , 400 shocked diplomats flew out of Pakistan on a commercial jet with the body of Crowley in the hold of the aircraft . U . S . President Jimmy Carter sat next to Crowley ' s mother , Georgine , at his funeral in Arlington . In a search of the embassy grounds after order had been restored , at least another six casualties were confirmed : one American and two Pakistani staff members , a U . S . Army soldier , and two rioters . The Pakistani government would later pay the U . S . government $ 121 million to rebuild the Embassy compound after failing to prevent the riot . Corporal Crowley was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant . Crowley was also awarded the Bronze Star with " V " device and a Purple Heart . On November 30 , 2006 , a plaque and classroom were dedicated to Crowley at the Marine Security Guard School in Quantico , VA .