Statement of Major Steven Kirtley (USMC, Ret.)
Before the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia and the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation
February 16, 2005
Ms. Chairwoman and Members of the Committee:
It is my honor to be able to speak to you about my imprisonment at the hands of the Government of Iran 25 years ago and my continued personal battle against terrorism.
The war on terror is now inextricably linked to the events of September 11th. A day that is seared into America's and the world's memory. It was a day that terrorism touched Americans at home and haunts us still.
But the war on terror did not start when Al Quaeda executed its attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. It began on November 4, 1979 when the Iranian government held me and 65 other American citizens hostage.
On that day, we became the first victims of terrorism. We were taken captive by an entire government and literally lived in fear for our lives for 444 days.
I was one of the lucky ones. I was a 21-year-old Marine corporal who volunteered to go to the American Embassy in Tehran out of a sense of excitement and duty. I had been at the Embassy for almost three months before the takeover, so I had some understanding of the level of hostility felt toward Americans. I say I was lucky because I did not endure interrogations that lasted days and weeks like my good friend Charles Scott and others. I did not have to endure repeated beatings like my good friend Mike Metrinko and others. I did not have to endure weeks and months, and in some cases over a year, of solitary confinement like my good friend Bill Daugherty and others. I did not have a wife and three great sons as I do now, so I did not have to endure the daily threats against my family and the threats that I would never see them again like my good friend Phil Ward and others.
I was lucky in that I only had to endure the terror of mock firing squads. One of these occurred on the day I was taken. I was in uniform and after a short period of being held in a small building, a group of three Iranians came in and untied my feet and removed the rope from around my upper arms and chest, leaving my hands tied behind my back. They stood me up, blindfolded me and led me down a sidewalk where they stopped me in front of what I know was a brick wall. They turned me so my back was to the wall and pushed me back a couple of steps until I could just feel the wall and they let go of me. It is hard to convey the terror I felt. Needless to say, it was a new feeling. I remember the noise of the crowd and the anarchy. I remember asking myself how much this would hurt and trying to steady my legs so as not to bring discredit to my uniform. I also remember the relief at being lead back to the same small building and tied up again. This was just the first of a number of these Mock executions we all endured.
I remember my fight with food poisoning and the hopelessness and anger of not being allowed to go to the toilet in the middle of the night. Banging and banging to try and get someone to unlock the door and let me crawl up the stairs to relieve myself and not being able to wait any longer. Once the guard came I had the added task of cleaning myself, washing my clothes and putting them back on wet before the long trip back down the 14 stairs to my cell. Others can tell you the same story.
I was shocked to watch one of my fellow hostages try to kill himself in front of me and one of our captors because the interrogations, threats, and psychological strain was too much. I remember what he said before he ran full speed and dove head first into a protruding concrete corner trying to end his life. I remember holding his head in my arms and checking to make sure there was no dirt "in there" as I folded his torn scalp back over his exposed skull. I remember my relief as he opened his eyes and thinking how lucky I was not to be suffering as he was.
I remember a trip from Esfahan to Tehran when our one of our captors fell asleep at the wheel, ran off the road in the middle of the desert and rolled the van twice. I remember thinking I was about to die while being handcuffed to a fellow hostage and rolling around in a van like a bingo chip. As I stumbled out of what was left of the van, I was amazed that I was alive and only my leg and shoulder hurt. My buddy went the next six months with a broken shoulder blade. We considered ourselves lucky to be alive.
I only had to endure the day-to-day threats that we could all be tried and summarily executed. I did not consider these to be idle threats as there was a constant schedule of demonstrations outside of the embassy compound when we were held there. The guards made a point of telling us how we were being protected from the mob of over 500,000 waiting to tear us all apart.
I remember being put in one of the most notorious prisons in Iran and listening to the screams from the torture of men, women, and even children, wondering if and when it would be my turn.
Mostly I remember the despair I had at not knowing what was ever going to happen to us.
I am here today because America paid the Iranian Government their ransom and they let us go free.
Over the past 25 years, for obvious reasons, I have read about Iran and follow Iranian politics with some interest. Our release in 1981 was brought about by overt rewards to the Iranian Government. The ransom paid for our release does not take into account the immense increase in stature the Iranian Government experienced as a result of their successful belittlement of the United States Government. Although I know it by heart, I will not go over the history of Iran's continued involvement in terrorism over the past 25 years. The current "Islamic Fundamentalist" leadership appears to be at least as tyrannical as the former Shah, if not more, and the Iranian people are beginning to tire of it and rise up to pursue their own freedom. I follow the current Iranian situation as related to their nuclear program with some interest. Maybe the mullahs are inviting a U.S. attack because they know it is the only thing that can bring their country together under their oppressive rule. Regardless, the past political policies of the United States Government in responding to Iranian involvement in acts of terrorism would appear to only embolden them to further their efforts and actions.
We appreciate the opportunity to share with you our experiences during those 444 days, how it has affected our lives and continues to affect the lives of Americans today. Dr. Daugherty and I sit here before you today on behalf of the remaining survivors and their families to shed light on our struggle and to ask you for justice. We know what's been done over the past 25 years.we'll watch with interest to see what happens next.
Thank You
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