1981

After more than a year of being held captive, hostages are freed from Iran the same day Ronald Reagan takes the oath of office as President.

ATC celebrates 10 years on the air.

On the Oct. 6 show, ATC aired Susan Stamberg's interview with Richard Morefield, who was consul general at the embassy in Iran when the hostages were taken. After 444 days in captivity, she asked him, "Where does the fury go? Where is that, the resentment?

Morefield: I am a private person, and it's very difficult to show emotion publicly, if you will. And more than that, I think it's counterproductive.

Stamberg: "Why? What greater good is served by keeping it to yourself?"

Morefield: "You have to realize that the bottom line in this was the U.S. national interest... Not the government, the American people. The U.S. society. And because we are an important country, that had implications for the rest of the world as well. We had to act responsibly as a people, because only the small third-rate power has the right, the ability to act irresponsibly."

Hear the broadcast.

Contents Copyright 2001, National Public Radio