The Carter Conspiracy

May 9, 1980 – Arlington Amphitheatre

May 9, 1980 – Arlington AmphitheatrePresident Jimmy Carter presided over the memorial service for the eight men killed at Desert One. The Iranians had returned their charred bodies, but only after they had sent pictures around the world of their desecration by the Iranian military.

For the lost men’s families, though, the service brought some degree of peace and closure after the horror of those pictures and the loss of their sons, fathers and brothers.

Uplifted by the pride the bereaved found in what the men had strived to achieve, President Jimmy Carter ensured that there was no talk of waste, incompetence or tragedy. That was to come later.

At the end of the service, a squadron of planes flew overhead. One broke out of the formation and soared symbolically towards the heavens. Carter’s eyes welled up in grief for the fallen men.

May 9, 1980 - Desert One,

As the ceremony at Arlington continued, so did the activity at the site of the c*****e. All who were at the scene smiled and walked around with an air of triumphant amusement.

The Americans had left behind five Sea Stallions and the Iranian military were still examining them and working out how to fly them to the nearest secure airfield. Extraordinarily, the pilots had also left classified documents inside each helicopter, including detailed notes on the planned attack on the compound where the fifty-three hostages were being held. The Americans had infiltrated spies into Teheran and contacted Iranians still sympathetic to the Shah. Their safety was badly compromised by the abandonment of these documents.

A request had been communicated from the retreating US forces to bomb the five ‘copters (It was later claimed that this was why no thought was given to gathering in key information!). In fact, the commander of the ground forces did not know that these files had been brought along and had thus done nothing to order their removal. The request for a bombing sortie was turned down by the White House.

To the side of the site, the breeze drifted the sand onto a small and newly formed mound, beneath which was buried the remains of a ninth American. The makeshift grave was unmarked; the body unnamed.

The Iranians had been bemused at the Americans’ insistence that only eight soldiers perished. Even when they announced to the world that they had found nine bodies, there was no reaction or requests for further information. Their claims were dismissed by the US President and the country’s media adopted a similar disbelieving tone.

At first, they assumed that this ninth man was a spy or even an Iranian dissident returning to help the troops. The lack of a dog tag around the man’s neck supported this view and they assumed that the Americans were unable to admit publicly that he existed. They suspected that a second unofficial approach would be made to them to recover the body – but even when they hinted that they were prepared to return it, they were met with the same response: there is no one else missing; there is no ninth body.

It really was as if the US Government had no knowledge of this person.

Eventually, they decided to leave the body where it was found and to focus on the critical hostage negotiations that were still ongoing.

The ninth man was soon forgotten. His body

remains at the site to this day.

“I was struck with disbelief at the Iranians’ claim to have nine bodies.”

Col James H. Kyle, USAF (ret.)

Commander – Operation Desert Claw

Chapter 1