Fwd: Documentary with Roland Guidry - Les Guédry et Petitpas d'Asteur

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R. Martin Guidry

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Aug 30, 2020, 8:05:08 AM8/30/20
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Subject: Documentary with Roland Guidry - Les Guédry et Petitpas d'Asteur



USAF COLONEL ROLAND D. GUIDRY, RETIRED - DOCUMENTARY FILM DESERT ONE

 

On September 4, 2020 the new documentary film Desert One will be released at select theaters and on DVD and also will be available on certain “On Demand” venues as Amazon Prime.  Later it will appear on the The History Channel.  

 

Amazon.com currently has it on DVD for $13.95 with a release date of September 8, 2020.  I just bought a copy for myself.

 

Many of you may remember or have learned of the Iranian Hostage crisis when fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage by Iran from November 4, 1979 until January 20, 1981 (444 days).  Every evening newscast during that period carried a segment on the hostage status.   Six American diplomats evaded capture on November 4, 1979.  The Canadians provided them shelter at their embassy in Teheran and eventually in a joint Canadian-CIA mission, these six American were secreted out of Iran and back to the U.S.

 

As the crisis reached a climax when diplomatic negotiations failed, President Jimmy Carter ordered a military operation to free the hostages.  This was the most complex rescue operation ever attempted under the most extreme conditions.  Operation Eagle Claw commenced on April 24, 1980 and was to be a two-night operation under total secrecy and complete communication blackout.  Operation Eagle Claw was a joint service mission with Air Force, Navy/Marine and Army components.  Colonel Roland D. Guidry commanded the 8th Special Operations Squadron, the USAF component of the mission, and was one of the pilots on the lead C-130 aircraft of the mission.  As many know, the mission failed when three of the seven helicopters encountered a severe desert dust storm and could not complete the mission.  Operation Eagle Claw had to be scrubbed after reaching the night one landing zone – Desert One.  In preparing to leave the Desert One and return to their base, one of the helicopters crashed into one of the C-130 aircraft resulting in a massive fire and explosion killing five USAF men and three US Marines.   

 

This failed mission led to a complete reorganization of the U. S. military Special Operations which has resulted in many successful missions since the 1980s.  Because of this, Operation Eagle Claw has become known as “the most successful failed mission in history.”  Colonel Guidry had a lead role in developing the new Special Operations strategy and organization.  

 

Desert One is about the 1980 Operation Eagle Claw mission to rescue American hostages from the U. S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran.  Colonel Guidry is interviewed in the film.  You can find more information on the documentary at: 

 https://www.niacouncil.org/news/niac-premiere-for-documentary-film-desert-one/?utm_campaign=1405605342&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&utm_content=459036084687&utm_term=watch%20desert%20one&adgroupid=107439305916&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrfzBk8S86wIVEfDACh0LKwp9EAAYASAAEgKPyPD_BwE

 

and

 

https://www.nwfdailynews.com/story/news/2020/08/20/desert-one-tells-story-failed-1980-iran-hostage-rescue-attempt/3400266001/

 

In 2012 Colonel Guidry gave a very interesting presentation on the initial planning of Operation Eagle Claw through its unfortunate conclusion.  He also briefly discussed the development of the new U. S. military Special Operations organization and a new plan to rescue the Iranian hostages – a plan that was never implemented.  In the presentation he pulls no punches and you will learn the complexity of the operation, the numerous difficulties faced and the reasons it failed.  You can view this 58-minute video presentation at www.rolandguidrylecture.us or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohy2-QIM-7s

 

Colonel Roland D. Guidry, USAF Retired is a native of Breaux Bridge, LA and currently lives in Destin, Florida near Eglin Air Force Base, home of USAF Special Forces.  Colonel Guidry was inducted into the Les Guédry et Petitpas d’Asteur Circle of Distinction in 2015.  In 2008 he was inducted in the Air Commando Hall of Fame.   During his military career he flew 111 combat missions in Vietnam.  In 1970 he participated in the Son Tay POW Camp raid to rescue about 50 American POWs kept there.  Although the POWs had been removed a few months before the raid, the effort had a positive impact.  The North Vietnamese immediately moved American POWs from outlying camps to the Hanoi Hilton and began treating the POWs better.  

 

After Operation Eagle Claw Colonel Guidry worked with other personnel in revamping the U. S. Special Operations strategy and equipment.  A couple of the major innovations were integrating Special Operations units from each of the military services into a single, integrated command and developing the Boeing Osprey aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capability and short takeoff and landing capability, but yet maintaining a high-speed, long range capability.  From 1980-1983 he led the training of U. S. Air Force and U. S. Army aviation units for hostage rescue and counterterrorism operations leading to the successful Grenada rescue mission in 1983.   

 

Desert One is a documentary you will not want to miss!  Quoting Colonel Guidry from one of his lectures “it has been called the most audacious, difficult, complicated rescue mission ever attempted.”

 

 

 Marty



R. Martin Guidry

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Aug 30, 2020, 10:50:45 PM8/30/20
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