TRACE STANTON
I am writing this on the 45th anniversary of my “sudden departure” from Iran. I have been encouraged for many years by friends and family to write about this unique time in my life in Iran that forever changed me. The details here are represented to the best of my recollection (after 45 years). Some information was provided by security personnel at BHI & IIAA. All of the names have been changed to protect those who are still alive and the memories of those who aren’t. I have left many things out of these stories in order to keep this book family friendly.
What’s this revolution all about?
After talking with people on both sides of this issue in Iran and the U.S. and doing historical research, I decided this was the best way I could summarize it.
Pro-Shah:
- He modernized Iran and its infrastructure.
- He built the most powerful and advanced military in the Middle East.
- Iran was the most stable country in the Middle East.
- Women there had more freedom than anywhere in the Middle East.
- Had very close ties to the U.S.
Anti-Shah:
- Considered a puppet of the U.S. and was “Westernizing Iran.”
- Spent a lot of time traveling the world in the lap of luxury while trusting corrupt relatives, partners and friends to run the country.
- A small group of people controlled most of the money.
- A large portion of the population lived at or near the poverty level.
- There was a very small middle class.
- SAVAK, the secret police, were known for their brutality.
Attention: We are burning your hotel in 20 minutes
When we arrived at the hotel, there was mass panic, as could have been expected. The tiny elevators in the hotel were already jammed, so I ran up six flights of stairs to get to my room. The ex-military guys had packed a lot lighter than me and were already heading downstairs, and I struggled with two overseas suitcases, a guitar, a stereo, and other miscellaneous items. It was every man for himself. As I was waiting for the tiny elevator, I was thinking, I didn’t sign on for this crap! In my naivete, I was thinking, I’m an American, how can you get away with doing this to me? Where’s my armed escort from IIAA?
I was the last person to get out of the hotel, and as I took a quick look around, I saw that the locals were in the street laughing and pointing at us. I was feeling pretty helpless and burning up with rage as I boarded the bus. As we rapidly pulled away from the hotel, I’m thinking, I’m in bad shape, but as I looked around the bus, I was the only civilian on the bus. The rest were Vietnam vets, and most had seen more in a few years there than I would ever see in a lifetime. It was no consolation to me that they were freaking out too. Joe shouted out, “this is Bulls**t! This is worse than Vietnam, at least in Nam, I had a gun!”
Once we were safely away from the hotel, we asked the BHI rep where we were going. He said we were being taken to a safe and secure compound on the edge of town called Villa 3. We pulled up to a large, walled-in compound right on the edge of the desert. The gates were opened by Kurdish guards, and we pulled in and unloaded from the bus. Once we got inside, I saw that this place was quite large and had been built to house numerous people. It had a large living room and numerous bedrooms lined with single beds, a commercial-sized kitchen, and locker room-size showers. Once we got in and settled down to our new reality, we all moved into the living room area to see who was there.
Much to my amazement, there were people from multiple countries there: the UK, Philippines, etc. We all struck up a conversation so we could get to know one another. The gentlemen from the UK had just arrived and was going to be in charge of our commissary. He was an older man who had spent most of his life working on overseas contracts. Realizing the somber mood that we were all in, he started singing English folk songs and drinking songs, and he drank accordingly. It gave us a few laughs and lightened our spirits.