Product Description

From one of the highest ranking officers on the ground in Iran comes a no-holds-barred look at America’s brave mission against terrorism

Colonel James H. Kyle was involved in every stage of the Iran hostage rescue operation. As Desert-1 Commander, he alone bore responsibility for the courageous mission. Now Colonel Kyle spares no one, including himself, in this riveting account that takes readers from the initial brainstorming sessions and training camps to the desert rehearsals, the forward staging areas in Egypt and Oman, and finally to the desert refueling site, where he decided to abort.

Colonel Kyle provides honest answers to tough questions: Why were the pilots caught totally off guard by the weather? How did the CIA contribute to the mission’s breakdown? And could such a failure happen again? The Guts to Try is a thrilling true-life adventure story–exploring America’s ability to react quickly, forcefully, and effectively to acts of terrorism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #264880 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04
• Released on: 2002-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

From Library Journal
A powerful eyewitness account of the disastrous April 1980 attempt to rescue the American hostages in Tehran. Kyle, an expert in Special Operations and the officer in charge of the Air Force component, describes the mission from the earliest planning at the Pentagon through the subsequent rehearsals to the operation in Iran. Criticizing analyses by other participants, he offers his own diagnosis of five factors that contributed to the mission's failure: the weather forecast, poor communications equipment, pilot decision error, restrictions on tactics, and a poor flight plan. Comparable to Ken Follet's On Wings of Eagles ( LJ 8/83), which described Texas industrialist Ross Perot's successful rescue effort in Iran, Kyle's book contributes to our understanding of the hostage crisis and will add fuel to the controversy surrounding it. Recommended for a wide range of readers.
- Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba Coll., Salisbury, N.C.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
The top-secret 1980 operation to rescue Americans held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran failed, costing Jimmy Carter his presidential bid for reelection. The author, an Air Force colonel and courageous mission commander, has extensive experience in special operations. Fires, crashes, a blinding sandstorm, and military mix-ups multiply to produce nonstop action under insurmountable odds. L.J. Ganser amplifies the story's intensity as he shouts orders and blurts out excited radio transmissions, dramatizing the impending disaster. Men start dying; the intrusion is discovered. The audiobook's lesson is how poorly prepared our military and government were in those years to react to acts of terrorism. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From the Inside Flap
From one of the highest ranking officers on the ground in Iran comes a no-holds-barred look at America?s brave mission against terrorism

Colonel James H. Kyle was involved in every stage of the Iran hostage rescue operation. As Desert-1 Commander, he alone bore responsibility for the courageous mission. Now Colonel Kyle spares no one, including himself, in this riveting account that takes readers from the initial brainstorming sessions and training camps to the desert rehearsals, the forward staging areas in Egypt and Oman, and finally to the desert refueling site, where he decided to abort.

Colonel Kyle provides honest answers to tough questions: Why were the pilots caught totally off guard by the weather? How did the CIA contribute to the mission?s breakdown? And could such a failure happen again? The Guts to Try is a thrilling true-life adventure story?exploring America?s ability to react quickly, forcefully, and effectively to acts of terrorism.

Customer Reviews

Very high level overview
Very high level overview of the Iran hostage rescue attempt from an Air Force perspective. Although dry at times, it helps the reader understand the size of this rescue attempt and the training/logistical efforts behind the scenes.

The popular media at the time, and writers since, did not do justice to those who tried the nearly impossible. I did not realize how close they came to pulling this off.

Delta Force by Charlie Beckwith and Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney would be good follow-up books.

True and detailed account of a catastrophe
Beside the fact that this story is an extremly detailed account of the actions at that time, a reader, only a little bit experienced in these matters, can't help in asking himself while reading why wasn't this made this way or why wasn't made that that way ?
On some occasions I was deeply disappointed about the naivety of this Joint Task Force awaiting the things which would come. Partly bad planned, partly bad equipped, participants with the heart and the mood of a coward and too much commanders on the scene. It consequently ended up where it must - in a total mess.
The most worst thinking after reading this story is the fact that it could have been possible to succeed with this mission successfully - if there wouldn't have been so many commanders on the spot, instead of only one who would have been in a position to motivate the men, instead of sending their moods into the dust.

Brave operation, bland publication
The Hostage Rescue Mission was a bold undertaking and the participants should be honored with more exposure to their story. Unfortunately, it's hard to recommend this book as the way to accomplish that objective.

In his own book, Colonel Kyle appears as a somewhat capable career military man, but not as a strong and confident leader. I kept asking myself why he was chosen to take part in any aspect of the operation. He sounds like a nice guy, but all along he seems very passive... hoping someone would take care of such-and-such a point, wishing they had more of this or that, wondering if they would be able to whatever.

While interesting to a degree, the large section covering the planning and rehearsal phase seems to be more the focus than the actual mission. Yet, there is very scant detail about the mission beyond Desert I. Here's the entire description of the planned embassy incursion: "Once Delta enters the compound, Charlie [Beckwith] will call for the helos. Four choppers will fly to the Amjadieh soccer stadium... It is estimated that the hostage release will take forty-five minutes (with most freed within 30 minutes). Once liberated, the hostages will be moved across Roosevelt Avenue into the soccer stadium."

The Epilogue is a mystery. Colonel Kyle's biting criticism of various members of the operation seems disjoint from the rest of the book. It is as if the Epilogue had been written years after the main part of the book on a day when Kyle was in a bad mood. The final sentence of the Epilogue left me infuriated, but not for the reasons intended by the author.

Still, I wanted to get the story of the operation, and after reading this book, I believe that the information is accurate. I certainly know more about the failed mission now than I did before. The story is compelling even if the telling is boring. For that, I give the book three stars. Five stars for the brave men who had the guts to try.