Do you remember what happened November 4, 1979?

If you are old enough, you likely remember where you were when you heard Iran had taken hostages from our embassy in Iran.  The date was Nov. 4, 1979. Eight servicemen died in the failed rescue attempt. Those men were not the only American military casualties.
At the time, we lived on Whidbey Island, Wash. Dad ran the Naval hospital. My husband was a Marine at Whidbey for schooling, as he was part of the crew on an EA6B aircraft.  The Navy Aviation community on the island was small, close-knit and family.
President Carter ordered Naval ships to the area — like President Biden has done for the crisis in Israel. Some of the ships in 1979 were scheduled to come back to port where they would have had routine maintenance and equipment replacement.  Instead, their cruise was extended indefinitely.  One of the ships was the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.   
On Nov. 28, 1979, four aviators in an EA6B stationed on the Kitty Hawk went down in the Indian Ocean. Those men were stationed at the Whidbey Island Air Station. The loss of those four men shook the entire community.
On Dec. 29, 1979, we lost two more of our aviation family: Cmdr. Walter (Butch) Williams and Lt. Cmdr. Bruce Miller. They died when their KA6D tanker airplane crashed into the Arabian Sea after takeoff from the Kitty Hawk.
 Butch and Bruce were our neighbors in a small subdivision south of Oak Harbor. Each left behind a wife and children. I was a nanny of sorts for Butch’s daughter Courtney. Both parents went to work early. I would walk over to their house each morning to get Courtney up, feed her breakfast and get ready for school. The Millers lived across the street from the Williams. They had two kids under 5.
Our small neighborhood was forever changed the day that two dark cars pulled up to the Williams and Miller homes. Four men got out of each vehicle. They knocked on the doors at the same time. We all knew what this meant.
The cause of their crash was investigated. It cited the failure of the catapult on the Kitty Hawk. A catapult is used to launch the aircraft off the ship. One must wonder if the Kitty Hawk would have come home when it was scheduled the catapult would not have been fatigued. It would have been replaced. Butch and Bruce could be enjoying grandkids by now.
Even though the United States is not at war, our military personnel in the region are at great risk. Please lift an extra prayer for the women and men on the ships that are in the Middle East currently. Pray that their ship, planes, helicopters, and equipment don’t fail. Pray for their families who may be separated longer than expected. Pray for our leaders to make the right decisions. Pray for all the innocents who are suffering and dying. Pray for peace.