The Foreign Service Journal, October 2012

50 OCTOBER 2012 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL O ne attraction of the Foreign Service is the chance to observe and be part of history-making events. That happened to me during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when militants seized Embassy Teh- ran and held most of the Americans hostage for 444 days. I was a first-tour officer who had the good fortune, along with my wife, Cora, and four other American diplomats, to elude Iranian security forces and eventually leave Iran in a covert opera- tion known as the “Canadian Caper.” “ARGO” HOWHOLLYWOOD DOES HISTORY Even if it’s a great story, a “dramatization based on true events” is not the same as history. But maybe that’s OK. BY MARK L I J EK President Jimmy Carter met with the six diplomats in the Oval Office on their safe return to the United States. From left to right: Kathleen Stafford, H. Lee Schatz, Joseph Stafford, Pres. Carter, Cora Amburn-Lijek, Mark Lijek and Robert Anders. TheWhiteHouse