Kevin Hermening was a 20-year-old sergeant with the Marine Security Guard protecting the U.S. Embassy in Tehran when all hell broke loose. On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian students serving the Islamic Revolution stormed the compound and held more than 50 American citizens — including Hermening — hostage.
“We had 12-gauge shotguns and .38 caliber revolvers, and that was it,” Hermening told me this week during an interview on the “Vicki McKenna Show.” “We were way outnumbered.” The U.S. acting ambassador and the attaches gave the orders to the Marine security forces to lay down their weapons, the Wausau, Wisconsin, financial services professional said.
“There was nothing that was going to be done to shoot our way out of it,” Hermening recalled of the chaotic day, now 45 years in the world’s rearview mirror but still so present in U.S. foreign affairs.
The Marine and 51 others would spend the…
