Evacuees from the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, are briefed upon their arrival at the air base terminal.

The evacuees were airlifted from Iran to Hellenikon Air Base in Greece. Four days earlier, according to the Air Force Historical Studies Office, “on February 14, 1979, armed Iranians stormed the embassy and took 102 Americans hostage. After the Ayatollah’s forces intervened and returned control of the embassy to the United States, they allowed the USAF to fly one final C-141 evacuation mission. After that, the U.S. State Department chartered 13 commercial Boeing 747 airliners, which flew an additional 4,099 people out of the country.”