The Americans taken hostage in Iran a decade ago Saturday are still haunted by their 444-day ordeal, but many say the experience helped refocus their lives.
"I'm doing the things I'm doing now because of what happened there," said Paul Lewis, 32, who was a Marine guard at the embassy when radical Iranian students and Islamic fundamentalists loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stormed the compound on Nov. 4, 1979."I like to have direct control over my life, and I vowed while I was there never to lose control of my life again," Lewis said.
A total of 65 American diplomats and one private citizen were taken captive 10 years ago Saturday. Fourteen were subsequently released, but 52 hostages were held for 444 days.
Moorhead Kennedy, who was an economics officer at the embassy in Tehran, said Friday he believes all the former hostages have their "quota of nightmares."
"Mine is very simple," Kennedy, who has written two books about the hostage crisis, said in an interview with Cable News Network. "I've been sent back by the State Department to resume my captivity. And there is a sign, `Former hostages register here,' . . . and it starts all over again."
But Kennedy said he believes reliving and discussing the horror of his captivity is a "very strengthening thing. We all got through it, and I think almost all of us are doing pretty well," Kennedy said.
"Life goes on," said Richard Morefield, 60, who was consul general in Tehran and retired from the State Department in May. "Although you never get completely over something like that, you try to put it in its proper perspective. I can say I and my family have got over it."
"It's water under the bridge now," said Richard Queen, 37, who was released by Iran after 250 days of captivity because of a sudden onset of multiple sclerosis.
"If I had the chance to turn the clock back, knowing everything I do now, I'd still go back to Tehran under the same circumstances," said Queen, now a State Department consular affairs officer in Washington. "I believe my life is richer and, by facing adversity, I've benefitted."
Kevin Hermening, a Marine guard at the Tehran embassy who was the youngest of the hostages, said his experience channeled him toward an education in journalism, a career in public relations and an involvement in Wisconsin politics that has included two unsuccessful runs for Congress.