Minnesotan looks back on Iranian hostage crisis

St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota native L. Bruce Laingen was charge d'affaires of the American Embassy in Iran when radicals took over the building and held 52 Americans hostage from November 1979 to January 1981.

Laingen is back in Minnesota to donate artifacts from that experience to the Minnesota Historical Society, and he joins Midday to talk about his experience during the hostage crisis more than 27 years ago.

Guests

• L. Bruce Laingen: President of the American Academy of Diplomacy. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and in the U.S. Foreign Service from 1949 to 1987. From 1977 to 1979, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Malta. He was charge d'affaires of the American Embassy in Iran before being held hostage in the Iranian hostage crisis from 1979 to 1981.

More from MPR

• Both sides of the Iranian hostage crisis
  June 9, 2006

Resources

• About Bruce Laingen