For the Families, a New Concern

But many back the President, despite fears for the hostages' safety

One by one, in the predawn hours, the families of the hostages were given the stunning news. Eugene and Margaret Lauterbach of Dayton, Ohio, were jolted awake at 2:30 a.m. by a phone call from a State Department official who filled them in on the botched attempt to rescue their son Steven and the other 49 hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The Lauterbachs were dumbfounded. Said Eugene: "The last statement from Washington seemed to indicate that the Administration figured on waiting until the middle of May and would then consider a blockade."

Mary Needham of Bellevue, Neb., mother of Air Force Captain Paul Needham, heard the news on her radio as she was sipping her last cup of coffee for the night. John Limbert Sr. of Washington, D.C., had already gone to bed. But after receiving a call from the State Department, he stayed awake all night, listening to the radio for word about his son John Jr., an embassy political officer.

As the hour passed, the relatives became less apprehensive. Nonetheless, some felt that they had been betrayed --and the hostages recklessly endangered --by President Carter. Demanded Bonnie Graves of Reston, Va., wife of Public Affairs Officer John Graves: "Eight deaths for what? I hope to God the Iranians are capable of restraint in this situation." In Memphis, Tenn., Mrs. Ernest Cooke, mother of Embassy Staffer Donald Cooke, declared: "I can't believe they did such a thing. I understood, or thought I understood, that it was such a dangerous operation that they wouldn't try it."

In Tehran, Barbara Timm, who had journeyed there to see her hostage son, Marine Sergeant Kevin Hermening, snapped: "I'm angry that our President would do something so stupid." Accompanied by her husband to a press conference in the office of Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr, she said, "We deeply regret" the U.S. rescue attempt, and offered "apologies" to the Iranian people. Then, as Banisadr smiled, she posed for cameramen under a portrait of the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, embraced her husband and broke into tears.

The timing of the operation bewildered Mary Jane Engquist of Burke, Va., sister of Hostage Kathryn Koob, director of the Iran-American Society. Said Mrs. Engquist: "Why now? Why not a month ago when nothing was happening? Why not two weeks from now if things are dragging? It just boggles my mind. I did not want military action. My feeling was that since I've waited six months, I could wait a couple more. My heart goes out to the families of those men who lost their lives."

Many of the relatives staunchly supported the President's action, including the Lauterbachs. Said Eugene: "He has more knowledge about what could or could not have been done than the rest of us." Mrs. L. Bruce Laingen, wife of the American charge d'affaires who has been held prisoner in Iran's foreign ministry since the militants seized the embassy, telegraphed the White House: "I support you. It's tragic it didn't work. Do not despair. Try again." Lisa Moeller, wife of Hostage Michael Moeller, said she was not worried about Iranian reprisals. "After six months, I don't think they want to start a world war. I felt a lot of pride. This was a good shot, a good chance."

In Washington, John Limbert Sr. had mixed feelings. On the one hand, he wished the President's patience had not run out. On the other, he felt compelled to support his decision. Said Limbert: "I called the White House and expressed my regret and condolences to the families of the servicemen who died, and I asked that the President be told that I understood what he was trying to do." Mary Needham felt much the same way. But she was worried that heated discussion of the rescue attempt could further endanger the lives of the hostages. Said she: "When our people are safe, we can spend quite a few years discussing what should or should not have been done. But this is not the time for it."

At week's end the families of 14 hostages gathered at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston for briefings by State Department officials. They watched old TV films of life inside the embassy; as each of several hostages appeared on the screen, the film was stopped so that his face could be carefully scrutinized by his relatives. They also heard Navy Captain Richard Stratton describe his experiences as a prisoner of war in Viet Nam for six years. At the conclusion of the meeting, the families issued a statement saying they "not only support the President's decision in this attempt but feel that every effort should continue to be made to secure the release of our unjustly held relatives."

Even before the rescue attempt, some of the relatives had run out of hope that the Administration would ever be able to free the hostages and had decided to take matters into their own hands. The most celebrated case was that of Barbara Timm and her husband.

Other relatives of hostages were tempted to follow her to Tehran, though several had misgivings about making the trip. Said Toni Sickmann, of Krakow, Mo., mother of Marine Sergeant Rodney Sickmann: "I want to see him. But I don't want him to see us break down because that would break him down too." A different issue worried Paul Keough, of Sherborn, Mass., whose brother William, superintendent of the American School in Pakistan, had been visiting Tehran when the embassy was seized. Paul Keough argued that the emotionally wrenching sight of relatives pleading in Tehran for permission to see the hostages would distract world opinion from the "human indignity" of the captives' plight. Said he: "The main issue is that this is a violation of international law, whether they let the relatives in to visit or not."

Also at issue was the wisdom of the Administration's attempt to bar relatives from going to Tehran in the first place. The order first made Carter look cruel and then, as Mrs. Timm traveled with impunity to Tehran, impotent. The travel ban, which carries a possible fine of $2,000 and imprisonment of five years if violated, is based on passport law. But as State Department officials admit, a similar regulation did not stop Americans from traveling to Cuba without their passports in the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, the ban is virtually impossible to enforce. Said a White House aide: "We can't go out and lock them up. We should never have got into this damned thing in the first place."

In the meantime, an organization of relatives known as FLAG (Family Liaison Action Group) sent four of its members to Western Europe in an effort to arouse sympathy for the hostages. The four women were surprisingly successful in gaining admittance to high officials--so successful, in fact, that they were assumed to have had secret Administration help. But they insisted that they had made all their appointments on their own. Their first stop was the Elysee Palace, where French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing kept a delegation of mayors waiting for almost an hour while he talked with the women and offered them "the profound sympathy and solidarity of France." According to the leader of the group, Louisa Kennedy of Washington, D.C., wife of the economic and commercial officer at the Tehran embassy, Giscard was "extremely supportive and concerned."

The next day, the women split up. Mrs. Kennedy went to London and was warmly received by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She also talked with Opposition Leader James Callaghan and Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie. Barbara Rosen of New York City, the wife of Embassy Press Attache Barry Rosen, talked at length in Bonn with West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who stressed the necessity for patience in the embassy impasse. Jeanne Queen of Lincolnville, Me., the mother of Vice Consul Richard Queen, met in Rome with Vatican and Italian government officials. The fourth member of the group, Pearl Golacinski of Silver Spring, Md., mother of Security Officer Alan Golacinski, stayed in Paris to see other French officials on behalf of the hostages. Said she: "I haven't been to bed in three nights, but I never felt better in my life. At least we are doing something."

The women from FLAG regarded their mission as personal diplomacy, a people-to-people plea for help. Said Mrs. Rosen: "We are not asking for diplomatic or economic sanctions. Everyone is talking hostage, hostage, hostage. But they are people. We are trying to get back to the human factor." The women hoped, said Mrs. Kennedy, that the botched rescue attempt would "not deter America's allies from continuing to support the U.S. in its actions against Iran." At week's end, they carried that message to Luxembourg, where the leaders of the European Community met to consider further joint action on the long-running crisis in Tehran.

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