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windowless basement storage room that he had to share with eight other hostages, leaving him with only enough room to take two or three steps in any direction. He and his fellow hostages had little to do but play card games and checkers with each other. Morefield took up a regular exercise regimen, doing push ups, sit ups and jogging around his cubicle for an hour each day. He lost more than 30 pounds by the time he was released and joked that "if I'm smart, this might have added 10 years to my life".
286:. He was survived by his wife, Dorothea, as well as by a daughter and four sons. His son Rick had been killed in 1976 by a gunman during a robbery of a Virginia restaurant. Morefield recalled that the experience of dealing with the death of his son had given him greater strength to make it through the hostage crisis.
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After the
Algeria Accords were signed on January 19, 1981, Morefield and the other captives were given medical examinations and were released the next day, placed on buses surrounded by crowds shouting "Bad, bad, America's bad" and leaving the country on an Algerian airplane. He called his wife after
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Morefield was one of a group of six
Americans who was at first taken to a school in Tehran, where they were placed in a shower room and had rifles pointed at them, marking the first of three mock executions he would ultimately face. Returned to the embassy compound in December, Morefield was put in a
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who had been allowed to enter the United States, be returned to Iran for trial. A group of 13 female and
African-American hostages were released in the weeks after the seizure and a seriously ill hostage was released in July 1980, leaving Morefield among the 52 American captives who would ultimately
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to Iran. After the embassy was surrounded by
Islamist militant students, the building was taken over. He was able to send a group of five Americans away by car who were able to take refuge in the Canadian Embassy. Morefield was with a group of about two dozen employees who had tried to leave the
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in 2006 that "I cannot equate what I know of Iran and its culture with the militant students who held me for 444 days" calling the country "a society with a lot of different groups which can contribute to a new modern Iran if they're given the chance".
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on
January 25. His wife recalled her disbelief that she was finally seeing her husband, saying "Until that moment, I really didn't believe it was over. Then, of course, I ran, too. We didn't say anything for several minutes".
424:"Former Iran captive counsels caution: With the United States at loggerheads with Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme, the BBC's Jamie Coomarasamy meets an American with personal – and painful – memories of the country."
325:"Richard Morefield dies at 81; diplomat was seized in Iran hostage crisis: Held for 444 days, the U.S. consul general in Tehran was given a hero's welcome after the hostages were freed and he returned home to San Diego."
270:, Morefield said he didn't recognize him as "I was not one of those on which they spent a lot of time". Years after his release he held no grudge against the people of Iran, telling an interviewer from the
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157:. He was one of 52 Americans who were held as a hostage for 444 days, until negotiations for the remaining captives being held hostage were concluded with the signing of the
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embassy compound but were captured a few blocks away by a group of students and
Revolutionary Guards. In all, 66 Americans were taken hostage with the group demanding that
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they landed in
Germany and told her that "those people tried to break us", but that "we beat them". Morefield was reunited with his wife and children at
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On
November 4, 1979, Morefield was in the American embassy in Teheran, where he was serving as the United States
181:. His college background focused on history, earning his undergraduate degree in the subject in 1951 from the
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Morefield was assigned to head the State
Department's Office of Caribbean Affairs and was assigned to
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405:"For Former Tehran Hostages, a Tangle Of Anger at Both Captors and the U.S."
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who were taken captive by a militant
Islamist student group called the
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on January 19, 1981, with their release coming the following day.
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been one of the student radicals involved in the embassy takeover
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145:. He was one of the 66 staff members at the American embassy in
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137:(September 9, 1929 – October 11, 2010) was an American
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and as the economic counselor in the American Embassy in
386:"Richard Morefield, Held Hostage in Iran, Dies at 81"
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after completing his military service. He joined the
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193:and received his master's degree in 1954 from the
278:Morefield died at age 81 on October 11, 2010, in
153:on November 4, 1979, in what became known as the
394:, October 15, 2010. Accessed October 20, 2010.
333:, October 15, 2010. Accessed October 20, 2010.
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169:Morefield was born on September 9, 1929, in
151:Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line
413:, July 2, 2005. Accessed October 20, 2010.
344:"Former Iran hostage grew up in San Diego"
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507:University of California, Berkeley alumni
430:, May 9, 2006. Accessed October 20, 2010.
403:Barringer, Felicity; and Brinkley, Joel.
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259:Amid reports in 2005 that newly elected
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248:where he served as consul general in
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512:University of San Francisco alumni
492:Military personnel from California
195:University of California, Berkeley
92:University of California, Berkeley
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185:. He served for two years in the
109:Held captive for 444 days in the
502:People from Venice, Los Angeles
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467:American people taken hostage
233:Stewart International Airport
199:United States Foreign Service
143:United States Foreign Service
517:San Diego High School alumni
497:Missing person cases in Iran
462:American expatriates in Iran
183:University of San Francisco
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452:1970s missing person cases
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487:Kidnapped businesspeople
189:, attaining the rank of
165:Early life and education
477:Formerly missing people
348:San Diego Union-Tribune
280:Raleigh, North Carolina
240:After release from Iran
135:Richard Henry Morefield
72:Raleigh, North Carolina
39:Richard Henry Morefield
223:be held for 444 days.
256:, his final posting.
216:Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
179:San Diego High School
422:Coomarasamy, Jamie.
177:, where he attended
482:Iran hostage crisis
296:List of kidnappings
264:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
205:Iran hostage crisis
155:Iran hostage crisis
111:Iran hostage crisis
410:The New York Times
391:The New York Times
323:McLellan, Dennis.
187:United States Army
171:Venice, California
141:who served in the
53:Venice, California
330:Los Angeles Times
261:President of Iran
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49:September 9, 1929
20:Richard Morefield
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66:(2010-10-11)
457:2010 deaths
447:1929 births
254:Mexico City
250:Guadalajara
80:Nationality
441:Categories
354:2023-05-03
302:References
98:Occupation
45:1929-09-09
284:pneumonia
201:in 1956.
175:San Diego
290:See also
139:diplomat
125:Children
120:Dorothea
101:Diplomat
83:American
282:due to
246:Mexico
147:Tehran
117:Spouse
74:, U.S.
55:, U.S.
266:had
220:Shah
61:Died
35:Born
428:BBC
272:BBC
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