In November of 1979, Iranian militants who were followers of the radical Muslim leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, captured the American embassy in Tehran, Iran. They took 53 Americans hostage.As commander in chief, President Carter immediately asked his military advisors to draw plans to rescue the hostages. On April 24th, 1980 a new elite counter-terror group called "Delta Force" launched a mission to rescue the hostages under orders of President Carter.
The mission failed when a helicopter hit one of the trasport planes being used for the mission in the Iranian desert. Three marines and five airmen were killed. The mission could no longer be kept secret and was aborted. As Commander in Chief, President Carter was held responsible by many for this millitary failure. This greatly affected Carter's popularity and largely contributed to the end of his presidency.
