WillBrink
02-04-16, 09:08
Only took 36 years after the fact. I'm unclear why this is coming from the US side. When I read the headline, I'd assume it was part of the recent deal - such as it is - with Iran, and the funds coming from the Iranian side, but no. Why is the US paying it and why now? Iran was given immunity from being sued BTW. We could have paid them from the Iranian funds frozen many years ago. The taking of hostages an embassy is an act of war and should have been viewed as such. The entire fiasco a black eye to the US and how it went down in terms of how and why they were released, a story that makes many of the more recent events (Fast and Furious, Benghazi, etc) look like small time in comparison, but that's a big can O worms.
Former American hostages in Iran will receive compensation
Washington (CNN)They have waited for more than 36 years. Now the Americans who were held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran and/or their families will receive financial compensation for their ordeal, because of a little-noticed part of a budget bill passed last week by Congress.
"I think this process begins to close the door for those individuals who were held captive in Iran to bring about closure," Kevin Hermening, a former Marine guard at the embassy, told CNN on Thursday. He is now a financial planner in Wisconsin. "I guess the important point to make -- the finish line appears in sight," but he added it may still be a long time before he and his former comrades see a check.
Lawyer Thomas Lankford has been working with the former hostages for 16 years trying to win some type of monetary award for them.
Lankford said the budget bill included a provision authorizing each of the 53 hostages to receive $10,000 for each day they were held captive. In addition, spouses and children would separately receive a one-time payment of $600,000. Thirty-eight of the former hostages are still alive. Approximately 150 people associated with the embassy hostage ordeal will be covered, Lankford said.
"It brings closure to a very horrific time for these folks," Lankford said.
The ordeal for the Americans who were working at the embassy began on November 4, 1979, after the Iranian revolution, when the compound was overrun,. They were held for 444 days. The hostages were freed in 1981.
Cont:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/24/us/american-iran-hostages-compensation/
Former American hostages in Iran will receive compensation
Washington (CNN)They have waited for more than 36 years. Now the Americans who were held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran and/or their families will receive financial compensation for their ordeal, because of a little-noticed part of a budget bill passed last week by Congress.
"I think this process begins to close the door for those individuals who were held captive in Iran to bring about closure," Kevin Hermening, a former Marine guard at the embassy, told CNN on Thursday. He is now a financial planner in Wisconsin. "I guess the important point to make -- the finish line appears in sight," but he added it may still be a long time before he and his former comrades see a check.
Lawyer Thomas Lankford has been working with the former hostages for 16 years trying to win some type of monetary award for them.
Lankford said the budget bill included a provision authorizing each of the 53 hostages to receive $10,000 for each day they were held captive. In addition, spouses and children would separately receive a one-time payment of $600,000. Thirty-eight of the former hostages are still alive. Approximately 150 people associated with the embassy hostage ordeal will be covered, Lankford said.
"It brings closure to a very horrific time for these folks," Lankford said.
The ordeal for the Americans who were working at the embassy began on November 4, 1979, after the Iranian revolution, when the compound was overrun,. They were held for 444 days. The hostages were freed in 1981.
Cont:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/24/us/american-iran-hostages-compensation/