Rick Kupke
Rick Kupke |
Rick spent 21 years in the U.S. Foreign Service with the Department of State, and was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Teheran as a communications specialist. He was the last American to surrender as he carried shotguns and rifles to the roof of the Embassy.
The successful author of "Blackhawk Down", Mark Bowden, interviewed Mr. Kupke for his latest bestselling book on the Iranian Hostage Crisis "Guests of the Ayatollah." This book is a massive undertaking and the difinitive work on the event. Mr. Bowden brilliantly portrayed Rick's account of the Iranian mob that overran the embassy on November 11, 1979 and held him and his fellow embassy employees hostage for the next 444 days.
Rick also appeared on the Discovery Channel's 4-hour series "Guests of the Ayatollah." He has written a highly acclaimed article for the American Legion Magazine and recently appeared on the nationally syndicated radio talkshow of Jerry Doyle regarding the Iran Hostage Crisis, current events in Lebanon, and terrorism in general.
Rick is an engaging speaker who captivates audiences with his story of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran on November 4, 1979. He speaks on the many times he was moved, the mock executions, plans to escape, his time in a maximum security prison, the beginning of the Iran/Iraq War, and the failed rescue attempt. Rick describes the brutality of the Iranian revolutionaries who held him hostage.
With humor and his down-to-earth style, Rick describes how he and other hostages passed time, played tricks on each other, and invented games.
Taken by International Red Cross while held hostage in Teheran, Iran in 1980 |
By drawing an analogy between terrorism today and the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Rick informs his audience that our manner in dealing with terrorism 27 years ago in Iran has affected our present situation with Al Qaeda and other splinter terrorist organizations. Moreover, Rick believes the origins of today's direct and constant threat from militant Islam is linked to a number of terrorist events from 1979 to the present that led to today's war on terrorism. In Iran's current role as the leading sponsor of terrorism in the world, its two outposts in the Middle East, Hamas and Hezbollah, have consistently shown to be Iran's surrogates in their efforts to defeat their non-Muslim enemies.
Rick currently lives in Texas with his wife Linda, where they both work as silversmiths. See photos of their work. He is a member of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, where he studied at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. During the Vietnam War, he served with the United States Air Force in electronic intelligence gathering. With the U.S. Department of States, he had assignments in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and The Sinai Field Mission in the Sinai desert, Iran, The Philippines, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Mexico.
Mr. Kupke is the recipient of the Award for Valor, the W. Averell Harriman Award, and various other meritorious awards by the U.S. Department of State. He received personal letters of appreciation from both President Carter and President Reagan. Upon Mr. Kupkes return home, Indiana Governor Robert Orr presented Mr. Kupke with the Sagamore of the Wabash award in Indianapolis.