How America's worst desert disaster built its secret army — 1980 — RAIDERS Part 4 of 5

History Onion · Part 4 The Reckoning · 2:25

In April 1980, America sent eight helicopters into the Iranian desert to rescue 52 hostages. They never reached Tehran — a sandstorm and a fireball at "Desert One" left 8 dead and the mission in ruins. Ten days later the British SAS stormed the Iranian Embassy in London in 17 minutes, live on television. The contrast was unbearable — so America took its failure apart and built a new secret army from the ashes: Delta Force, SEAL Team Six, and the units that would one day hunt bin Laden. Part 4 of RAIDERS. Follow for Part 5: the compound in Pakistan. Some scenes are cinematic reconstructions of documented events. All quotes, dates, and sources are historically verified. #shorts #history #DeltaForce #SAS #SpecialForces #Raiders #DesertOne