Transcript

Hamilton: God has called us to be ambassadors even in this dark moment

>> Alex McFarland: Darkness is not an affirmative force.

>> Speaker B: It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light. This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

>> Alex McFarland: It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite, delivering people

>> Speaker B: out of the bondage of mainstream media

>> Alex McFarland: and the philosophies of this world.

>> Speaker B: God has called you and me to

>> Alex McFarland: be his ambassadors, even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment. And now, the Hamilton Corner.

Alex McFarland: Kevin Hermaning spent 444 days as hostage in Iran

Well, the war with Iran has entered its second week, and, that might seem like a long, long time, but, how about 444 days? That's how long Kevan Hermaning was a Hostage in Iran 1.0. Hi, Alex McFarland here. Welcome to the program. So honored to be sitting in tonight for attorney, pastor broadcaster Abe Hamilton iii. And you know, one of the great joys of, whenever I sit in on the Hamilton, have the opportunity to interview a lot of newsmakers and thought leaders. And tonight is just one of the most significant that I think I have ever been able to participate in, because I remember I was just a, very, very young teenager in 1979 when the Shah of Iran was deposed and the Ayatollah Khomeini took up, I hesitate to say leadership. I should say dictatorship of Iran. And over the decades that have followed, I mean, Islam and, and jihadism have been in the news pretty much every single day. Many of you remember that. And, I remember. I well, remember how when Ronald Reagan won the election and then on Inauguration Day, the hostages, after more than a year, were released. Well, we're going to talk with one of the hostages back then, valiantly, faithfully, courageously serving America. His name is Kevan Hermaning, and he has an amazing story. He's been interviewed on Fox News and all the major national media. He's with us now. It's a profound honor to speak with a truly great American hero. Kevan Hermaning. Welcome to the American Family Radio Network, sir.

>> Speaker B: Thank you. It's a privilege for me to be here and, hope to spend the next close to an hour, talking with you, listening to and talking with your guests and you, and maybe, helping people not have to open up a history book, give some context. But, yeah, I think we're going to cover a wide range of topics today for sure.

>> Alex McFarland: Sure.

Two weeks into the current War with Iran, what are your initial impressions

So, you know, here we are in a conflict with Iran, and it's got to be kind of deja vu and bringing back a lot of memories, maybe even some, unpleasant memories. But two, weeks into the current War with Iran. I mean, what are your initial impressions?

>> Speaker B: Well, I do believe that our country needed to engage with Iran to prevent the Ayatollah and the Muslims, ah, who lead that country, in pursuing nuclear weapons. But more importantly the ability to deliver those weapons on a warhead, the delivery system that could launch chaos across the Middle east to our allies, up to Western Europe, Japan, and eventually God forbid, even to the United States, short term wasn't going to happen. But when I think about my own understanding and knowledge of history, I think about the reality that we've seen some challenges occur in our past, such as Pearl Harbor. Wouldn't it have been better off to have dealt with the possible attack on Pearl harbor before it happened than have to be responsive to something that occurred afterward?

>> Alex McFarland: proactivity.

Tell us about where you were in 1979 and how 444 days of captivity unfolded

so let's go back if you would and tell us about where you were in 1979 and how the events that led to 444 days of captivity. Set that up for us and walk us through that if you would please.

>> Speaker B: Sure. Yes sir. Well, earlier in the year I was an accountant for the Marine Core serving in Okinawa, Japan. And I went to a movie on the base theater in Okinawa. And as I walked into the theater there was a huge life size banner showing Marines in dress blues uniforms standing in front of images, actual reality photographs, of Marines standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, standing on the Great Wall of China. And it was an invitation to come to a meeting the following night in the same location on that base theater to learn about the Marine Security Guard program where our Marines stand guard, stand duty at our embassies, our consulates and other diplomatic missions across the globe. I went to the meeting and I was just enamored. They call them recruiters for a reason of course. And I went to work the next day and I asked my boss if he would send me a letter of recommendation that I could submit with my application to be a Marine Guard. I was accepted into the program. We started actually with 179 Marines, men and women in my class, in our class in Quantico, Virginia in May of 1979, about a three month program where we were going through training with the Marine Core with the Department of State. We're just south of Washington D.C. at that time. We graduated with, graduated that program with only 121 Marines, though over a quarter dropped out or were thrown out of the program before even being allowed to Deploy overseas to one of our embassies. And I was actually assigned to the embassy in Germany. I was all excited to go there. I had dreams and visions of, skiing in the Alps every weekend and driving 100 miles an hour on the autobahn. Yeah, I came back to. Yeah, I came back to Milwaukee, where I grew up. I bought an English to German, German to English dictionary map of Western Europe. And, I got back to the base ready to ship out over to Europe. And the sergeant major called me into the office and he said, Sergeant Hermaning, there's been a mistake. We accidentally assigned a Jewish marine to go to this country called Iran, and you're going to take his place. I said, sir, I was a pretty good student in high school, including in geography, but where's that? I mean, today, that seems laughable, but in 1979, Tehran, Iran was not a household name by any stretch of the imagination in the United States. And I shipped out with three other marines. it was my first and what turned out to be my only, Marine security guard assignment. I loved being in the country of iran. The first 30, three months that I was there, about 90 days or so, traveling the country, during my off time, going out to the shopping area, the bazaar, meeting, with people. Marine security guards were still. Are required to take three hours of language training every week in the country in which they're working. So I went to class five days a week for five hours to learn Farsi. And, if I was going to be there for at least a year, I wanted to get to understand the culture, the people, the language better. and so just. I had done it in Japan. I did the same thing, in Tehran. And then the protests began. the protests because the Shah, it was being talked that he talked about that he was going to be admitted into the United States for medical treatment. as you said at the intro, he was deposed. What turned out to be maybe 11 months before I. 10, 11 months before I got there. And the Ayatollah and his followers, they were looking for a red herring, if you will. Something to distract the Iranian people from. From what was really going on by their own leadership. And that was that the promises made were not being delivered, which is often the case when they are, way out different than what the people are looking for. And what ended up occurring was they were saying that the United States brought the Shah into the United States for medical treatment because they were gonna. The US Government was gonna reinstall him back into power. Well, he was very sick. In fact, he died just eight months after we were captured. And but that was their demand to bring him back. They wanted him to return. They wanted the US to return the Shah to Iran, to put him on trial, for what they accused him of doing for the 26 years he was in power.

>> Alex McFarland: Had he not died in America, certainly he would have been executed.

>> Speaker B: He died in Egypt. He died in Egypt actually, about eight months later. because the Carter administration believed that by pushing the Shah out of the United States, it might bring an end to the crisis. It didn't. but this was a different time in history. this was during the Cold War. And the nation of Iran was very important to the United States because Iran was a buffer between the Soviet Union, just to the north of Iran then, Soviet Union and the Persian Gulf. Access to a warm water port, something the Soviets and the Russians have been coveting for 100 years now. And, that's why the relationship between the Shah and the United States was so important. I don't want to get all Secretary of State Kissinger on us here, but I mean, that's really a big part of what, was going on in our leadership in our country, in our relations with Iran during that quarter century. The Shah was there.

>> Alex McFarland: had he been returned to Iran, certainly he would have been executed, don't you think?

>> Speaker B: Without a doubt. And what the. I mean, the Shah had his many flaws and shortcomings like many leaders do. Civil, leaders, are not Christ. Right. And so, I hope we have an opportunity during today's show to talk about my, my coming to faith and my being born again and my salvation. Because that is an important part of my life journey.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Well, you know, not to be, trite or superficial, but in a way, we're all held hostage to sin until the great liberator, the great savior, the one and only Messiah, Jesus sets us free. And so, you know, it's an apt illustration and I want to hear that. I remember this because, Kevan, I asked my parents and I would have been, oh, I don't know, 12 or 13 suddenly. I mean, none of us had ever heard of Islam. And then it was front page news like every day forever, you know. And I think it's important because history must be taught and passed on because history and the lessons of history are very important to preserve, I truly believe.

Kevin Hermaning was among the first American hostages taken in 1979

And do you know, let me ask you this. Being stationed in Iran and you're learning the language, you're getting a feel, you go into the market. When did you. In the air, did you sense that, you know, there was danger and things were escalating and you and your colleagues were not really safe?

>> Speaker B: Well, you know, as a young Marine, trained right for conflict, it was a little bit different for Marine security guards because yes, of course we are still Marines and yes, we operate fully under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense, now Department of War. But, we have a dual responsibility because we also follow the orders of those people in the Department of State, or in our case the charge affairs or acting ambassador. And on November 4, 1979, what began is just one more of the two or three week demonstrations that we had become accustomed to once the Shah was admitted into the United States. The burning of the American flag, the burning of effigies of President Jimmy Carter, the chanting in the streets, death to America, Yankee go home. turned a lot uglier when suddenly they began smashing through the front gates. They climbed over the eight foot concrete walls, they came to have a sit in. But the Iraq emotion that the Iranians, the young Iranians mostly supported eventually that afternoon by the Iranian army, this fervor that they felt, suddenly caused them to, break into the apartments in which some of the Marines who had been on the third shift the night before, were sleeping. They were among the first Americans captured. They broke into the consulate and ultimately they found their way. They got into the main chancellery building where the majority of the Americans were that Sunday morning, November 4, 1979. I was not on duty that day, but I happened to be in the building. But when Marine guards were not on duty, we were required to wear a suit and tie. And so I had my short cropped hair, my suit and tie on, and purely by accident, purely by chance, I found myself in the communications vault, as the embassy was under siege, eventually, as we were about to, open the main door to the second floor where we had all retreated to, just awaiting orders from the ambassador, praying and hoping that the Iranian government was going to do its job. Under international law for a millennia, adversaries always afforded safe harbor and passage to diplomats, looking to negotiate an end to conflict. Right. This is not at all what happened though that day the Iranian government engaged in the capture of the Americans. But I found myself at the end of the hallway, all the way at the far end of the building, in the cage.

>> Alex McFarland: Forgive me, Kevan, forgive me. We've got to take a break. Alex must Farland here. We're talking with Kevan Hermaning, decorated, veteran and one of the Iranian hostages in 1979. Stay tuned. A break. And then we're back.

American Family Radio speaks with Kevin Hermaning about the SAVE Act

>>  : Okay, this is crazy, and I can't believe it even has to be said, but only U.S. citizens should vote in U.S. elections. It's common sense. But Republican Senator John Thune and some of his fellow senators aren't sure if they want to vote to pass HR 22, also known as the, the SAVE Act. It requires proof of U.S. citizenship and a valid voter ID to register and vote in federal elections. Join us in calling on our senators to support and pass the SAVE Act. Visit afa.net today.

>> Alex McFarland: Shining light into the darkness.

>> Speaker B: This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here. We're talking with Kevan Hermaning. you've perhaps seen him interviewed by Brian Kilmeade on Fox News and Harris Faulkner on Fox News as well. he is a certified financial planner, a leader in his community. He gives a presentation called Liberty and Leadership, and he talks about this period of history that, it was in the news ubiquitously. Well, he was there living it out the 440 days, at the US embassy in Iran from 1979 to 1981, after Islamic terrorists captured the entire diplomatic staff and the hostages were captured after the Shah of Iran entered the U.S. for medical care. But they were free. January 20, 1981, Inauguration Day under President Ronald Reagan. I remember it well. I've thought about it countless numbers of times, and it really is a privilege to hear it from one of the firsthand. I'm not going to say firsthand participants, I would say victims. But Kevan Hermaning, I want to thank you for being with us today, but I want to even more so thank you for serving, God and country as you have and as you do. I sincerely mean it's a privilege to speak with you, sir.

>> Speaker B: Thank you very much.

None of the protocols were followed during the Iran hostage crisis, Kevin Gehrig says

Thank you.

>> Alex McFarland: before the break, you were talking about, international law and diplomatic relations. But as the terrorists stormed, the embassy and even people's living quarters, none of the protocols or the humane, protocols were followed, were they?

>> Speaker B: definitely not. and I would just kind of wrap up the statement or two about the actual takeover of the embassy because Marine security guards, as I said, you know, receive orders from the Department of Defense, and the Department of State, and Marine security guards, in that important responsibility, are there to defuse chaos, right? To Manage, threats to American lives or American equipment and buildings. but the ambassador ordered us to lay down our, weapons, knowing that There were literally 12 Marines, only four of whom were in the main building with our shotguns and pistols, and that was it. There were no automatic weapons. We weren't prepared for a large assault on the building for sure. but, you know, I was 20 years old and I didn't have a wife or children at home to worry about. as a Marine, I was trained, but not for captivity. It was a very frightening time, but it was also exciting as a young Marine, in the middle of a revolution. Right. I wasn't thinking this was history because we didn't think it was going to last this long, but we thought the Iranian government would do its job, and they didn't. Well, immediately after we were captured, one of the guys who was in the vault with me named Thom Ahern, his position at the embassy was declassified last year. He was our nation's CIA station chief at the embassy. And, Thom got to know the leaders of Iran when the Shah was there, and the leaders of Iran after the Shah was gone and the Ayatollah took over. He was doing his job. He was just gathering information so that policymakers back in the United States could make good decisions or better decisions for sure, as was the role for all the other diplomats. But Tommy Hearn spent 425 days in solitary confinement, which had to be just horrendous, not knowing was he the only one left behind. I spent 43 days in solitary confinement, which was nothing compared to him. I tried to escape and failed. And I spent those six weeks in a small 5 by 10 foot size room laying on a box spring. But, or men like, United States Army Colonel, Charles Scott, who was, interrogated so severely with rubber hoses beaten around the mouth that three of his teeth were broken off at the gum lines. no medical or dental treatment until we were freed 14 months later. And lastly, I give you the example of a roommate of mine. He and I spent six months together from about the middle of the crisis until just before Christmas 19, second Christmas in captivity. A guy by the name of Bill, Keel, from Boston. He had three kids my age. He was the age of my dad. we were roommates. By then, things had begun to relax a little bit. We were able to talk to one another. we were able to talk about the future. He would always, because he was an educator, he was an encourager, he would always Talk to me like he would talk to his children, you know, when we get out of here. He never said if. He said, when we get out of here. Kevan, pursue your education, get involved in your community and build a life of relevance. You know, the ultimate conversation about building a, or pursuing a bucket list before I had even heard the phrase. But it's important to have mentors and leaders. And, I've tried to play that role for other people now in my life over the last 40 years. But I hope that people, I hope. Bill Keough, by the way, he was a 6 foot 9 inch tall guy when we were captured, weighing 350 pounds. He lost 200 pounds of his body weight while we were there. And the guards would never bring in a doctor, even though we begged them to, never took to a clinic. He died less than two years after we got out of activity of, Lou Gehrig's disease and just, a real travesty.

There was no communication from inside, uh, to our government or outside

>> Alex McFarland: So did you have any communication with Washington or the Pentagon or when you were in captivity, did you have any means to communicate with dc?

>> Speaker B: no. We were spread out into very small groups or in solitary confinement. Many people spend time in solitary confinement. there was no communication from inside, to our government or outside, meaning from our government back into us. I think I received four or five letters from my mom and my dad, while we were there. They only received a handful from me. And the correspondence was heavily edited. they tore pieces out of it and taped the letter back together without those pieces in it because, of course, our family members wanted to let us know what was going on. But that was all taken out. So I learned a lot about the Milwaukee brewers and the Milwaukee Bucks and the Greene Bay packers and, the high school I graduated from, but nothing of real substance that I was really interested in. But there was an effort, by the way, we didn't learn about this from our government. Government, it was accidentally discovered in June of 1980 that six weeks earlier there had been an escape. I'm sorry, a rescue mission. There was a rescue mission, called Operation Eagle Claw. But unfortunately, because there was a mechanical failure with one of the helicopters that was coming to Tehran, they stopped for refueling at Desert One, 200 miles south of Tehran. And when it was determined they didn't have enough gear to come up and get us, they were going to abort the mission that night. And the commander, Colonel Charlie Beckwith, he got on the satellite phone with, President Jimmy Carter back in D.C. and they made the decision the president did to, extract the team, go back to the Persian Gulf, the aircraft carriers, the country of Oman and the bases there, and maybe try it a different night. Well, as they were leaving, there was a terrible accident. One of the helicopters collided with the C130 transport plane sitting on the desert floor full of aircraft fuel. And, it resulted in an explosion that could be seen 20 miles away through the midnight sky. And three marines and five airmen that night selflessly gave their lives so that we might have had a chance to be free. And we didn't learn about that right away. and we wondered every day before that whether the government was doing anything to get us out. And although the team failed in their actual mission to free us early, they succeeded eventually in the Iranians slipping up in a conversation with some of us and told us that this mission had happened. And that's what gave us encouragement to endeavor forward and not give up hope that our government was working to free us.

>> Alex McFarland: Something had been tried. I remember that. I remember that in the news. Let me ask you this. Who, when you said in a previous segment that you were told you were part of the Marine security guard, but you were told to lay down your arms and, basically not even really defend yourselves, who gave that order?

>> Speaker B: Well, we did use our tear gas to postpone the entry of the, Iranians into the building. it gave us an extra 4 hours, 2 hours to delay them coming into the building and an additional two hours from being able to get in the vault. So that a lot of the communications equipment, the documents that identified people who were talking about, current leadership, future potential leadership in Iran, you know, what the size of their military was, all these things that you want to know as a government, that's what embassies are for, but also for culture, cultural exchange, educational resources, that type of thing. And then the normal things like helping Americans who lost their passport, for example, that would all be important. And so just trying to delay the Iranians from getting into that location. but the decision ultimately was made by Bruce, Langen, the ambassador, who, by the way, I just have to say that every night, whenever he would go up to his room in his residence, there was always a Marine guard at the base of the stairwell. And he would come over at the end of the evening and he would lean against the wall and he would ask us how our day was. you know, we 20, 21, 22 year old Marines. And then as he was about to go out, he would stop on the landing, on the way upstairs, and he would look down and he said to me and others, he said, now write your mom. Write a letter to your mom. And, he knew that the Marine Guards were halfway across the globe in a foreign land in a place that wasn't familiar. Yeah, we all had a little bit of homesickness, but, he was a real important guy, and I had the distinct honor and privilege of eulogizing him. A couple of years ago. He had told his sons, all of whom are US Naval Academy grads, that, And they called me after their dad passed. And after I expressed my condolences, they said, my dad for, 35 years told us that when he dies, Kevan, he wants you to come eulogize him. Which was just an incredible honor for me to be able to do that, spend time with the family.

Kevin Long says talking about the hostage crisis helped him heal from trauma

>> Alex McFarland: Now, where were, I know famously it was Terri, Waite who met. I think he might have been originally from Ireland. but where were the other hostages? You all were in the embassy. Was everyone in the embassy, or were they in several locations?

>> Speaker B: Yeah. So, of course, that situation was different than ours. there have been a lot of hostage takings by the Iranians, a lot of, expansion of terrorist behavior development, of IEDs that they laid down in support of, In opposition to our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. And we can go on and on with their, With their other. There are other organizations they supported, like Hezbollah and Hamas and the Houthi rebels. Right. And ISIS and all of this. But, we spent the first couple of weeks on the embassy grounds, and then many of us were dispersed across the city of Tehran, brought back to the embassy mostly. And then once the rescue mission happened but failed, they dispersed us all across the country for between six and eight months. And it was all. That was an effort to make it almost impossible for there to be a second future but successful rescue mission. And, sometimes people spend time in solitary confinement, I would say the most that anybody. Most number of people in a single room were four or five, depending on which grouping. I never saw any of my fellow Marines until the very last 30 days that we were in captivity. Because I wasn't captured with the other Marines. I wasn't captured in uniform. I was captured in a different place in a suit and tie, in the communications vault. And, we all had bad treatment, but many had worse, certainly, than me. And also, you mentioned something earlier I was thinking about coming back to. And that was just referencing. I don't Want to get ahead of ourselves in the discussion, but the eventual release, yes. You know, I think being young, being young and then trying to reintegrate into freedom, in society is a little bit easier when you are young. And the Marines did an incredible job, at least for me in, I still had eight months left in the Marine Core. Once we got out of captivity. They weren't going to train me in a new job. I wanted to get out and go to college, which I did when my full four year term ended. But they put me on the road, not as a recruiter but in public affairs. And I spoke in high schools and to Rotary clubs and church groups and organizations that wanted to learn about the most recent important historical event that gripped the United States for a year and a quarter. And that became my catharsis. Talking about it and talking about others and their difficult situations helped me more quickly heal from the trauma of having gone through that.

>> Alex McFarland: Were you aware, that Jimmy Carter ultimately would face Ronald Reagan in the election? And were you aware about the rather intense political campaigns going on back in America where and again I lived it, I remember it, with every passing day Jimmy Carter looked more impotent and Reagan, look, now I know the left, they were saying, oh, you know, it'll be World War Three. And they, you know, sarcastically called Ronald Reagan Ronnie Ray Gun. Because in the media. And I saw this the night it was on when during one of the debates, Jimmy Carter said, you know, if we could talk, we're all, we're all people of good faith, we just need to sit down and talk. And Reagan looked in the camera and he said, you listened to me, Mr. Ayatollah. If I become the president, I will mop the floor with you. That's what he said. And now we've got a break. I want your response to this before we take a brief break. Kevan, do you have, what's your website? Website?

>> Speaker B: it's Kevan Hermaning.com Kevan Hermanning. And we're also on Facebook and the other social media platforms. Kevan Hermaning for Congress on Facebook. Love to have your listeners, join in with our campaign folks.

>> Alex McFarland: Alex McFarland here from the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979. Kevan Hermaning and a great American. You can listen [email protected] I would encourage you to share this with friends and all the great programming. A brief break and more in our conversation with Kevan Hermaning after this. Stay tuned.

>>  : Heavenbound Ministries presents Alive 2026 March 9th, 11th in Houston, Mississippi. Laugh with comedian JD Long. Enjoy great gospel singing with the Hoppers, Gold City and more. Enrich your walk with God with speakers like Dr. Fred Lueder and Pastor Allen Simpson, to name a few. Two meals are included and lodging is available. Go to senioradultretreats.com for more information on Alive 2026.

>> Alex McFarland: The Hamilton quarter podcast and one minute

>> Speaker B: comedy are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

Alex McFarland speaks with Kevin Hermaning about Bible prophecy

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here. Very honored to have you listening. Deeply honored to be speaking with Kevan Hermaning. And before we resume that conversation, let me, ask you to please be aware of and be in prayer for several things coming up. for those that are in the Mid Atlantic region, March, 21st and 22, I will be at Emerald Isle Chapel by the Sea. And, we're going to Kansas. I'll be in San Angelo, Texas later this year. And my, tour schedule [email protected] just my name spelled like it sounds. Alex mcfarland.com and a couple of things that I want to invite you to. One is the COVID the Billy Graham Training center in Western North Carolina. I've got the great privilege of speaking there twice in July, July 17 through 19. I'll be teaching on Daniel and Revelation and Bible prophecy. We have a brand new book out on the questions most asked about Bible prophecy. So the website is thecove.org T H E C O V E the Billy Graham Training Center. It's a conference center in Asheville, North Carolina. It's just fantastic. And every year we meet people from literally around the world that come to study God's word. Then after the July 17 through 19, I'll be back a week later, July, 2027 through 31, with Gary Habermas, doing apologetics, the evidence for the Bible, the Christian faith. We would encourage you to come to that and you can learn to share your faith confidently in any situation. And so check out the website of the COVID And then finally, I would ask you to pray for our youth camps. We have eight summer youth camps. And the website for the youth camps is equipretreat.org and we've been doing this for 27 years. We'll have almost 2,000 teenagers, middle school, high schoolers. we do all the fun camp stuff. We hike, we horseback ride, but we share the gospel. And last year we saw hundreds and hundreds of young people not only put their faith in Christ and become believers, but we Talk about America, we talk about patriotism, we talk about citizenship. And so the Equip retreats we just believe are a life changing event. We've got a new one in my home state of North Carolina, up in the mountains, Brevard, North Carolina. We're in Montana, upstate NewSong Jersey, the Hudson River Valley, all over America. So please pray, promote and equipretreat.org is the website for our youth camps. Well, I am so honored I get to speak with so many fascinating people and with all my heart, I am grateful for the service to our nation of. Kevan Hermaning. He's with us now. And sir, for those that may just be tuning in, give, give the, the brief bio, any websites you would care to share. And then I've got a few more things I want to ask you about your experiences as a hostage in Iran. But we. Welcome back to the mic, Kevan Hermaning.

>> Speaker B: Well, thank you very much. I was a young 20 year old Marine at the US embassy in Tehran in November of 1979 when Islamic fundamentalists loyal to the Ayatollah Khomeini, invaded the embassy compound, eventually, invading the buildings, capturing us, the Ambassador ordering us to lay down our weapons in the hopes and belief that under international law the Iranian government would do its job to come and protect the embassy, the personnel and the diplomats and marines who worked there. that's not how it worked out of course. We were held prisoner for 444 days, hostage by the Ayatollah and his followers. since then I returned to the United States. I got out of the service. I, I did serve a total of 13 years in the active duty and active reserves in the Marine Core.

>> Alex McFarland: Thank you.

>> Speaker B: Then I went on to college. Thank you. I went on to college, got a business degree with an emphasis in economics and at the age of 60 just a few years ago, went back to college and got my mba, an MBA in applied leadership and decision making, which has really served me well as I am now able to teach at the local university as a, adjunct professor. I teach financial planning, which is my career also. The class I teach is upper level to undergrads and every, every junior and senior, every person getting out of college should have at least a fundamental understanding of finances and financial advising and planning. but I'm also, I've been very active in my community, serving on a few boards, privileged to ask to do that. Supporters of supporter of Junior Achievement. My late wife and I, we were very active with the Honor Flight program, sending our veterans over to D.C. to see their memorials. and I, also do serve, I think, this is relevant. I serve as the, treasurer of the Child Evangelism Fellowship organization at the state level in Wisconsin, on the state board.

>> Alex McFarland: We love cef, for many years. In fact, my wife, became a Christian in third grade through the Good News Clubs of cef. And in college, she was very responsible for me getting under the sound of the Gospel and becoming a Christian. Listen, I knew. I knew I liked you anyway, but now when you bring up Child Evangelism Fellowship, I feel like family, sir. So blessings on you.

>> Speaker B: Well, my own faith. I mean, I grew up in a Catholic family, Catholic church. and I was the boy youth leader. My best friend, Myshel Galvin, was the girl youth leader at our church. But I would say that the real genesis of my faith, ultimately my salvation, about nine, ten years after we got out of captivity occurred when I was in solitary confinement. And I had to get down on my knees and pray to God every day that he would deliver me from captivity. Not knowing and fully comprehending that I also needed to get down on my knees and pray to God to save me from my sin. Right. You can't avoid sin as a mere mortal, but you can work to be a better person. But that's not the way you get to heaven. It's by having that saving knowledge of faith, in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Yeah.

Kevin Hermaning says he kept hope alive during Iran hostage crisis

I've got to ask you, because, you know, solitary confinement is so psychologically crippling, and the effects of solitary confinement sometimes are just irreversible. how important was it to have hope? And, as, no doubt as you cried out to God for His presence and deliverance, I mean, how did you keep some thread, of hope alive in your heart during those days, Kevan?

>> Speaker B: Well, this is a God story because, there used to be about 20,000Americans working and living around Tehran. About a year before we were captured, of course, the Shah was in power, our strong ally of our country. I wasn't there then, but I know it's real, what I just told you. as a result, there were a lot of kids attending the Tehran American School. And while I was in solitary confinement, the Iranian guards, one day they pushed a book cart down the hallway. And they stopped at around 2 in the morning in front of my cell. And, they grabbed me and told me to come out and get two books off the bookshelf. And it was pretty dark. I Had no idea what I was taking off the shelf. But the first book on the top shelf I pulled was a very thick book. and the other book I grabbed was a little thinner, on the bottom shelf. Got back into my room and I looked at the first book and it was a 1250 page version of Tolstoy's War and Peace. Something you should never read in a situation like the one I found myself.

>> Alex McFarland: Oh my goodness.

>> Speaker B: It was not the most uplifting book for sure. but the other book, there was a woman from, California who made a decision to send 52 Bibles to Tehran with the hopes they would make their hands, their way into the hands of the hostages. And the book that I grabbed off the bottom shelf was a Bible inscribed on the inside front cover. It said to hostage number 26. As a result, I became hostage 26 because I had that Bible. And I read it in solitary confinement four times from COVID to cover. And I have to confess, I didn't really know and understand everything that was in that Bible. But, I really, you know, sat down and I wish then that I was already cognizant of a, ah, saving relationship to Christ. Because I even earlier would have understood the importance of continuing to serve, especially in civil government. I mean, m. That's what Romans is all about. That's why I think it's Acts three, talks about the importance of engaging in civil government. And I am a candidate running for Congress to try to make a difference, not trying to be somebody. I already have a career, already built. My life, the life of relevance that Bill Keogh talked to me about in that cell we were sharing, 47 years ago. But, this is the way that I can continue to serve. Should I be so honored to be elected by the people of northern Wisconsin?

>> Alex McFarland: Indeed. by the way, what's your website for your, senatorial candidacy?

>> Speaker B: Congressional. It's a House, not Senate. Oh, I'm sorry, Kevan. That's okay. Kevinhermaning.com would be the website.

>> Alex McFarland: Sure, sure. Well, our prayers are with you in that regard. I've got to ask you, do you still have that Bible?

>> Speaker B: I still have that Bible. And while I had that Bible in solitary, I circled parts of it. I underlined other things. it became pretty dog eared even in such a short seven week, period of time in solitary confinement. But I used it through the rest of the crisis as well. I've taken it with me when I speak to, church groups. And Boy Scout groups because I want them to see what's really important. I, I feel I've been given a second chance at life. Obviously, I am well aware, as are you, as are most of your listeners, that, God had this whole thing laid out long before any of us were here ourselves, and he knows the outcome of everything. I just wish I knew what the outcome, once we were captured, how long it was going to take to get out of there. But just trying to give encouragement to people who today find themselves in difficult times. I mean, I was with. I'm a bowler, among other things that I do in my community. I was at bowling league. I was at bowling league last night, and one of my buddies was just not his chipper self. And I went up to him and I asked him what was going on. And he started and he knows my background. And he said, my son is in harm's way right now. And, we said a real brief prayer because it was his turn to bawl. I said, I will every day be thinking about you and your family and your son, that, God delivers him back to safety in the United States real soon, coming out of harm's way. And that's all that we all really want, right? Yes. We want to see regime change. We want to see the Iranians pursue their own version of a liberal democracy. It's not going to look like ours in the United States, but, what's going on over there already affects us here. Higher gas prices, higher grocery bills, supply chain interruptions. And people here, what are they concerned about here? The same thing as where you are. I mentioned, I heard you mention, North Carolina. I'm going to be in Sanford, North Carolina, in just a couple of weeks on April 11th. going to an event down there. It's not in my district, but I was invited down by a political organization. And so I'm going to go down there and speak to the folks and, maybe raise a little bit of money for my campaign. That's not the purpose. Maybe that'll result. but, you know, people are concerned about the same thing everywhere, taking care of their families. I'm a financial advisor. I sit with people every day who are worried about the stock market, they're worried about interest rates, they're worried about whether they have enough money to pay for housing, healthcare, and property taxes and groceries and health care really is a big issue for the rest of their lives. They don't want to run out of money and be dependent on government, Social Security only because even that is up in the air right now. People are really afraid of what might happen to them based on government malfeasance. And, yes, we're all sinners. Unfortunately, M. Not too many people in government have a financial, degree of expertise. And there aren't as many Christians in government as I would like to see. And probably you as well, you know.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly. And we do encourage Christians, to run for office. You know, regrettably, we're almost out of time.

How did you find out about your release from Iran in January of 81

But I've got to ask you this. How did you get the news that you were going to be released there in January of 81? Inauguration Day, I believe, was January 20th of 81. How did you find out about that, and how did the release play out?

>> Speaker B: Well, you know, there were a lot of mind games being played by the Iranians during the entirety of the crisis. They would always come in and tell us that it looked like we'd be freed soon. Negotiations, were going well for the eventual release. And we know it was really an effort to try to control us and not give us a sense of desperation. they came in a couple days before Inauguration Day. We did try to keep a calendar, kind of a diary calendar of our own in our. Or individually. I kept my own as well. And I still have that. It's interesting to look back at it every now and then, and all the things I wrote down that I wanted to do when I got back. And to be blunt, I did do about a third of them. The other third of them, I'm just not physically capable of doing anymore. And the others I just shouldn't ever have even put on my list. But that's what Young men of 20 years of age do. but we were very fearful of the future. and they were playing that mind game. But we knew it was inauguration and they started acting a little bit spunky. And so that morning, well, really, the night before, they came into our room and told us, it looks like you're going to go home tomorrow. And we, thought, yeah, sure we are.

>> Alex McFarland: We're almost out of time. I beg your forgiveness. We must resume this conversation. Kevan hermaningis.

>> Speaker B: Com kevinhermaning.com, yes, sir.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, our thanks and prayers and thanks for being with us tonight, folks. Share this with somebody and may God bless America. The views and opinions expressed in this

>> Speaker B: broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of

>> Alex McFarland: the American Family association or American Family Radio.