January 26, 1981 – With celebrations continuing for the freed 52 American hostages, along with the carnival-like atmosphere that went along with their homecoming, the decompression and readjustment from 444 days of captivity was struggling to stay on track.
Besieged by reporters and media, straining to capture any and every syllable uttered and movement made by the former hostages, the crowds assembling along the route to catch a glimpse of the busses carrying the former Embassy employees bore a resemblance to a Broadway ticker-tape parade. Finally making it to the grounds of West Point academy, the hostages and their families were given a few days rest and readjustment before heading to Washington. Getting the run of the Hotel and assurances they didn’t need to see anyone they didn’t want to, the press and crowds were kept well outside the gates and Military Police were stationed to make sure privacy was maintained.
Meanwhile, one of the former hostages, Army Master Sergeant Regis Reagan, left the others after they arrived at Stewart Airport in Newburg, New York. He flew to Johnstown Pennsylvania to see his mother, who was hospitalized with a heart condition soon after she talked with him by telephone the previous Wednesday. It wasn’t known if he would join the others when they flew to Washington the next day for Welcome Home ceremonies at the White House.
A bomb went off at an Iranian bank in San Francisco early this morning, causing some damage but no injuries. No one claimed responsibility.
In other news – almost eight weeks after the trial started, a jury in Washington Federal Court was deliberating the ABSCAM bribery and conspiracy charges against Florida’s former Representative Richard Kelly and two co-defendants. Kelly was accused of accepting $25,000 from an undercover agent posing as an Arab Sheik. The question being posed to the jury was; A Bribe Or Entrapment, that was the question.
All that, and a lot more for this January 26, 1981, as reported by the CBS World News Roundup – CBS Hourly News and Newsbreak with Charles Osgood.
