It was 35 years ago, when a true “national nightmare” came to an end and American hostages who had been held in Iran for more than 400 days were finally released.
Three of the 66 hostages who were taken captive in November of 1979 were from our area, including a man from Lackawanna County.
In this edition of the Video Vault, Newswatch 16’s Jacqueline Boulden takes us back to the night of January 20, 1981, when the Metrinko family from Olyphant found out their son was coming home.
Eight days later, tens of thousands of people welcomed Michael Metrinko back home to Lackawanna County.
Schools and businesses in the county shut down for the day.
He was honored in downtown Scranton, then received another hero's welcome as he returned home to Olyphant.
Later that day, Metrinko sat down for an interview with Newswatch 16.
He talked about the hostages' 444-day ordeal.
