RIP. You were the very definition of bravery 36 years ago inTehran. Thank you.
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Location: Wondering when # became hashtag and not a number sign.
Exp:
only Canadian to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I'm sure most of the people who populate this board were not even born, or are far to young to remember the incident, but his actions were heroic. Had he been caught hiding those Americans he would have been shot on the spot.
Crescent Heights High School grad to ambassador. quite a life
RIP Mr. Taylor.
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I just saw the "One Man in Tehran" documentary on the plane yesterday - it is a fantastic watch. They interview so many key figures - Joe Clarke, the surviving hostages, the CIA operatives, CBC journalists that were covering the crisis in Iran at the time, and of course Taylor and his wife. Just gives you a great perspective and scope of the whole event. I never knew about this story until the film Argo came out and that's a damn shame. This documentary should be shown in Canadian high schools.
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This is a reason why we get a poor idea about Americans.
Quote:
Although Taylor's actions were made famous again in the movie Argo, which won the 2013 Oscar for best picture, Taylor said it made Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics. Friends of Taylor were outraged when Argo debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012. The original postscript of the movie said that Taylor received 112 citations and awards for his work in freeing the hostages and suggested Taylor didn't deserve them because the movie ends with the CIA deciding to let Canada have the credit for helping the Americans escape.
I just saw the "One Man in Tehran" documentary on the plane yesterday - it is a fantastic watch. They interview so many key figures - Joe Clarke, the surviving hostages, the CIA operatives, CBC journalists that were covering the crisis in Iran at the time, and of course Taylor and his wife. Just gives you a great perspective and scope of the whole event. I never knew about this story until the film Argo came out and that's a damn shame. This documentary should be shown in Canadian high schools.
I will watch this this weekend.
Thanks
From the article in one of the links above
Quote:
Some of Taylor's exploits in Iran in 1979 later became the subject of the 2012 Hollywood film, Argo. But Taylor and others, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, felt the film downplayed his role and that of Canada in the operation.
Good to know Carter didn't revise history like the film did.
Last edited by EldrickOnIce; 10-16-2015 at 07:09 AM.
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On Monday, Taylor said he was mollified by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter telling CNN’s Piers Morgan last week that the film greatly exaggerated the CIA’s role and underplayed the Canadians’ contributions. “When a U.S. citizen makes that case, it really has an authenticity to it, and a disinterest,” said Taylor. “He’s just clarifying those first three months.”
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I just saw the "One Man in Tehran" documentary on the plane yesterday - it is a fantastic watch. They interview so many key figures - Joe Clarke, the surviving hostages, the CIA operatives, CBC journalists that were covering the crisis in Iran at the time, and of course Taylor and his wife. Just gives you a great perspective and scope of the whole event. I never knew about this story until the film Argo came out and that's a damn shame. This documentary should be shown in Canadian high schools.
It really is a damn shame we don't get more into this stuff in school. All I remember from Canadian history is Upper/Lower Canada, Red River Rebellion. HBC, fur trapping, and Mackenzie King.
I don't recall ever learning about Taylor, Frederick Banting, Tom Douglas etc. and if we did, it was a one sentence footnote.
It really is a damn shame we don't get more into this stuff in school. All I remember from Canadian history is Upper/Lower Canada, Red River Rebellion. HBC, fur trapping, and Mackenzie King.
I don't recall ever learning about Taylor, Frederick Banting, Tom Douglas etc. and if we did, it was a one sentence footnote.
That might change now that the dippers are in charge.
I was alive for the hostage crisis, but young enough that while I remember the incident and the yellow ribbons everywhere, I did not know about Ken Taylor's role until Argo came out. Then I looked things up and did a little research on my own. He's pretty cool.
I know it's a joke, but even the implication that we didn't study the person who created the basis for our entire healthcare system, which is widely popular among almost all Canadians, or any prominent Canadian figure, purely because it was the idea of someone from the spooky socialist party is completely ridiculous.
Anyways. Don't want to derail the thread. Just wish I didn't need a Ben Affleck movie to tell me about one of Canada's most brave people.
I was living in the United States when the hostage crisis occurred. I must say that being the only Canadian that most of the kids in my class knew I enjoyed the privilege of proudly sharing citizenship with Ken Taylor. I think I even got to hold a girl's hand because she thought my country was brave. I swear my teacher was setting me up when she brought out the newspaper clippings about the hostages escaping.
After I saw Argo I was a bit disappointed with the backseat role that Argo portrayed Ken Taylor. The dumb guy in Good Will Hunting was pulling a fast one on Canada. Compared to Ken Taylor, Ben Affleck was something that you would scrape off your shoe in disgust.
We remember the legacy of Ken Taylor.
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Ken Taylor dead at 81
