Forty years ago today, on June 30, 1985 (May 13, 1985 lunar calendar), terrorists released all the hostages after 17 hijackings. Robert Strasem, Victim of the Beirut Hijacking June 30, 1985. The long and grim hijacking ended in the Middle East. Radical Shiites, members of the God Party or Herztrah, released 39 American hostages in Beirut. The hostages were driven to Damascus and then flown to Frankfurt. They looked relaxed and healthy. They looked forward to being reunited with their families, but one family could not enjoy their happiness. Navy diver Robert Strasem, a passenger on TWA Flight 847, was brutally killed by terrorists on the first day of the drama of the 17th Congress. A spokesperson for the hostages, Aaron Convell, offered several controversial and sympathetic accounts of the hijackers in the grim episode, thanking Syrian officials for their role in the negotiations. "We know very well that without their help and support, without their concern for our lives, we would certainly be in Beirut right now," he said. "The future is uncertain." The Syrian authorities persuaded them to release the hostages, even though Israel did not meet their main demand for the release of more than 700 Shiite and Palestinian prisoners. Israel said it might have released the prisoners if the United States had asked it to do so during the crisis. But the Reagan administration refused to do so. "You came back, and the United States brought you back without compromising its principles," Vice President George W. Bush said of the repatriated hostages. Presumably, however, Israel will release the prisoners after the hijackings subside. When asked if the United States would retaliate, Convair said: "I really don't know who took us, and retaliation is as personal as revenge, and I don't want to seek revenge and revenge at all." The freed hostages said the hijackers treated them well. Neither Convair nor anyone else mentioned the brutality of the two hijackers when they seized the plane after it took off from Athens on the 14th. As the terrorists forced the pilots to circle over the Mediterranean, they hit some of the passengers with weapons they had smuggled on board from Athens. Just as the plane was being forced to land in Beirut for the second time, they shot and killed Robert Stetham. "They are hitting the passengers," the TWA pilot said in a dramatic radio call for help when the control desk at the Beirut airport tried to stop the plane from landing. "They are threatening to kill them. The plane needs refueling, and it is urgent." The control desk showed mercy. The plane flew from Beirut to Algiers, back to Beirut, to Algiers, and back to Beirut, where most of the passengers were released by the hijackers. On the second day of the incident, it was reported that the United States had sent a task force to the Mediterranean to rescue the hostages. Nabih Berry, a moderate Muslim Shiite leader who had become a mediator in the crisis, revealed on the 17th day after the incident that he had arranged for someone to rescue the hostages from the plane and send them to a secret place in Beirut to hide. "Because we were afraid that if there was a shootout, they might not survive," Berry said. The pilot, Testolak, also warned: "If the task force came to rescue the hostages, we would all be dead." The raid did not happen, but the Reagan administration did send the task force to the Lebanese coast. Explaining the fleet operation, Defense Secretary Mark Weinberg said: "This is a war." Secretary of State John Schultz called on countries to take concerted action to "crush the despicable acts of terrorism." If the threat of force can play a role in the release of hostages, I don't know what it will be. Seven American hostages who were kidnapped earlier have not been released. If there is any way, I really don't know how to rescue them and get them released. Masked terrorists on a United Airlines flight assess the situation at Beirut airport. Shiite gunmen read out their demands. Hostages met with reporters under surveillance. Other hostages were released after two weeks of negotiations