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Iran hostage crisis: Cary woman reflects, 40 years later

Monday, November 4, 2019
Mayor Pete Wilson hands ex-hostage Richard Morefield the key to the city and 52 yellow roses after arriving at the airport in San Diego, Jan. 29, 1981
Dorothea Morefield in San Diego beams with joy when she sees her husband, consul general Richard Morefield, on TV as he arrives in Algiers from Iran on Jan. 21, 1981.
Dorothea Morefield gives her ex-hostage husband Richard an embrace at a ceremony to welcome Richard home to San Diego, Jan. 28, 1981.
Former hostage Richard Morefield talks with Dorothea during a Mass of thanksgiving at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in San Diego, Jan. 30, 1981.
Former hostage Richard Morefield gets a kiss from his mother, Maria Morefield, as he arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland on Jan. 27, 1981.
Richard Morefield (center) , hold hands with his wife Dorothea on Jan. 28, 1981. The crowd was the largest to turn out for any San Diego event.
Freed hostage Richard Morefield chats with a neighbor outside his home in Tierrasanta, a San Diego suburb Jan. 30, 1981.
Ex hostage Richard Morefield and his wife Dorothea appeared on a talk show in Los Angeles, Calif. on Feb. 4, 1981, at which they said they wanted to return to leading normal lives.
A motorcade to welcome Morefield home drew the largest crowd in San Diego history.
Morefield was honored by the West Coast Father's Day Committee as one of the eight 1981 West Coast Fathers of the Year on June 4, 1981 in Los Angeles.
Morefield said a highlight of his ordeal was receiving a bar of chocolate, his favorite sweet, and making it last as a dessert for a week.
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Mayor Pete Wilson hands ex-hostage Richard Morefield the key to the city and 52 yellow roses after arriving at the airport in San Diego, Jan. 29, 1981
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