Sisters woman recalls crisis depicted in 'Argo'

On November 4, 1979, a horde of enraged Iranian protesters, led by a cadre of militant Islamist students, stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. Fifty-two American foreign service workers and embassy personnel were taken hostage.

Six slipped away into the streets of Tehran. One of them was Consular Officer Robert "Bob" Anders. Anders' sister, Ruth Peterson, now lives at Black Butte Ranch and she has watched her brother's story unfold in the movie "Argo."

At age 54, Anders was the oldest among the six escapees and thus their de facto leader.

"The first night they stayed at his apartment and they thought, 'Well, that's dumb; that's the first place (the Iranian militants) would look for them," Peterson told The Nugget.

After trying several options, the group turned to the Canadian embassy.

"My brother knew one of the guys there he played tennis with; that's why they called there," Peterson said.

The six were taken into private residences of Canadian diplomatic personnel. Thus began weeks of nerve-stretching tension as the six hunkered down, with each day bringing closer the threat of discovery. And they feared discovery in revolutionary Tehran could mean a gruesome death.

Meanwhile, the CIA came up with a bizarre scheme to get the six out of Iran. The plot involved a fake science fiction/fantasy movie and a CIA exfiltration expert named Tony Mendez. The fake movie plot is the centerpiece of "Argo," released to much acclaim on October 12.

Bob Anders served as a consultant on the film. According to Ruth, his main input was in a lengthy phone conversation with Tate Donovan, the actor who portrayed him. Anders also had a bit part - as a member of a crowd of well-wishers holding up a sign that read "Welcome Home Bob Anders."

Ruth and her brother attended the Los Angeles premier. She enjoyed the movie.

"I thought it was wonderful," she said. "It's really quite exciting. The beginning (depicting the storming of the embassy compound) is scary as all heck. They really souped it up - the ending - of course."

The film brought back memories of those fraught and tension-filled days. Ruth was unaware of what had happened in Tehran. It was a Sunday, in the days before the Internet and smart phones made news accessible 24/7.

"My husband and I were just getting ready to go to a Packers game," she recalled.

Her elderly mother called. She'd gotten word from the State Department assuring the family that Anders "was alright."

"We didn't know what that meant - he's alright," Peterson said.

As the weeks wore on, the family received a letter, but they didn't know where it came from. Eventually, someone slipped up and a letter got through that had a Canadian postmark. It was that kind of slippage in security that made the six more and more vulnerable to discovery.

The ultimate rescue seemed wildly improbable, but it succeeded. All six returned to foreign service work, with Anders serving in posts in Vienna, Austria, and Olso, Norway, before retiring to Silver Springs, Maryland.

Ruth and husband "Pete" Peterson moved to Sisters in 1991 after vacationing in the area.

"It was a big move," she recalled. "My husband and I were Wisconsin people. People thought we were crazy moving to Oregon."

Pete Peterson died six years later and Ruth was remarried, to Jim Gibbons.

"Argo" is currently playing at Sisters Movie House.