David McCloskey

Green turtleneck, tweed blazer, clothing he'll wear throughout the operation.

He's got the Argo portfolio, the screenplay that sketches with him in case any Iranian consular officer pushes back.

The clerk, when he's getting the visa, asks, you know, why are you

doing this in Germany rather than at home, but Mendez basically says that, oh, my idiot boss sent this telex about a meeting in Tehran.

I'm already on the road.

And 20 minutes later, he's got a one-month Iranian visa stamped into the Kevin Costaharkin's passport.

And presumably, although we don't hear about it in the memoir, Ed Johnson, known as Julio, does the same thing to get a legal visa to go into Iran.

Now,

Mendez and Julio file a final flash cable for approval on the 23rd of January, 1980.

Stansfield Turner, who's the director of the CIA at the time, replies very quickly, your mission is approved.

Good luck.

And per that plan...

Mendez is going to depart first and then Ed will follow him.

And the idea here is you don't want both guys to be together.

You want to space it out.

So you're arriving separately, but the weather conspires against them.

Mendez's flight is canceled.

And so he and Ed are going to be on the same flight together.

And, you know, Mendez, this is very interesting because Turner, the head of the CIA, has approved the mission.

But as they're getting ready to go...