The State : Ex-Hostage to Leave Marines

A Marine with emotional troubles caused by 444 days of captivity at the U.S. Embassy in Iran will be honorably discharged soon, despite his desire to remain in the service, officials said. Staff Sgt. John D. McKeel Jr., 35, who contends his problems are manageable, will be discharged with a 10% medical disability within 20 days, according to a statement by the Marine Corps in Washington. McKeel, who is stationed at Camp Pendleton, was a guard at the embassy in Tehran when it was stormed by radicals on Nov. 4, 1979, following the revolution that toppled the shah and brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power. He was among 52 Americans held hostage before being released on Jan. 20, 1981. McKeel, a Marine for nearly 13 years, has said civilian doctors diagnosed him in 1985 as suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. The federal Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits release of details of McKeel’s career and military doctors’ diagnoses of his medical condition.