Yellow Ribbons for America, created by the Spirit of Liberty Foundation, is a grass roots campaign to display Yellow Ribbons across America and remind all Americans that there are hundreds of Americans stranded in Afghanistan including the 27 students from Sacramento, according to a Spirit of Liberty Foundation news release.
Penelope Laingen, 89, widow of Iranian hostage and Minnesotan L. Bruce Laingen, dies; her yellow ribbon rallied Americans Her husband, L. Bruce Laingen, was held 444 days as a hostage in Iran.
By Clay Risen New York Times April 24, 2021 3:45pm Text size Copy shortlink:
Penne Laingen didn t know she would start a national movement when she tied a yellow ribbon around the white oak in her front yard in Bethesda, Md. It was November 1979, and her husband, L. Bruce Laingen, was the highest-ranking official among the 52 people held hostage in Iran after student militants overran the U.S. Embassy.
The idea, she told the Washington Post, came to her suddenly, inspired by Tony Orlando & Dawn s 1973 hi
Penelope Laingen, 89, Dies; Her Yellow Ribbon Rallied Americans nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By EMILY LANGER | The Washington Post | Published: April 16, 2021 As the wife of a U.S. diplomat, Penelope Laingen had trekked to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Malta, loyally serving alongside her husband in the long tradition of Foreign Service families. From boiling vats of water to dropping calling cards, she once remarked, from packing and unpacking our households to attending endless receptions, from parasites and culture shock to performing charitable acts, the duties thrust upon Laingen had accustomed her to a life of hardship but also, she said, one of purpose and meaning. Her most public ordeal began on Nov. 4, 1979, when Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where her husband, L. Bruce Laingen, was chargé d affaires. Laingen one of three hostages detained, separately from their embassy colleagues, at the Iranian Foreign Ministry was the highest-ranking official among the 52 Americans held in captivity for 444 days.