The World - News from Nov. 1, 1988

A Marine held hostage for 444 days in Iran is being discharged because the psychological problems he suffered from the long captivity have made him unfit for service, a Pentagon spokesman said. Lt. Col. Fred Peck said the former hostage, Staff Sgt. John D. McKeel Jr., 35, is being given an honorable discharge because he remains “physically unfit to perform the duties of his rank on active duty” despite years of counseling and hospitalization. A veteran of almost 13 years now stationed at Camp Pendleton, McKeel complained of post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression stemming from his captivity after the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover.