When executives from an important texas corporation are taken hostage during the iranian revolution, magnate ross perot launches a special unit for their rescue. On wings of eagles, while not my favorite follett, is a fine book that held my interest throughout. Buy the book on wings of eagles, the story about this rescue, here. Ross perot rose from poverty to selfmade billionaire. On wings of eagles book by ken follett thriftbooks. On wings of eagles is the account of an incredible rescue by a green beret colonel and a group of corporate executives hastily trained into a fighting team. Jul 14, 2019 ross perot, left, and ken follett, author of on wings of eagles, at eds headquarters in 1983, stand with a portrait of arthur bull simons, who led the raid that freed two eds hostages from a. Reading on wings of eagles can create great peace and inner peace. Buy a cheap copy of on wings of eagles book by ken follett. Jul 09, 2019 ross perot helped rescue two employees held hostage in iran in the 1970s when the government wouldnt help him. His patrilineal line traces back to an immigrant to french louisiana in the 1740s. In later years, perot pushed the veterans affairs department to study neurological causes of gulf war syndrome, reported by many soldiers who served in the 1991 persian gulf war. The adventure was recalled in ken folletts bestselling book, on wings of eagles, and a tv miniseries.
His team consisted of a group of volunteers from the executive ranks of his corporation, handpicked and trained by a retired green beret officer. Jul 10, 2019 i fondly remember my perot bumper sticker and i remember reading the book on the wings of eagles. Recreates the harrowing, reallife adventure of the successful prison break engineered by col. On wings of eagles was adapted for television from the bestselling book by ken follett. With joseph fiennes, bruce locke, shawn dou, jesse kove. Out of the blue, a call came via my agent saying, this maverick texan, ross perot, has been involved in an adventure and he wants you to write a book about it.
In this factbased film, two corporate workers from texas are on a business trip to tehran when the iranian revolution erupts. On wings of eagles is the thrilling story of a daring rescue mission during the. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading on wings of eagles. Jul 10, 2019 perots team, led by colonel simons, was able to rescue the two jailed employees and get them across the border into turkey and ultimately back to the united stateswithout firing a shot. How could follett tell the story and not praise perot. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an oprahs book. This story takes place in 197879, not long before the bigger, more wellknown iran hostage situation. Sep 01, 1983 on wings of eagles is the 100% true story of the rescue operation that ross perot organizes after two of his eds employees working in the iran branch are jailed. Ross perot rose from a childhood of depressionera poverty to become a selfmade billionaire who twice ran for president with a mixture of folksy sayings and simple solutions to americas problems. Bull simons, a world war ii and vietnam commando, who rescued two texans imprisoned in a teheran jail on behalf of ross perot. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. While perot may in fact deserve it, folletts indebtedness to him for the story forces the reader to suspect he is reading what journalists call a puff job.
Webb wrapped up the segment declaring ross perot as larger than life. Follett based his account on many conversations with the people directly involved, and had the drafts checked by them as well. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. On wings of eagles, of a daring commando raid orchestrated by the. Set against the background of the iranian revolution, it tells the true story of the rescue of paul chiapparone and bill gaylord from prison in tehran by a team of electronic data systems executives led by retired col. In this extraordinary story ken follett weaves together a secret penetration of a highly dangerous territory, a dramatic jailbreak, and a. While perot remained a significant force in the party, during the late 1990s his role was gradually eclipsed by the reform governor of minnesota, jesse ventura. This book is personal for me since i worked for ross perots firm, eds, in san. Ross perots private rescue of eds employees in iran. Aside from changing a few names, he believes the story to be what really happened. A soaring tale of courage, inspired by true events.
Ross perot, businessman and former presidential candidate. On the other hand, this reader is the worst ive come across in all of audible. On wings of eagles is the account of an incredible rescue by a green beret colonel and a group of corporate executives hastily trained into a fighting team when ross perot, millionaire head of the dallasbased company eds, discovered that two of his key men in iran had been jailed, he turned to the one man in america who could help. A lot of people knew about perots adventure and a number of journalists were sniffing around. Jul 09, 2019 the adventure was recalled in ken folletts bestselling book on wings of eagles and a tv miniseries. In truth, the bottom line measurement of the success of an authors work lies in how many copies of his book are sold.
This story takes place in 197879, not long this book is amazing. Ross perot was born henry ray perot in texarkana, texas, the son of lula may nee ray and gabriel ross perot, a commodity broker specializing in cotton contracts. On wings of eagles is the gripping account of an incredible reallife rescue carried out by a green beret colonel and a group of corporate executives who were hastily trained to form a fighting team. Ross perot, left, and ken follett, author of on wings of eagles, at eds headquarters in 1983, stand with a portrait of arthur bull simons, who led the raid that freed two eds hostages from a. When the team he hired couldnt find a direct way to free the prisoners, they waited for a revolutionary mob to storm the prison and free all 10,000 inmates, including the americans. The story was made into a book and a tv portrayal called on wings of eagles. With burt lancaster, richard crenna, paul le mat, jim metzler. In other news, millennials are moving to the suburbs. On wings of eagles is the 100% true story of the rescue operation that ross perot organizes after two of his eds employees working in the iran branch are jailed. Ross perot, the colorful, selfmade texas billionaire who rose from a childhood of depressionera poverty and twice mounted outsider campaigns for president, has died. Jul 03, 2015 eds efforts to free two colleagues paul chiapparone and bill gaylord from a tehran prison spawned ken follets bestselling on wings of eagles and a fivehour television miniseries.
You can find what i consider the best account of this operation in ken follett s book, on wings of eagles. Lame 80s telemovie interpretation of a brilliant based on fact book by ken follett. Ken follett was asked by ross perot, via his agent, if he would write this tale of the rescue of two of perots employees imprisoned in. Ross perot, brash texas billionaire who ran for president. Ken follett says on wings of eagles was largely frictionfree ken follett had never met anyone remotely like ross perot when the texas billionaire tracked him down in. Eds on wings of eagles 25th anniversary 2004 youtube. In later years, perot pushed the veterans affairs department to study neurological causes of.
Ken folletts book on wings of eagles immortalized the exploit. The perot touch from an interview in year in special operations june 2010. Ken folletts fans may be reluctant to see him return to fiction. On wings of eagles is a 1983 nonfiction thriller written by british author ken follett. The author also gives an excellent profile of ross perot, the friendly, seemingly softspoken. List of books and articles about ross perot online research. He was one of the most successful thirdparty candidates in american history.
Sep 25, 2019 ross perot organized and paid for a rescue team. Jul 09, 2019 perot went on to establish another computerservices company, perot systems corp. For all the giving perot has done over the years, there was one special occasion where it came back to him, when in 1978 two of his eds executives were taken hostage by the iranian. Is the nearly worshipful treatment of perot in on wings of eagles, then, any surprise. Richard crenna on playing ross perot in on the wings of eagles. You want someone to care about the worker and the working class, you wont find better. In the case of on wings of eagles, the results are staggering. Burt lancaster and richard crenna star in on wings of eagles, a gripping television miniseries of author ken folletts bestselling book. Ross perot contacted ken follett, who was paid by his publisher, to write on wings of eagles. Folletts first bestseller was eye of the needle, a spy story set in the second world war. On wings of eagles is the 100% true story of the rescue operation that ross.
In 1989 the pillars of the earth was published, and has since become the authors most successful novel. There are no pauses, he just pushes forward in the same incessant way. Ross perot and money san diego housing market news and analysis. Ken follett is one of the worlds bestloved authors, selling more than 160 million copies of his thirty books. In 1978, when two american executives are arrested and held captive in iran, magnate h. Jul 09, 2019 the episode was chronicled in ken folletts bestselling book on wings of eagles and in a 1986 miniseries on nbc in which mr. The inspiring true story of one mans patriotic spiritand his heroic mission to save his countrymen kindle edition by follett, ken. Ross perot crenna employs a daring new strategy to secure their rescue. The inspiring true story of one mans patriotic spiritand his heroic mission to save his countrymen mass market paperback september 3, 1984. He retired as ceo in 2000 and was succeeded by his son, ross perot jr. This book amounts to a sicklysweet hagiography of ross perot.
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