When Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1981, replacing President Jimmy Carter, the event was both historic and tension-filled.

For 444 days, 53 Americans had been held hostage in Iran, a captivity that grew out of an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The standoff between Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist government and the Carter administration was heightened by an abortive U.S. attempt to rescue the hostages, with helicopters crashing in a huge wind storm.

As the end of Carter’s term drew near, it seemed less and less likely they would be freed on his watch.

In fact, it became rather certain they would get their freedom only after Reagan had taken his oath.

Expecting the events might come in rapid succession, we wanted to get both stories in The Journal News in Rockland, then an afternoon newspaper. Being a Tuesday, when smaller newspapers meant shorter time needed to print that day’s edition, I bargained with out production staff for a 2 p.m. press start for papers destined for home delivery. Papers for newsstands were printed at their usual late-morning start time.

As expected, the Carter-Reagan transition took place just before noon. We then waited and sweated in our old composing room in downtown Nyack.

We were monitoring the Washington events on on television and all-news radio in addition to watching our wire services, which back then included the Washington Post, the Associated Press and United Press International.

The first report that the hostages had taken off wasn’t enough. We waited for a confirmation by broadcast media and also the AP.

Sure that the hostages were free, we completed Page One reporting that Reagan had been sworn in, with the hostages freed about 30 minutes later.

The 444-day ordeal, which began Nov. 4, 1979 and spanned the entire year of 1980, was finally over. During that time, nightly updates on ABC evolved into a new late-night news show, Nightline. During their captivity, the hostages missed the February 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Gold Medal performance by the U.S. Olympic hockey team and the eruption of the volcano at Mount St. Helens in Washington.

Five days later, on Super Bowl Sunday, the hostages returned to the U.S., landing at Stewart Airport in Orange County, to be reunited with their families at the Hotel Thayer, on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point.