206: Part 1: Ken Kraus – U.S. Marines stood their ground as a violent mob stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran in 1979 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

Game of Crimes

True Crime

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this gripping episode, Murph talks with Ken Kraus, a former Marine and combat veteran, who survived one of the most harrowing international incidents in U.S. history. On February 14, 1979, Ken and his fellow Marines stood their ground as a violent mob stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, initiating a life-or-death standoff that tested their training, brotherhood, and will to survive.

Ken recounts the chaos, courage, and split-second decisions made under extreme pressure. From the moment the attack began to the brutal aftermath, this is a firsthand account of military heroism, sacrifice, and survival behind enemy lines. The episode also touches on mental health, the emotional toll of combat, and how veterans like Ken process trauma years after their service.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everyone. A quick note about this week's episodes. Our guest is Ken Krause, a former U.S. Marine,
0:05.5	who was kidnapped, tortured, and sentenced to death in Iran in 1979. Now, obviously, he survived,
0:12.4	or we wouldn't have him as a guest, right? But Ken's going to discuss his ordeal during that time,
0:17.4	which includes gun battles, beatings, torture, murder, and the resultant PTSD he experienced.
0:23.9	Some might find portions of this three-part interview disturbing. Most of you won't, but I just
0:28.9	want to give you a heads up just in case. Ken Krauss is a true American patriot and hero, and I'm
0:34.3	honored to host him on The Game of Crimes. Hope you all enjoy this week's episodes. The next thing I know is I hear, I hear gunfire. And I said, man, that's awful close. You know, and you can hear, if you've been through firearms training, you can tell when it's a pistol, and then you can hear rifle. And then when the crack of that rifle, you know, supersonic right away and went boom, boom, boom.
0:54.0	And then just as they, just as that came over, I realized who's, who's got a rifle? We don't go. Who's shooting? We don't have rifles. We got shotguns. And then the radio cracks. They're coming over the wall. They're coming over the wall. Take it fire. Take it fire. Request permission of return fire. And if you've got a fire outside the embassy, it's not inside.
1:11.3	Inside, you don't have to really worry about it. But if any round is going to go
1:17.0	outside the embassy, and you don't want a diplomatic, you know, crisis, you got to, you know,
1:24.0	request permission. They're coming over the wall. And next thing you know, it's going from handgun to regular rifle fire
1:31.2	to sustained automatic fire.
1:33.3	I thought,
1:33.5	this is a gunfight.
1:35.7	I'm going to. Hey, everybody, welcome back to the next episode of Game of Crimes with
1:52.4	Murph in the morning.
1:53.4	I'm your host, Murph.
1:54.4	I can't thank you folks enough for coming back every week.
1:57.1	I don't know why you do, but I certainly do appreciate it.
1:59.7	I think I do know because I bring such studs and studs on here. I mean, you hear stories here that you don't hear anywhere else.
2:06.1	You might hear him somewhere else, but I prefer you hear him on Game of Crimes. And today is no different. The man you see on the screen there is a living legend. He's a true American patriot and an American combat hero. He's retired law enforcement.
2:20.2	He checks all the boxes here to be on Game of Crimes. Usually I only ask that they check
	...

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