An American hostage during the Iran crisis remembers Jimmy Carter

Of the many grieving former presidents Jimmy Carter, not all can say he saved their lives.

Rocky Sickman was a 22-year-old U.S. Marine stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, when he and 51 other Americans were taken hostage by Iranian revolutionaries on November 4, 1979.

It defined his life — and much of Carter's presidency.

“For the first 30 days, I sat in that room handcuffed and blindfolded thinking that the Vietnam War had just ended and nobody cared about these thousands of veterans coming home,” the 67-year-old said. “Who cares about the Iranian hostages?”

He said at the time he wasn't even sure how much President Carter cared. It was a sentiment shared by much of the American public. Many blame Carter for failing to bring the hostages home for more than a year.

Political historians say that part of the reason Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in a landslide – and only served one term as president – was because of his handling of the hostage crisis.

Minutes after Reagan was sworn in, the hostages were released, even though the deal had been in the works during Carter's presidency.

Mr Sickman said Carter deserved eternal admiration for his relentless drive to bring them home.

“He was a good man who wanted diplomacy. I found out after he was deeply involved. He knew my parents. He cared about them, he was going to meet them in Washington.”

When Mr. Sickman finally got to meet Carter himself, he wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion.

He laughs: “We met him in our pyjamas!

Rocky was flown with the other hostages to Wiesbaden, Germany, a year after they were taken hostage. The day after their arrival, Carter greeted them in person.

“It was a very exciting day because he was in the Marines and he said meeting us was the happiest day of his life.”

The meeting was captured in a photograph that Carter would send to Sickman 10 months after his vote to leave the White House. It was signed, “To my friend, Rocky Sickman.”

But that wasn't the last time Mr. Sickman saw him. Just 10 years ago, he ran into Carter at a baseball game in Georgia. He had an employee deliver a note to the former president.

“He's reading it – suddenly he gets up and stands up and turns around. I stand up and we wave.”

Like Carter, Mr. Sickman focused on philanthropy. He said he was inspired by the former president to create Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships to the families of fallen or disabled U.S. military personnel and first responders.

“President Carter was a good Christian, married to his wonderful wife, and continued his life of service. I don't know if I'll ever be as good as him, but I hope I can do the same.''

The charity was created in honor of the 8 US servicemen who were killed trying to rescue the hostages. In 1980 the mission, called Eagle Claw, failed catastrophically after three helicopters were damaged. This was the last straw for Carter politically – although he won the Democratic nomination, he was swept out of the election by Ronald Reagan that year.

But while the Iran hostage crisis will be a dark mark on Carter's political legacy, Mr. Sickman said he owed his life to Jimmy Carter.

“Morning, noon and night, for 444 days, I have never prayed so hard in my life, hoping that God is on our side,” he said.

“But also President Carter kept us alive. He kept us before the world by making sure that people prayed (also) for us.”