Local Man Remembers Life In Iran

Evans, Ga—-
Jerry Porter, Lived in Iran during Iranian Revolution in 1978 and 1979:  “this is exactly what we saw in ‘78.“

Jerry Porter says he can’t help but watch the constant coverage of the Iranian protests…because 30 years ago, he was working just an hour from Tehran, during the Iranian Revolution of ‘78 and ‘79.

Porter:  “Well i saw a lot of things that i don’t want to remember.  I remember seeing people get mowed down by the militia.  I remember burnings, buildings, riots, sitting on my roof, watching the city burn.“

Tuesday, it was announced that there would not by a recount for the election…and that riots were dying down…something Porter says he saw coming.

Porter:  “The Shah had secret police, and now the Ayotollahs’s have secret police. And those secret police…they take care of the people that they don’t like and they do away with them.“

We were in Porter’s living room when new video of a young man lying in the streets was released to the country…no one knew if he was dead or alive.

Porter:  “It absolutely terrifies me about those kids over there.  I’d say God bless them, and do what you can for what you believe in.  And if i had the color green arm band i’d where it today, in support for them.“

Porter tells us that he was scheduled to work there for about 4 years, but as the riots increased, his family was sent back within the first year.  Porter came home 6 months later.