John McAleese: A SAS legend
Today we're going to talk about a legendary British solider: John Thomas McAleese (25 April 1948 - 26 August 2011). Member of British Army and SAS (Special Air Service). He lead the team that bounced into the Iranian embassy in Londo, during the hostages crisis in May 1980, putting the kidnapping to an end.
I jumped onto fame with the reality show: "SAS: Are you tough enough?" co-starred and where his "horseshoe" shape moustache became a registered trademark ;)
Born in Stirling (yeah, the town with the same name of SAS's founder. A premonition? Raised between Lauriestony and Stirlingshire. He joined the army in 1969 and was deployed on the 59th independent command, Royal Engineers with just 20 years old.
He moved to Hereford in 1975 after passing the SAS test, a process that many people was left behind. During the 80s, he ranked up to Lance Corporal and served in the B squadron in the 22 SAS Regiment.
There, he made it to the history books when he appeared live on TV together with member of Blue Team, placing explosives on the balcony doors of a second floor in the Iranian embassy, moments right before the final attack.
He also served in Falkland islands (Malvinas islands) in 1982. He received the Mlitary Medal in 1988 for his serve is North Ireland. He served as bodyguard of three presidents and retired on 8th February 1992 as Sergeant. He work as security advisor in Irak and Afghanistan, even airsoft instructor (no kidding).
He married twice, and had a boy who followed his steps, Sgt.Paul McAleese, who wanted to joined SAS, but died in 2009 in an attack in Afghanistan. He was patrolling as a member of the 2nd Battalion the Rifles when an IED exploded on his convoy's path.
John McAleese passed away on 26th August 2011 in Thessaloniki, Greece, of a heart attack. His funeral took place in Hereford's Cathedral.
The most curious fact of this SAS soldier happened in 2003, when a game developer company based a character, Captain Price, on his life. The game is not another than Call of Duty. He appears in the following issues of the series.
