McLEAN, Va. — In the minds of many, terrorists struck their first blow against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. But others look back exactly a quarter-century ago, on Nov. 4, 1979, when 66 Americans were taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.

Most remained in captivity for 444 days. Today, reflecting on their experiences through the prism of 9/11, the war in Iraq and two decades of tumultuous relations with the Middle East, many say the United States was too late to recognize that a new era had begun.

"The day they took us is the day they should have started the war on terrorism," said Rodney "Rocky" Sickmann, 47, of St. Louis County, Mo., an embassy security guard.

Many agree that terrorists were emboldened by their success in the Iran hostage crisis — none of the hostages were killed, but the U.S. government agreed to release $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets — and see the kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq as a consequence.

"Given the terrorist modus operandi nowadays, we probably wouldn't come out alive. They weren't as bold then. They had a latent fear of the United States," said Chuck Scott, 72, of Jonesboro, Ga., a former Green Beret in Vietnam who was an Army colonel when he was taken hostage.

Steven Kirtley, 47, of McLean, who was a Marine security guard at the embassy, said that while he's grateful everybody survived, he's also angry about what he sees as America's largely ineffectual response to the hostage-takers. He called the episode "a stepping stone to get that terrorist movement going. It was such a terrible loss of face . . . such a show of weakness that I still don't think we've recovered."

Fifty-two of the hostages were held for the entire 444 days. Of those, 11 have since died.

Among the rest, memories of that time have resurfaced with the kidnappings and beheadings of Americans in Iraq.

"When I saw them there blindfolded with the guys with the ski masks on — I had gone through those things in Iran," said Rick Kupke, 57, of Rensselaer, Ind. "I can tell exactly what they felt and the fear that's going through them."

William Blackburn Royer Jr., 73, of Katy, Texas, remembers being jolted awake by the screams of his captors, "herded like cattle" into another room, stripped naked and forced up against a wall in front of a firing squad.

"The whole thing was a shock to the system — my legs were shaking from the insecurity of the situation," he said. "It was intended as a good psychological upheaval."

Still, he was not sure if he would be killed.