WEST POINT, N.Y. — A dozen former Iranian hostages are reuniting at West Point 30 years after returning to U.S. soil.

Fifty-two hostages were released Jan. 20, 1981 after 444 days of captivity. The hostages flew into the Hudson Valley, where thousands cheered as they rode buses to West Point for time with their families.

The former hostages arrived back at the U.S. Military Academy Thursday and will stay this weekend. They will talk to cadets, tour the grounds and socialize. Also expected at the private event were veterans of the ill-fated military rescue mission that ended in a helicopter crash that killed eight U.S. servicemen.

Iranian students took dozens of hostages in 1979 after the U.S. refused to deport the deposed shah, who was in the United States for cancer treatment.