They came in peace...

[thedrifter]

They came in peace...
Corps remembers victims, survivors of Beirut bombing

Submitted by: MCRD Parris Island
Story Identification Number: 20031020145639
Story by Staff Sgt. Benjamin N. Haynes



MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.(Oct. 17, 2003) -- "When we fight, we strongly believe in God, Corps and Country, but we fight for our buddies."-Anonymous Beirut veteran

At approximately 6:22 a.m., Oct. 23,1983, a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives crashed through the gates of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The bomb exploded inside the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regimental Battalion Landing Team taking the lives of 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers and wounding more than 100 others.

The bombing is considered the most deadly act of terrorism prior to Sept. 11, 2001, when the world witnessed the destruction of the World Trade Center and the damage to the Pentagon.

Although the two terrorist attacks took place nearly 20 years apart, the reasons behind the bombing are the same. According to an anonymous letter from a Marine who served in Beirut, the purpose of these cowardly acts was to separate us.

However, the effect of these acts had the opposite affect on the American people and military.

"As Americans, these tactics only serve to draw us together," the letter read. "Some are calling Beirut the first battle of World War III. This is a conflict we did not want, but one in which we cannot afford to lose. It is a war between good and evil. We have the will to win, and we will prevail."

Prior to the bombing there were nearly 1,600 Marines serving as part of a multinational force trying to help restore order and stability in Lebanon. The Marines had been stationed in Lebanon to provide a presence. The year before, in June, the Israelis had invaded Lebanon in one final push to drive out PLO terrorists. This move upset balance in the Middle East and U.S. forces were attempting to referee the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. They had been deployed around the Beirut airport to stand between the Lebanese army and Syrian-backed Shiite units fighting in the Shouf Mountains.

In the months leading up to the attack, Marines operated in a high-threat environment and continued to actively patrol, train the Lebanese armed forces, and improve security.

Throughout their stand in Beirut, there was a noticeable conflict with some local groups. The embassy Marines faced verbal harassment, rocket and mortar attacks against the LAF, and stray rounds coming into their positions. The Marines recognized the increased threat posed by this firing, and continued to harden positions by emplacing sandbags and digging in deeper.

After a Sept. 26 cease-fire began to break down, the threat of terrorism remained vague, while the active threat from artillery and small arms was increasing.

While the majority of the Marine forces lay asleep on the early morning of Oct. 23, 1983, a five-ton truck entered a public parking lot adjacent to the four-story, steel-reinforced concrete and sandbagged building which housed the headquarters elements of BLT 1/8. After making a complete circle around the parking lot for acceleration, and while traveling at a high speed, the truck crashed through the outer defense of a barbed-wire emplacement. It moved at high speed between two sandbagged sentry posts; passed through a gate into an iron fence; jumped over a sewer pipe which had been placed there as an obstacle to impede vehicles; plowed through a sandbag barrier; and precisely hit a four-foot wide passenger entry into the lobby where its cargo detonated.

According to then Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. P. X. Kelley, the entire event, which can best be described as the delivery by a suicidal driver of a 5,000-pound truck-bomb at very high speed, took approximately six seconds from start to finish.

Thursday will mark the 20-year anniversary of the tragedy our fellow Marines and armed forces faced in Beirut. Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C., has special programs planned for those who sacrificed and served. The Beirut Veterans Association will host ceremonies, dedications and banquets to honor the heroes of Beirut Thursday. For more information on the events, visit www.lejeune.usmc.mil/ncb/beirutmemorial.asp.


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2003102016242/$file/beirut1(L).jpg

The explosion of the Marine Corps Building in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, totally demolished every floor of the building, leaving 220 Marines and 21 other service members dead.
Photo by: Official USMC Photo



http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2003102016355/$file/beirut2(L).jpg

The building shown above was used by the Marines as a barracks before the terrorist attack Oct. 23,1983. Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the attack. For more information on memorial services, visit www.lejeune.usmc.mil/mcb/beirutmemorial.asp.
Photo by: Official USMC Photo

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/273BBFF7EECFB65A85256DC50068109C?opendocument


Sempers,

Roger

[yellowwing]

I was in Quantico at the time attending my MOS school. The Red Cross held an emergency blood drive. They only had the supplies to take 200 units. They weren't prepared when 1,200 hundred of us showed...

[thedrifter]

Remember
Beirut 20 years later: Were the lessons buried with them?

Sgt. A. C. Strong
Combat Correspondent

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the Beirut bombing. A remembrance ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Beirut Memorial at Camp Johnson. People from all over the country gather each year at the memorial to remember all the 241 service members who were killed in the bombing, and also those who lost their lives in other attacks while serving in Beirut. (The following story was provided by the Public Affairs Office Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.)

MIRAMAR, Calif. - “There are moments in life that shape who you are, what you think, what you know, even what you believe,” said retired 1st Sgt. Richard B. Truman, “And it stays with you. The Beirut bombing was one of those.”
Oct. 23, 1983, 241 Marines and fellow service members were killed and more than 100 wounded, when a truck carrying explosives slammed through the guard posts and entered the Battalion Landing Team headquarters building of the Marine Amphibious Unit compound in Beirut, Lebanon.

The bombing of the BLT headquarters, whose duties included acting as a contingent to the multinational peacekeeping force, was even more shocking to the American public, as it came on the heels of the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut which occurred in April of the same year.
August 25, 1982, Col. Stuart Knoll, commanding officer, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, remembers arriving in Beirut.

Knoll, then a captain with 2nd Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, was working as a communications relay.
“The positive outlook of the Lebanese people at that time is something I will always remember,” said Knoll, who shipped out prior to the embassy bombing. “We were there on a peacekeeping mission.”

Even with the bombing of the embassy in April of 1983, the posture did not change for the incoming Marines including 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. They were there to “maintain the perimeter,” said Brig. Gen. Christian B. Cowdrey, commanding general, Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command Twentynine Palms, Calif.

“May of 1983, 1/8 landed to assume duties...” said Cowdrey. “Although our embassy had been blown up, we were still very well received by the community. There was no change in mission and we continued to provide security to West Beirut as a part of our mission.”

According to then-Capt. Cowdrey, rifle company commander, Charlie Co., between the time of the embassy bombing and the BLT headquarters bombing, “Marines trained, organized and assisted” the Lebanese army so they could work autonomously upon the departure of the peacekeeping force. They were to provide a safe haven for the unprotected.

At 6:21 a.m., the Marines in the barracks were sleeping. Charlie Co. was on duty maintaining the perimeter.

Because it was Sunday, the Marines offshore, aboard USS Iwo Jima, were still sleeping.

At 6:22 a.m., the calm turned to cauas when a truck carrying explosives slammed through guard posts and crashed into the headquarters building. According to a Department of Defense spokesman at the time, “The force of the explosion ripped the building from its foundation. The building then imploded upon itself.”

“I saw the mushroom cloud,” said Cowdrey, who was 500-meters from the building. “It was surreal. We attempted to make radio contact, but no one answered.”

The Marines of Co. C, with Cowdrey, moved across the runway to where moments before there was a building.

“There was just rubble with a crater in the center,” he said. “Everything in the periphery was blown back, trees were blown over. Some things simply vaporized.”

The captain and his Marines immediately began rescue efforts.

“I couldn’t even recognize the men we were pulling out,” Cowdrey said thoughtfully. “I remember pulling Chaplain Wheeler out of the rubble, and I talked to him. He was conscious. Most ... most you couldn’t identify.”

According to the general, all were covered in a thick, gray dust. “You couldn’t tell black from white, old from young. They were in sleep clothes, gym clothes,” he said. “If you found someone alive in the concrete that entombed them, if you found a pulse at all, you hurried them away.”

As their efforts continued, rescuers were confronted with the very real possibility that their efforts to rescue one would rain debris on another.

Marines and Sailors worked to organize aid stations, that would be used to triage, stabilize and prepare for the evacuation of the casualties to USS Iwo Jima.

Aboard ship, the sleepy Sunday went from “zero to hell” according to then-Cpl. Truman, as the medical personnel worked to treat the ever-increasing number of wounded.

Truman was released from his regular duties as CH-46 crew chief for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 162, because prior to his enlistment in the Marine Corps, he was a trained emergency medical technician - and they needed all the help they could get.

“The hangar deck was full of wounded,” said Truman. “There were all kinds of injuries - burns, broken bones, and crushing injuries.”

Truman was to stick with the surgeon as he went from crew chief to starting IV’s and triaging the wounded.

“I had my hand pressed hard against a wound and I looked down,” taking a breath, he said, “And I knew them. We knew them.”

As the days passed, the rescue efforts became recovery efforts.

“And those of us that were left behind, we stayed and continued the mission,” said Cowdrey.

In the states and abroad, Marines and fellow Americans were shocked at what was called, at the time, the “largest terrorist attack in United States history.” Many looked for blame.

“I was angry,” said Knoll. “Like we should have seen it coming.”

“I’ll tell you someone who, in my opinion, bore the brunt of the blame but was one of the finest commanders I’ve served under, Col. Tim Gerahty,” said Cowdrey. “He recognized and understood from a national, theater and tactical perspective.”

The general also spoke highly of Lt. Col. Larry Gerlach who was the commanding officer, 1/8, and injured in the bombing. “Here’s a man that is in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and now has a letter in his record finding him to blame for what occurred. But he was a good commander and I learned a lot from him.”

The general seemed frustrated that many today seem to have forgotten the lessons from Beirut.

Knoll said, “After all these years Lebanon really doesn’t seem any better off or any more stable. There really seems to be no solution to some of these Middle East problems, at least in this case this seems to be true.”

“It’s not something that is remembered as it should be,” Cowdrey said. “We were there for almost two years, for a very noble mission.

“It should be remembered like this - a group of young Marines, principally from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, gave their lives for a very noble cause - to secure peace in a land that had been in civil war for decades. I was in the building the night before it blew. We were remembering Mike Ohler (a Marine captain killed by sniper fire in Beirut, a week prior to the BLT building bombing). All of us knew that we were there to support peace. They were proud of what they were doing, recognized the risk and were willing to take the risk to secure peace.”

The lessons learned in Beirut are applicable today.

“I learned from it and carried that with me when I took my Marines into Operation Iraqi Freedom. I drew on it to tell them what to expect, because it’s a different environment and things that make sense in the U.S. just don’t make sense there,” said Knoll.

“Beirut ‘82 through ‘83 is a case-study in War College when discussing mission creep, rules of engagement and U.S. policy. It’s important for leadership to study this when deciding to commit forces, so we have the right numbers, right reasons, and the rules of engagement,” Cowdrey added.

September 9, 2003, a federal judge assigned responsibility for the embassy bombing to Iran, awarding $123 million to the 29 victims and their families.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates concluded, “Iran was ultimately responsible for the radical Islamic group Hezbollah detonating a car loaded with explosives inside the embassy entrance on April 18, 1983.”

It is reported to be the first large-scale attack on an American embassy anywhere in the world and was considered a “watershed act that ushered in two decades of terrorist attacks on U.S. targets overseas and at home.”

No one has been assigned blame for the Oct. 23 blast, which took 10 times as many lives.

“We shoulder the responsibility,” said Cowdrey. “Every one of them had families. Any service member who dies in a foreign land should be shown the same compassionate admiration and respect as those who died in 9-11. Every one of them should be remembered.”

Visit the Beirut Memorial Online at http://www.beirut-memorial.org/index.html.

Editors Note: Not including the BLT barracks bombing, 32 service members died while serving in Beirut from 1982-1984 bringing the total lost to 273. To all of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice we salute you and will remain- Semper Fidelis.

Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

A Moment In Silience........

[thedrifter]

‘Our first duty is to remember’
20th Beirut remembrance events Oct. 23

6 a.m. - Candlelight Service for Beirut Veterans and family members at the Beirut Memorial site at Camp Johnson. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Alphas with ribbons/badges and barracks cover.

10:30 a.m. - 20th Beirut Memorial Observance Ceremony will be conducted at the Beirut Memorial site at Camp Johnson. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Alphas with ribbons/badges and barracks cover.

2 p.m. - The Military Order of Devil Dogs will conduct a remembrance ceremony at the Memorial Circle at Camp Geiger. Retired Maj.Gen. Ray L. Smith will provide the ceremony address. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Alphas with ribbons/badges and barracks cover.

4 p.m. - In conjunction with the Beirut Remembrances, the Marine Corps Battle Colors Ceremony and the Silent Drill Team will perform at Liversedge Field, Camp Lejeune. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Charlies.

The public is invited to attend all events listed above. Parking for the general public during the ceremony will be available at the Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, across the street from the memorial.
For more information, call Beirut Memorial Advisory Board members: Michael Ellzey - 938-5328 or Richard Ray - 389-5186.

Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[thedrifter]

Leaving Beirut:
‘Give me somebody to turn it over to’
Col. Keith Oliver
Public Affairs Officer

If there was a single act or gesture that epitomized the 2d Marine Division’s involvement in the country of Lebanon over the past two years (‘82 and ‘83), it was probably that which occurred Sunday morning, Feb. 26 at Beirut International Airport. The scene was photographed by a Marine gunnery sergeant and has been described in a variety of military and civilian publications worldwide, running the gamut from Camp Lejeune The Globe to the New York Times Magazine.

The day before had been a flurry of activity as the ships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet welcomed home men and machines in one of the most orderly and efficient tactical redeployments ever conducted. Howitzers, tanks, jeeps and scores of Marines, veterans of conflict in both Grenada and Lebanon, made their way to USS Guam, USS Manitowoc and other vessels which supported the 22d Marine Amphibious Unit operations in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

In the wee hours of the morning Feb. 26, Gunnery Sgt. Randy Bare of West Virginia reported that “it was as if a silent command were given” as the remaining forces of Echo Company trooping toward waiting helicopters, fell quiet while passing the devastated “BLT building” which had been leveled by the now-infamous terrorist attack in October 1983.

Daylight would come soon and, shortly thereafter, a touching moment which would be forever engraved on the memories of the few who participated.

The location: the Lebanese Liaison Office at Beirut International Airport. The occasion: the formal turning-over-of-the keys to the Lebanese Government.
Col. William “Pat” Faulkner, a former corporal and native of Charlotte, N.C., commanded the MAU throughout its highly successful Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada and now, with the establishment of a joint task force ashore headed by Brig. Gen. Jim Joy, found himself MAU commander at a more quiet but, perhaps no less significant, moment.

This was it. The Marines had done a job; not the taking of an island or a hill that suits their nature so well, but rather as disciplined, pliable tools in the hands of their country, serving once again, with distinction on foreign soil.

Such poetic thoughts were probably far from Faulkner’s mind when he deliberately but courteously marched into the liaison office with a handful of his staff looking for “somebody to turn it over to.” Appearing for all the world like a camouflage-clad John Wayne, with one hand crooked in his flak jacket and a no-nonsense glint in his eye, the Marine aviator conducted the transfer the way he conducted much of his business ,brief and to the point.

Smiles and handshakes were exchanged all around and, cueing his operations officer, Lt. Col. Ernie Van Huss, the MAU commander expressed a desire to retrieve the American flag which was displayed behind the liaison officer’s desk. Old Glory’s staff crossed one that supported the cedar-adorned national ensign of the Lebanese. As a symbol, the American flag represented the last official U.S.

vestige at a complex which, it was believed, would be turned over to largely anti-government forces (the Amal) within days.

Van Huss, a God-fearing infantry officer whose Tennessee upbringing and boyhood association with scouting had given him a special respect for the Stars and Stripes from early on, reached for the colors. As he had planned to do even the day before, Van Huss and the air officer, Maj. Bill Sublette, very reverently and properly folded the American standard as all hands stood at the position of attention.

After Van Huss had made the final fold, making the flag into its traditional star-covered triangle, the room was very quiet for a few seconds until, almost wistfully, a Lebanese officer spoke.
“Here,” the Middle Eastern officer said, reaching for the flag of Lebanon, “you might as well take ours, too.”

Reprinted from a 1985 edition of Follow Me, newsletter of the 2d Marine Division Association, with permission. Story by then - Capt. Keith Oliver. Col. Oliver is the Marine Corps Base Public Affairs Director.

http://militarynews.com/globe/Web%20Art/leavingbeirut-dt.jpg
Joe Ciokon, U.S. Navy (ret.)



Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[thedrifter]

Hough leads Marines of BLT 1/8 home
Sgt. Roman Yurek
Combat Correspondent

USS IWO JIMA- Col. David K. Hough, Battalion Landing Team 1/8’s commanding officer, recently deployed as part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), was promoted to his current rank Oct. 1 aboard USS Iwo Jima.

Hough spoke of his Marines when asked to explain the significance of this promotion. “Officers receive recognition as a result of the hard work and dedication of their men, I am extremely fortunate that I have had the privilege to serve with this outstanding group of professionals.”

For Hough, this is not the first time he has served in this battalion. Twenty years ago, Hough served as a rifle platoon commander with 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, BLT 1/8, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit as part of the Multinational Peace-keeping Force deployed to Beirut, Lebanon.

As a result of subsequent Marine battlefield successes, which negated the warring factions’ conventional war fighting abilities, the increasingly desperate enemy sought drastic and unconventional measures.

In the early morning of Oct. 23, 1983, an explosive-laden truck detonated the largest non-nuclear blast at that point in history by exploding against the BLT’s command post inside the Beirut International Airport. This terrorist attack, arguably the first one of its kind against Americans, changed the nature of that conflict and foreshadowed the Global War on Terrorism.

Two hundred and forty-one U.S. service members were killed in that attack alone. Before their return to Camp Lejeune Dec. 7, 1983, BLT 1/8 endured a heavy toll of killed and wounded Marines resulting from the combat operation and caused an untold number of dead and wounded enemy.

For Hough, Beirut has many memories, but he summarized them by saying that, “the battalion’s performance in Beirut joins in history with its efforts in Iraq, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Tinian. The Marines and Sailors fought bravely in Beirut and the many who gave their lives for their God, Country and Corps will not be forgotten. The Marines and Sailors of BLT 1/8 carry on the their legacy, taking the fight to our nation’s enemies with the same pride, professionalism, and espirit as their predecessors who served so gallantly from World War II to the present. It was truly an honor to be afforded the opportunity to return to BLT 1/8 and serve as their commander.”

As the 26th MEU (SOC) and BLT 1/8 steam across the Atlantic Ocean en route to a well-deserved homecoming, Hough looks back with pride at the deployment, which started with the MEU and BLT’s participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, continued to Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa and culminated with JTF-Liberia.

“During the past eight months, we have traveled more than 40,000 miles and participated in two major operations. BLT 1/8’s Marines and Sailors accomplished every mission assigned to them in those operations with the dedication and skill of true professionals. I could not be more proud of them.” Hough said.

Asked what he believes to be the biggest factor contributing to the successful deployment, Hough said, “My early experiences as a rifle platoon leader in Beirut molded my approach to leadership. As a commander, I believe that you must concentrate on those things that contribute to the fight and minimize those things that detract from combat readiness. As the MEU’s ground combat element, we concentrated on our ability to shoot, move and communicate effectively.”

Hough has not forgotten where his leadership foundation began nor will he ever forget those who were lost 20 years ago. “I try to attend some of the ceremonies every year and honor those we lost that fateful day,” he said.

Hough understands the importance of being able to come home when so many have not been able to. And right now Hough said he’s looking forward to being at home with his wife and four children after another successful deployment.


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[Kirkpatrick]

I remember this event well. I was attached to a Special Operations unit in Okinawa when the bombing took place. In fact, I lost several friends at the barracks.

We loaded our gear and started to head for Beruit. At the last moment, we were called back.

Every Marine was affected by this act.....we will never forget.

Semper Fi

[thedrifter]

October 23, 2003

Marines mark a sad anniversary

By Jay Cohen
Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — As a hushed crowd milled around him, moving in subdued sadness in Thursday’s early morning chill, Jeff Nashton’s mind went back to a morning 20 years earlier.
Nashton was a Marine lance corporal in Beirut, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. His day began with a horrific jolt: “Just a big red flash and darkness.”

But Nashton was lucky — he survived a terrorist truck bomb that killed 241 Marine, Navy and Army servicemen.

On the 20th anniversary of the attack, he came from his home in Rome, N.Y., to join hundreds of survivors, relatives and other veterans and friends to honor U.S. servicemen who died in peacekeeping efforts in Beirut in the 1980s.

A truck full of explosives tore open America’s embassy and the barracks housing members of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines on Oct. 23, 1983. The servicemen were the first American victims of a suicide bomb, in an attack that eventually drove the U.S. military out of Lebanon. No one acknowledges knowing who was behind the act.

Nashton, now 44, had been on the ground floor, in the northeast corner of the building, when the truck roared past barricades and detonated.

“I woke up and Lebanese soldiers and a black Marine were pulling rocks off me, saying they needed to get some more help to get me out,” he said. “I looked around and I saw little fires and people screaming. I thought we’d been hit by a rocket.”

Anniversary services have been held annually at Camp Lejeune since 1986, when a memorial was dedicated at the base gates. This year’s ceremonies were as painful as any other.

“It’s a very sacred day,” said Danny Wheeler, a Navy chaplain who was trapped for 5½ hours in the barracks’ rubble. “These young men, they took me in and I was honored to be their chaplain.”

At 6 a.m. Thursday, a crowd of about 500 people gathered at the memorial to light candles and listen as veterans and family members read the names of victims.

Most people looked at their candles and strained to hear names against the din of traffic. Some people jammed their hands into jacket pockets to keep warm and one woman was wrapped in a red blanket emblazoned with the Marine Corps’ globe and anchor symbol.

Tammy Estes Chapman, who came with her family from Vider, Texas, lost her 19-year-old brother, Lance Cpl. Danny Estes, in the blast. He joined the Marines after high school.

“I was proud. He liked what he was doing,” she said. Then, as she videotaped the proceedings, she murmured: “He never had a life.”

Retired Gunnery Sgt. Richard L. Ray acted as liaison between the Beirut Veterans of America and the city of Jacksonville as the remembrance was planned.

“There’s a lot of people — veterans and survivors — who just haven’t been able to come” before this year, he said. “It has taken them 20 years to be able to go. Emotionally it has been too hard for them to come.”

Ray was serving in Camp Lejeune’s public information office in 1983. The morning of the attack, he was standing outside a chapel waiting for Mass when Maj. Gen. Al Gray, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, approached him and asked if he thought the priest would allow him to speak. Ray said he believed it would be fine.

“I had never seen the look on his face before as he walked in,” Ray said. “He was bewildered. That really struck me.”






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2332234.php


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[floraman1]

My last name is Nelson. I was serving with 2nd FSSG at the time. A few months after the bombing, I was transferred to 2nd Bat., 8th Marines. However, 2/8 was still in Beirut, so I worked with Headquarters, 8th Marines. I remember many of the injured Marines we processed out who had been in the barracks. Even though many were badly damaged, they all stood strong. I am honored to have served them through my duties as a Unit Diary clerk 20 years ago.

[thedrifter]

Beirut Veterans of America keep the memory alive
October 21,2003
CYNDI BROWN
DAILY NEWS STAFF





There's Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Montford Point Marines and Marine Corps League. The Women Marines Association, The Chosin Few and ten other veterans organizations active in the Jacksonville/Onslow County area. There is not, however, Beirut Veterans of America.

That organization, dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the service members killed during the peacekeeping operation in Lebanon, does not have a local chapter. At least not yet.

BVA will hold its annual reunion this week in Jacksonville in conjunction with events surrounding the 20th anniversary of the suicide bombing in Beirut that claimed 241 lives Oct. 23, 1983. Richard Ray, who wants to form a local chapter, has been serving as the BVA's local liaison for this year's service.

"Bob (Jordan, BVA executive director and founding president) asked me to get involved, and I got involved," said Ray, a retired gunnery sergeant who landed in Beirut nine days after the bombing. He has been meeting with the Beirut Memorial Advisory Board to coordinate BVA's efforts for the anniversary.

BVA was formed in 1992. Their motto, "The first duty is to remember," also describes their mission.

"The idea is to perpetuate the memory of those who died," said Ray, who joined BVA about four years ago.

Regular membership is open to those who served in the Armed Forces in Lebanon and with supporting units from June 1958 through March 1984. Affiliate membership is for those who served in the armed forces, but not in Lebanon, and want to support the organization. Associate membership is open to anyone who would like to support BVA. The organization has nearly 700 members across the country.

More than a week before the service, Ray was in his home off Gum Branch Road showing off the community donations he has received to distribute to the hundreds of Beirut veterans expected this week.

There were copies of Leatherneck Magazine and Marine Corps Gazette from the Marine Corps Association. Gift bags from Staples. Handpainted Christmas ornaments from Nashville gospel artist Eric Horner, who will sing at Thursday's memorial service, and his wife, Debby, the widow of Sgt. Richard L. Blankenship who died in the blast. Marine Corps Racing team ball caps from Pioneer Services. Beverages for the hospitality suites from Sanders Ford. American flags, plus a cash donation, from Food Lion. And the list went on.

"People have been so generous. Everyone said, 'Anything for the Marines, anything for the Beirut veterans,'" said Ray. "The people I've talked to for donations have been generous, and if not generous, helpful. Nobody's shut the door in my face."

The USO at 9 Tallman St. is hosting a reception for BVA members and Beirut families beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

"The BVA appreciates what the USO is doing. I think it's a great location," said Ray.

Those who wish to participate in the Wednesday evening hospitality suites at the Holiday Inn Express and Quality Inn must register, if they haven't already done so, at the USO. Registration is $10. BVA will also accept registration at the USO for Thursday's banquet, if seats are still available, at the New River Air Station Officers Club. The $35 cost covers dinner, as well as the hospitality suites.

Ray said he has no firm feel for how many people will show up.

"I think they're looking at four or five hundred minimum, and that's just the families," said Ray. "There will be a lot of new people, first timers."

Those attendees he attributed to the number of years that have past - with 20 years gone by, Ray said the pain may have dimmed, but certainly not disappeared.

"It's still very emotional," he said.

Before Ray came to Jacksonville, he had heard stories about how horrible the community was to the military.

"I got here in '81, and I never saw that," said Ray, adding that he had his proof five years later, in the shape of a granite wall.

"When the Marines get in trouble, like they did in Beirut, the city pulls together," he said. "Like the memorial. Nobody asked them to do that Â… In that respect, I could never leave here."


http://www.thelibertynews.com/details.cfm?StoryID=17077


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[thedrifter]

Beirut fallen forever in our hearts
October 23,2003
BONNIE THROCKMORTON
DAILY NEWS STAFF

The words on the Beirut Memorial are both simple and poignant: "They Came in Peace."

They were warriors, all, trained to do battle, to fight - and die if necessary - to bring order out of chaos. Instead, our Marines and Navy personnel were called upon to be peacekeepers in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon.

It has been a generation now since we sent husbands, fathers, brothers and sons into an impossible situation. Yet isn't that what Marines have always done - gone where angels fear to tread. Theirs was not to wonder why, theirs was but to do or die. And with horrific swiftness, we lost them forever.

Those who lived in this community on Oct. 23, 1983, will never forget that terrible, rainy Sunday morning. Word began spreading through the early-morning hours. When our telephone rang at 5 a.m., my Marine husband answered, listened and finally said, "I'm on my way."

To me he said, "Heavy casualties in Beirut." It would be 24 hours before he returned.

In those days, there were few cable news networks and no Internet. We would all be grateful for, of all people, Charles Kuralt. The usual light fare offered by his Sunday-morning program would be replaced with the horror of twisted metal, crushing concrete and shattered lives.

How would we ever go on? What did mothers say to their children? The loss was so devastating that few even tried to understand.

It was a time for thousands of questions with no acceptable answers. Instead, action was required.

And act we did. It was a day in which hugs were exchanged, tears shed, meals cooked, children supervised and prayers beseeched.

The next morning, the sun shone so brightly it was almost obscene. How could God give us sunshine with such sorrow in our hearts? We knew the death toll was staggering, but information was at such a premium. It would take weeks before we learned how extensive our losses were. I will always remember The Daily News' listing each day that showed the names of those who had sacrificed their lives for peace. As the list grew, so too did the heartache.

The best and the worst

In those mournful days, we saw the very best and worst of mankind. As the realization of this tragedy struck home, civilians and military joined together to share in each other's grief. In those times, most communities with a large military presence tended to live in an "us versus them" environment. The events of Oct. 23 would forever change this view as the lines blurred and people simply helped people with no thought as to who was "us" or "them".

The worst of mankind arrived in news vans and satellite trucks with brightly colored logos. It was our first experience with the onslaught of the national media, and it did nothing to improve their image. While casualty officers made their painful visits to families of those lost, out-of-town media attempted to pay taxi drivers to follow the officers. It was the epitome of crass behavior in a community whose heart was broken.

Two weeks after the bombing, a memorial service was held at Camp Lejeune. As we approached the banks of the New River where the service was scheduled, a driving rain swept in across the river, snapping the battalion flags as it drenched the mourners. It seemed appropriate that our remembrance of those lost should be accompanied by angels' tears.

The service was to be a time of healing. Along with President Ronald Reagan and his wife, several injured survivors of the bomb blast were in attendance as well as the family members of those who had perished. As the rain turned the green Marine uniforms to black, a small child seated in the family section cried out above the downpour, "Where's my Daddy?" Our collective hearts broke.

In the 20 years since that tragic day, that small child and others like him have faced the sad realization that Daddy couldn't come home. But if our community can offer anything to ease his pain, it is the fact that all of the dads, husbands, sons and brothers have been remembered.

Through the ceaseless and unrelenting hard work of local citizens and the generosity of hundreds, Lejeune Boulevard is now lined with 271 Bradford pear trees. They serve as a living link between the gates of Camp Lejeune and the City of Jacksonville.

At the end of this living memorial, one finds the Beirut Memorial. Funded and built with private donations, this memorial, dedicated on Oct. 23, 1986, stands as a tribute to the heroism of our military and a monument to their great sacrifice.

As our community opens its arms to welcome Beirut family members and survivors, let them always know that we honor their loved ones and keep them in our hearts forever.


Onslow County resident Bonnie Throckmorton is the consumer affairs columnist for The Daily News and a frequent contributor to the opinion pages. She can be contacted via e-mail at: bonnie@jdnews.com


http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=Details.cfm&StoryID=17129&Section=Columns


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[thedrifter]

October 21, 2003

Twenty years after Beirut bombing, parallels drawn with Iraq mission

By Donna Abu-Nasr
Associated Press


BEIRUT, Lebanon — It was America’s first encounter with the suicide bomb — initially its embassy, then its Marine barracks, blasted to shreds by a truckload of explosives that killed 241 servicemen and launched a new era in the Middle East. The reverberations are still being felt.
Today the 19-year-old soldier on duty at Beirut airport’s Parking C lot shrugs indifferently when told that this was where the doomed barracks stood. He wasn’t even born when the bomb went off on Oct. 23, 1983. For many like him, it’s a distant memory, one of scores of atrocities committed during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.

But for Washington it was a watershed. It ultimately drove the U.S. military out of Lebanon. A decade later, American forces pulled out of Somalia, their mission again wrecked by violence. Today, as U.S. casualties mount in Iraq, some are asking whether the United States will walk away again.

No way, insists President Bush. “The terrorists have cited the examples of Beirut and Somalia, claiming that if you inflict harm on Americans we will run from a challenge,” he said recently. “In this they are mistaken.”

Nobody professes to know for sure just who was behind the bombings of 1983.

They were claimed by Islamic Jihad, a shadowy group believed made up of Shiites loyal to Iran’s late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It was generally thought to be the military arm of Hezbollah. Hezbollah leaders deny it.

Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s security chief at the time, is on an FBI wanted list with a $25 million bounty on his head, but for a different attack: the June 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner at Beirut airport in which Steelworker 2nd Class Robert Stethem, a Navy diver, was killed and the passengers were held for 17 days.

American intelligence officials describe Mughniyeh as Hezbollah’s operations chief. One official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said counterterrorism authorities don’t have a fix on his location but acknowledged reports he had been sighted in Lebanon, Iran and Syria.

U.S. authorities believe he remains active in plotting terrorist attacks but provided little detail on his recent activities.

Hezbollah won’t talk about Mughniyeh, and a Lebanese official said no one has managed to provide any proof he was involved in the barracks bombing.

In May of this year, a federal judge in Washington blamed Iran for the 1983 barracks bombing and said Tehran would have to pay damages to survivors and relatives. The judge, ruling in a lawsuit filed by 153 families, said Hezbollah carried out the attack with the approval and funding of senior Iranian officials.

The Marines came as peacekeepers to a country reeling from an Israeli invasion and occupation, and the massacre at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatilla perpetrated by Israel’s Christian Lebanese allies.

But the Americans got drawn into the conflict on the side of the Christian-led government, while Iran, then in full anti-American cry, supported Hezbollah, the Shiite guerrilla group fighting the Israelis.

The Americans had already suffered a sharp terrorist blow in April 1983 when a Shiite Muslim suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed van into the seaside U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans.

The U.S. service members who came six months later with a multinational force weren’t the only victims of the bombing offensive. On the day the Marines were attacked, a separate and simultaneous blast killed 58 French paratroopers.

The multinational force came to oversee the removal of Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian forces from Beirut. But in Lebanon, as in Iraq today, the Americans encountered populations with deep ethnic or religious differences and neighboring governments intent on influencing events.

Many Lebanese distrusted the Americans’ motives, believing the Reagan administration had given Israel an OK to invade Lebanon in June 1982 and later occupy Beirut.

“There was a feeling that the Americans came to wipe out the traces of Israel’s crimes in Lebanon rather than for peaceful purposes,” said Talal Salman, publisher of the leftist As-Safir daily.

“That’s why the U.S. forces were not treated as friendly forces,” Salman added. “They didn’t come as Red Cross workers or Protestant preachers. They were regarded as Israel’s partners.”

Edward S. Walker, a senior State Department official at that time, said the Marine bombing had a “very negative impact” because it convinced the United States to withdraw.

“The long-term implications of that was it appeared to terrorists that ... all you have to do is hurt the Americans and you will get what you want,” said Walker. “That’s been a persistent problem for us.”

“I don’t believe the Bush administration will back away from Iraq largely because of this,” added Walker, who now heads the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

Salman said Iraq’s oil makes it more tempting than Lebanon, but he added he is sure the American occupation will be a catastrophe and its embattled soldiers will “withdraw from Iraq wailing.”






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2323194.php


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[thedrifter]

Ceremony at Geiger honors servicemen killed in Beirut
October 28,2003
CYNDI BROWN
DAILY NEWS STAFF





Sacrifice, according to Scott Sherrer, is not driving 200 yards out of the way to visit a monument.

"People sacrificed for you," said Scott Sherrer of the 241 servicemen who died in the 1983 bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. That's why, he added, the first monument to them should stay right where it is. "We know where it is. It's important to us."

Sherrer came to Jacksonville from Lancaster, S.C., to attend Thursday's memorial services marking the 20th anniversary of that terrorist attack.

After attending the morning service at the Beirut Memorial at the entrance to Camp Johnson, Sherrer attended a second service that afternoon at the Camp Geiger circle - home of the first monument to the victims of the Beirut bombing.

Rumors of the circle's elimination, which would mean removal of the monument dedicated to members of the 8th Marine Regiment as well as three other monuments housed there, circulated through the crowd.

Allen Cornell, who served with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, agreed with Sherrer, who was with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, that the monument should stay.

"It belongs at Camp Geiger, this monument," said Cornell, who came from Woodbine, Md., for the memorial services and was attending his first one at Geiger.

"It's just a very important chapter in my life that I never want to forget," he said.

"Because Geiger was my home, it just kind of resonates with me more," added Cornell, a "Geiger Tiger" from the early to mid 80s. "To us, we were always glad we were here and not on Mainside."

The monument was erected in June of 1984 by members of the Onslow County Detachment of the Marine Corps League, which also sponsored the wreath-laying service. Marine Corps League Vice Commandant George M. Barrows Sr. emceed the service.

"The sergeant major of Geiger says this is the historical section of Geiger, and it's not going to move," said Barrows of the rumors. "I said, 'Wonderful.' But look for them to move it."

The words he spoke years ago, added Barrows, still ring true today. "As long as there is a Military Order of Devil Dogs in this area, we will observe this dedication."

Maj. Gen. Ray Smith, the guest speaker, talked about how the Lebanese brutalized each other "at an astonishing rate" in the mid 70s through early 80s.

"It was a bad, bad place," said Smith, who added that he deeply believed American service members "fighting and dying for what we stand for" stopped the Cold War.

"These Marines did not die in vain. They contributed immeasurably to where we are today," said Smith, the commander of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment at the time of the Beirut bombing.

Smith joined Joe Blick, a member of the Marine Corps League and a Medal of Honor recipient, to lay a wreath at the monument.

This year's service, while much smaller and less formal than the morning one at the memorial wall, drew a larger crowd than in years past, according to Barrows.

"We usually have about half of what's here," said Barrows. "But with this being the twentieth, everyone wanted to be here."


http://www.thelibertynews.com/details.cfm?StoryID=17279\


Sempers,

Roger
:marine: