thedrifter
11-07-02, 11:37 AM
Peter Williams
Liberty Editor
For the U.S. Marine Corps, the war on terrorism didn’t start with the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
“World War III” started 18 years earlier on Oct. 23 in Lebanon, speakers said last week at the Beirut Memorial Ceremony held in Jacksonville.
It was on that Sunday morning that over 250 Marines and Sailors were killed when a terrorist drove a truck bomb into the Marine barracks in Beirut.
“People now know the Beirut bombing was the first major battle of our current war on terrorism,” said Maj. Gen. David Mize, commanding general of Camp Lejeune.
Lejeune was home to most of the Marines killed in Beirut, and Mize was one of the speakers at the ceremony held to mark the anniversary of the bombing and to remember those who were killed.
“They went to Beirut to do what Marines have done for 227 years, to protect the rights of the innocent and to advance the cause of freedom and democracy and peace,” said Lt. Gen. Emil R. “Buck” Bedard, the featured speaker at the observance.
“Today, nearly two decades later, we are engaged in a global conflict, really a World War III, against the very types of individuals responsible for the attack in Beirut. What happened in Beirut reflects the nature of this war and the importance of our efforts to defeat terrorism in every clime and place throughout the world.”
Bedard, no stranger to Camp Lejeune, was speaking for Commandant James Jones who had to cancel the day before. Bedard was commander of 2d Marine Division from July 1997 until June 1999, when he assumed command of II Marine Expeditionary Force. Since July 2000 he’s been deputy commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.
Just as the Beirut bombing hit Lejeune hard, the war on terror will too.
“The activation of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade Anti-Terrorism, its home base which is right here, and the many contributions of Marines throughout the world in Operation Enduring Freedom, and the continued transformation of our great Corps will provide a signal that we are ready and we will continue to be ready and we will prevail against those who attack us, who attack our country and attack our freedom,” Bedard said.
SURVIVOR SPEAKS
“Make no mistake, we are in the midst of World War III,” said Bob Jordan, a survivor and organizer of the Beirut Veterans Association. “Thousands are dying around the globe. The world is looking to us to make a difference, to remove the threat, to end the fear. But it’s not our military that will prevail, because all of us are warriors in this conflict. We all have been drafted to resist the enemy of civilization as we know it.” Jordan was a combat correspondent in Beirut when the bombing occurred.
“We are gathered here today to honor the men whose names are on the wall here behind us, but I’d like to start off by discussing a Marine whose name is not on that wall,” Jordan said.
“A little more than a year ago I received a call from one of our Beirut veterans. It was about a week before Sept. 11, and the caller knew Eva and I were engaged to be married here at the memorial last year. He wanted to know if we were married yet.”
Jordan didn’t marry at the Beirut wall..
Sempers,
Roger
Liberty Editor
For the U.S. Marine Corps, the war on terrorism didn’t start with the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
“World War III” started 18 years earlier on Oct. 23 in Lebanon, speakers said last week at the Beirut Memorial Ceremony held in Jacksonville.
It was on that Sunday morning that over 250 Marines and Sailors were killed when a terrorist drove a truck bomb into the Marine barracks in Beirut.
“People now know the Beirut bombing was the first major battle of our current war on terrorism,” said Maj. Gen. David Mize, commanding general of Camp Lejeune.
Lejeune was home to most of the Marines killed in Beirut, and Mize was one of the speakers at the ceremony held to mark the anniversary of the bombing and to remember those who were killed.
“They went to Beirut to do what Marines have done for 227 years, to protect the rights of the innocent and to advance the cause of freedom and democracy and peace,” said Lt. Gen. Emil R. “Buck” Bedard, the featured speaker at the observance.
“Today, nearly two decades later, we are engaged in a global conflict, really a World War III, against the very types of individuals responsible for the attack in Beirut. What happened in Beirut reflects the nature of this war and the importance of our efforts to defeat terrorism in every clime and place throughout the world.”
Bedard, no stranger to Camp Lejeune, was speaking for Commandant James Jones who had to cancel the day before. Bedard was commander of 2d Marine Division from July 1997 until June 1999, when he assumed command of II Marine Expeditionary Force. Since July 2000 he’s been deputy commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.
Just as the Beirut bombing hit Lejeune hard, the war on terror will too.
“The activation of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade Anti-Terrorism, its home base which is right here, and the many contributions of Marines throughout the world in Operation Enduring Freedom, and the continued transformation of our great Corps will provide a signal that we are ready and we will continue to be ready and we will prevail against those who attack us, who attack our country and attack our freedom,” Bedard said.
SURVIVOR SPEAKS
“Make no mistake, we are in the midst of World War III,” said Bob Jordan, a survivor and organizer of the Beirut Veterans Association. “Thousands are dying around the globe. The world is looking to us to make a difference, to remove the threat, to end the fear. But it’s not our military that will prevail, because all of us are warriors in this conflict. We all have been drafted to resist the enemy of civilization as we know it.” Jordan was a combat correspondent in Beirut when the bombing occurred.
“We are gathered here today to honor the men whose names are on the wall here behind us, but I’d like to start off by discussing a Marine whose name is not on that wall,” Jordan said.
“A little more than a year ago I received a call from one of our Beirut veterans. It was about a week before Sept. 11, and the caller knew Eva and I were engaged to be married here at the memorial last year. He wanted to know if we were married yet.”
Jordan didn’t marry at the Beirut wall..
Sempers,
Roger