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thedrifter
01-03-07, 08:45 AM
January 08, 2007
Marines battled Lebanon blizzard to rescue locals

By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times

In mid-February 1983, the 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit was settling into its routine as the American peacekeeping contingent in and around war-torn Beirut, Lebanon.

Commanded by Col. James Mead, the 22nd MAU left the U.S. aboard the amphibious assault ships of Amphibious Squadron 2 on Jan. 27.

The unit’s deployment coincided with an upswing in violence and military posturing between Beirut’s warring factions and terrorist groups. More ominous than the military threat, however, were the harsh winds blowing in from the Lebanese mountains. On Feb. 20, an unusually heavy snowfall — more than 10 feet in some areas — blanketed the Lebanese mountains.

The Lebanese government appealed to the Multinational Force for help, and the American, Italian and French contingents sprang into action. But because the afflicted areas were behind Syrian lines, the MNF had to wait until a request for passage was approved.

When approval was received, Mead ordered two CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters to fly to Dahr al Baydar, a village 12 miles east of Beirut, where 200 Lebanese civilians were reportedly trapped. The helicopters made two attempts to reach the village but were turned back each time by the extreme weather.

Meanwhile, nine amphibious assault vehicles from Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, were being staged in Baabda, from which they planned to attempt a surface rescue toward Dahr al Baydar.

Because of Syrian delays, however, no attempts were made to reach the village overland. Instead, the column of nine AAVs and 90 Marines and sailors left at 4 a.m. Feb. 22 bound for Qatarba, the region reportedly worst hit by the storms and outside Syrian influence.

The plan called for the column to head 36 miles north to Jubayl to coordinate with the Lebanese Red Cross before striking out for Qatarba.

At the same time, a Sea Knight and a Huey from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264 made another attempt to reach Dahr al Baydar and, despite being tracked by Syrian fire-control radar, landed near the village.

The aircrew was met by Syrian soldiers, who directed the Marines to a nearby roadway, where scores of vehicles had been stranded for up to three days. The leathernecks discovered more than 100 civilians dead from exposure; they airlifted the survivors to safety.

It took the ground column more than five hours to reach Jubayl. Blasting winds, snowdrifts up to 16 feet deep and precarious mountain roads turned the 12-mile trek into a 14-hour test of endurance.

Feb. 23 dawned clear and sunny, and the MAU took advantage of the break in the weather to fly in stockpiles of fuel and food for Qatarba residents and to carry out urgent medical cases. However, the majority of residents refused to leave.

The convoy left Qatarba early Feb. 24 just as the weather started to turn bad again. The column’s arrival in Jubayl at noon brought the three-day humanitarian effort to a close and ended a chapter in the Corps’ Beirut experience that was overshadowed by the barracks bombing in October of the same year.

The writer is a gunnery sergeant. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.

Ellie