Pix From The Beirut Memorial Observance Taken On Oct. 23, 2007

[thedrifter]

PIX FROM THE BEIRUT MEMORIAL OBSERVANCE TAKEN ON OCT. 23, 2007

At this sorrowful time I had the pleasure to finally meeting a Outstanding Marine, A Great Friend that I have been talking with over the years, Chuck which you all know him as Phantom Blooper...


http://fontman.smugmug.com/photos/212026542-M-1.jpg

To view all the pix's
http://fontman.smugmug.com/gallery/3700045#P-1-15

Ellie and Mark

[Phantom Blooper]

Ellie, it was also a pleasure to meet you this morning. It was also nice to see Mark (fontman) again. The weather held off and was beautiful for this memorial nestled in the Carolina pines. Yes it is a sorrowful time and also a bittersweet healing time as the families,friends and comrades mingle and share stories and memories and act like twenty-four years was yesterday. Closure will never come,and it gets no easier each year but it is nice to know that people young and old alike come out in droves to keep the fallen hero's memory alive.Thanks for the pictures......the only problem is I didn't wear my phantom mask. Semper-Fi! "Never Forget" Chuck Hall :evilgrin:

[Phantom Blooper]

Ellie, I flipped through all the news channels at 5-6 o'clock. And they showed a clip of you and Mark on channel WITN 7.:evilgrin:

[yellowwing]

We meet such great folks in the Corps. To me that is the best part of the experience.

[thedrifter]

Ellie, I flipped through all the news channels at 5-6 o'clock. And they showed a clip of you and Mark on channel WITN 7.:evilgrin:

Great one of the times we didn't watch the news...;)

[thedrifter]

Beirut tragedy united community

JENNIFER HLAD
October 24, 2007 - 12:51AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Oct. 23, 1983 was "truly a day that the heart of this city was broken," Jacksonville Mayor Jan Bean Slagle told families and survivors of the Beirut barracks bombing.

They gathered Tuesday at the Beirut Memorial to honor and remember those who served and died in Lebanon.

"This ceremony is our commitment to you, that this city will never forget the sacrifice," she said.

The 24th anniversary observance of the fatal blast was a chance to "honor, celebrate - yes, celebrate - and remember those brave men who put their lives on the line for this great country," said Maj. Gen. Robert Dickerson, commander of Marine Corps Installations East.

The tragedy brought the community together, he said, "and Onslow County has never been the same."

For Wayne Hodges and Tony Blaha, the ceremony was a chance to remember. Both men were in Beirut when a truck full of explosives drove through the gates and crashed into the lobby of the Marine headquarters.

The terrorist attack is a part of all of them, said Kathy Hodges, Wayne Hodges' wife.

"It's our lives," she said. "It's not a memory. It's part of our decision making."

Kathy Hodges - then a young wife at home with an infant - remembers people lining up at her house like a funeral procession.

Blaha was engaged to his wife, Brenda, at the time, and she remembers not knowing whether her fianc was coming home.

It was days before either woman knew the men were alive.

The memory of the day is still difficult, they said.

"You would think 24 years later you wouldn't still be crying," Wayne Hodges said. "But it is a vivid memory."

Another Marine had asked Tim McCoskey if he wanted to go to the chow hall that morning, but McCoskey decided he'd just eat some C rations. Not long after, he heard the loudest explosion he'd ever heard and pieces of concrete started falling through the tops of the tents, he said.

"Somebody was yelling, 'The BLT is gone! The BLT is gone!'" McCoskey remembered.

When he ran to look at the headquarters building, he realized it wasn't there.

Going to the memorial each year is a healing process, McCoskey said.

Danny Joy was on the outer perimeter of the Beirut International Airport when the explosion happened. He looked through the binoculars and relayed the news: He couldn't see the headquarters building anymore.

"Everybody was just standing there," he said. Another Marine yanked the binoculars away to take a look for himself. They tried to get communications with headquarters, but couldn't. When they went to the alternate frequency, Joy said, there were just people screaming.

The unit had trained hard at Camp Geiger, where they were stationed, Joy said.

"You train the way you're going to fight," he said. "When we were there, we immediately knew why we trained so hard. It all came back."

It wasn't all Marines who lost their lives that day. Soldiers and sailors - including corpsmen - were also killed.

Still, the remaining corpsmen went above and beyond their duty, Joy said.

"They were the calm in the sea of madness," he said.

Talking about the bombing can be difficult, Joy said, but "there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it."

Seeing the other men who were in Beirut, and talking to the wives and families of those who died can be awkward, but it can also help to talk, he said.

Monday night, the veterans and families gathered to talk together privately, he said.

Though many are now "15, 20, 30 pounds overweight and balding, the bond is still there," Joy said.

The veterans are already gearing up for the 25th anniversary remembrance, Joy said.

"It's about remembering," he said. "If we don't remember, we're doing these guys a disservice."

Contact military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 353-1171, ext. 8467. To comment on this story, visit www.jdnews.com.

Video
www.jdnews.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1156002469&bclid=1155200144&bctid=1266095135

Ellie

[Phantom Blooper]

Jacksonville Daily News Video


http://www.jdnews.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1156002469&bclid=1155200144&bctid=1266095135

:evilgrin:

[thedrifter]

24th anniversary of Beirut bombing marked
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Oct 23, 2007 17:31:24 EDT
Marine Corps Times

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2007/10/marine_beirutbombing_ceremony_071023/MT_Beirut_Memorial_800_287.jpg

Randy Davey
Chuck Hall, a Marine staff sergeant in Beirut during the bombing in 1983, grieves during the Beirut Memorial Observance Ceremony on Oct. 23 at Camp Lejeune.

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — They gently brushed their fingertips across the stone where the names of the men who died on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon in 1983 are engraved.

On Tuesday, families and friends gathered around the Beirut Memorial here once again to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the day terrorists drove a bomb-laden truck into the headquarters building for the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, killing 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers.

The crowd — filled with an assortment of Marines, sailors, airmen, soldiers, mothers, fathers, wives, children and survivors of the blast — looked toward the wall as speakers talked about that fateful day.

Maj. Gen. Robert Dickerson, commander of Marine Corps Installations-East and the ceremony’s guest speaker, told the story of one survivor, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Nashton, who was fighting for his life on a hospital bed in Germany when he and other survivors were visited by then-Commandant Gen. P.X. Kelley.

Nashton could not see or speak and could barely hear. When Kelley knelt by his bedside, Nashton reached out a hand and brushed his fingers over the general’s star-collared shirt.

Nashton signaled he wanted to write something. He was handed a pen and paper and scribbled two words — “Semper Fi” — before handing the paper to Kelley, Dickerson said.

“Jeffrey feels guilty, as many of you do today, that he survived,” Dickerson said. “Don’t feel guilty. It’s your memory. It’s their legacy you’re maintaining.”

Dickerson rattled off a long list of terrorist attacks dating back to November 1979, when the U.S. Embassy in Iran was taken over by militants. He spoke of various embassy attacks throughout the years, the bombing of the Cole and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“The lessons learned in Beirut are relevant today,” Dickerson said. “These cowards are still out there. These cowards — these terrorists — are global. And they fear democracy.”

Ellie

Photo slideshow:
http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/photo/beruitmemorial07/

Remembering Beruit

Family and friends gather at the Beirut Memorial at Camp Lejeune, N.C., to remember those killed in a 1983 Lebanon bombing.

[Phantom Blooper]

http://www.wnep.com:80/Global/story.asp?S=7255235&nav=5ka4

http://www.humanevents.com:80/article.php?id=22996

http://globalpolitician.com:80/articledes.asp?ID=3528&cid=2&sid=5

:evilgrin:

[thedrifter]

Families still feel loss of Beirut Marines
By Trista Talton - ttalton@militarytimes.com
Posted : November 05, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Kathryn Dempsey and her mother walked arm-in-arm as they left the Beirut Memorial where her brother’s name is etched among 273 on the wall.

Nearly every year for two decades, Dempsey’s mother, Carol Losey, has come here each Oct. 23, where hundreds gather to honor the Marines, sailors and soldiers killed in Lebanon during peacekeeping missions in the early 1980s.

Marine 2nd Lt. George Losey was killed Aug. 29, 1983, by a direct hit on his position from an 82mm mortar. The following Oct. 23, 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers were killed when a bomb-laden truck drove into the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, headquarters building in Beirut.

Twenty-four years have passed since the bombing and Losey’s death. But time doesn’t ease the emotions families, friends and survivors endure when they come to the wall.

Unlike her mother, Kathryn couldn’t bear attending the memorials each year. Her first trip from her western North Carolina home to a service was four years ago, the 20th commemoration.

“I’ve been trying to come ever since,” she said, tears glazing her cheeks.

After the ceremony, it is customary only for families to converge on the wall, where many brush their fingertips lightly across the engraved names of their loved ones. The services always end the same way. Wreaths are placed at the memorial. A 21-gun salute cracks the air. A bugler breaks the silence.

The wall and the service are staples in this community, where most of those killed lived while based at nearby Camp Lejeune, N.C. For Jacksonville residents, the bombing not only meant the loss of Marines, it stole neighbors, coaches and volunteers.

“That was truly a day the heart of this community was broken,” said Jan Slagle, city mayor.

Maj. Gen. Robert Dickerson, commander of Marine Corps Installations East and the ceremony’s guest speaker, told the story of one survivor. Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Nashton was pulled from the rubble of the blast and fighting for his life on a hospital bed in Germany when he and other survivors were visited by then-Commandant Gen. P.X. Kelley. Nashton could not see or speak and could barely hear. When Kelley knelt by his bedside, Nashton reached out a hand and brushed his fingers over the general’s star-collared shirt.

Nashton signaled he wanted to write something. He was handed pen and paper and scribbled two words before handing the paper to Kelley. It said “Semper Fi.”

“Jeffrey feels guilty, as many of you do today, that he survived,” Dickerson said. “Don’t feel guilty. It’s your memory. It’s their legacy you’re maintaining.”

Dickerson rattled off a long list of terrorist attacks dating back to November 1979, when the U.S. Embassy in Iran was taken over by militants. He spoke of various embassy attacks throughout the years, including the bombing of the destroyer Cole and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“The lessons learned in Beirut are relevant today,” Dickerson said. “These cowards are still out there. These cowards, these terrorists, are global.”

His message to them: “No greater friend, no worse enemy than the United States Marine.”

Pix's

www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/photo/beruitmemorial07/

Ellie

[Achped]

I wanted to go to that, but they sent me home on convalescent leave a week before it.

I guess I'll have to wait till next year. It would have been nice to meet you all, my duty station is just right down the road.

I remember the first time I saw it, I got chills as I read the "They Came in Peace" etched in the wall.

[Hercules1944]

:iwo:I was not in Beirut, but, plan on making it to Camp Lejeune for the 25th Anniversary. It's the least I can do for fallen Marines.:flag:

[2ndCEBSupply]

I was on guard duty in 2003 at the beruit memorial 4 hours on 4 hours off for 30 days waiting for MOS school to start. I had a weird experience there does anyone know what im talking about? If so contact me i want to shed some light on this.

[Hercules1944]

Anytime you stasnd a watch that pays tribute to fallen warriors before you, you will get a strange feeling. When I visited the Iwo Jima Memorial in front of HQMC, it was a strange feeling.

Also, "The Wall" in DC. It was very sobering and personal. I knew a lot of the names on that wall. I really do not think you can descibe or put a finger on what you feel.

I know when I go to Camp Lejeune in October, even thou I never personally knew any of them, it will hit home. Same way when I go on PGR missions, especially those KIA in todays war. I never knew any of them, but, damn it still hurts a bit.

[2ndCEBSupply]

Thanks Hercules1944 but thats not the feeling im talking about

[2ndCEBSupply]

Does anyone else have some insight?

[Honora G]

I'm married 22 years to a surviving Marine who was there during that bombing. Are there any wives who have had trouble understanding their husbands. I am and have been having to deal with major problems.

[Phantom Blooper]

Your best bet would be to post this question in the Marine Spouse thread.

I don't think that any Marine spouse can truly understand their Marine.....a Marine of the different eras of war,conflict or peacetime.

A suggestion would be to contact a Vet Center in your area.

130 W. Kingbridge Rd. Bronx,NY 10458 Rm 7A-13 (718)367-3500

Good luck!:evilgrin:

[Sgt Baker]

I was stationed at HQMC that day! I remember it like it was yesterday! Have ya'll read the book?

[Hercules1944]

There are only two types of people that understand Marines. Marines and the enemy.

[Hercules1944]

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/Hercules1944/IMG-2.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/Hercules1944/IMG_0003-1.jpg

I know where I was on October 23, 1983, aboard the USS Guam, LPH-9 for the Grenada invasion on October 25th.

The BLT on the Guam would have been the ones in Beirut, except for the little detour to Grenada.

I was a Reservist, activated for Grenada. I thought at the time that we would be on active duty for a long time with what was going down at the time. I fully expected that we would continue with the BLT and relieve the BLT in Beirut, which was the original intent before Grenada. Not to be, my unit was sent home.

Unfortunately, Beirut and Grenada have been lost in the scheme of things, and IMHO that is somewhat of a disgrace that the American people have quickly forgotten what happened. Those that were there sure as hell have not forgotten.

I will be at Camp Lejeune on October 23rd for the 25th Anniversary Memorial Services. Looking forward to meeting some of you Beirut veterans. Semper Fi!:flag:

[Honora G]

It figures. I am exhausted trying to figure out this man. Emotionally shut down, except for anger....I can't imagine that all Marines turn out this way, or maybe they do. Thanks for the suggestion Phantom Blooper. Maybe I'll try the spouse forum

[marine0351]

:usmc:i was at camp lejuene when the memorial was planned and placed. i lost several very closed buddies there. especailly when you know them and their familes. each kid by name. it still brings a tear to ones eye and swelling of pride knowing they did their duty and is still doing there duty at marine corps gate one in heaven.To all my friends watching down i salute them and to the families and friend of the fallen , i salute you all too and say " semper fi "