thedrifter
10-10-08, 05:41 AM
Man bicycling for Beirut peacekeepers
Mike Bangert, a Stone Valley resident, is bicycling 550 miles to draw attention to a proposed commemorative stamp honoring the Marines who served as peacekeepers in Beirut, Lebanon.
Bangert, 45, a former Marine and State College builder who took part in the mission in 1984, will leave Hollidaysburg today for a 10-day trip, arriving at Camp Lejeune in time for a remembrance ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Oct. 23, 1983, barracks bombing that killed 241 servicemen.
The blast mostly killed members of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Overall, 268 Marines died during the two-year peacekeeping mission in the middle of a chaotic civil war.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has sponsored House Resolution 887, a call for a U.S. postal stamp in honor of the Marines’ Beirut mission.
Bangert, a hobby cyclist, will also bring about $1,000 in local donations for a proposed Gold Star Mothers of America monument in Washington, D.C. A Gold Star mother, whose son was among the fallen Marines in Beirut, will accept the contribution.
Ellie
Mike Bangert, a Stone Valley resident, is bicycling 550 miles to draw attention to a proposed commemorative stamp honoring the Marines who served as peacekeepers in Beirut, Lebanon.
Bangert, 45, a former Marine and State College builder who took part in the mission in 1984, will leave Hollidaysburg today for a 10-day trip, arriving at Camp Lejeune in time for a remembrance ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Oct. 23, 1983, barracks bombing that killed 241 servicemen.
The blast mostly killed members of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Overall, 268 Marines died during the two-year peacekeeping mission in the middle of a chaotic civil war.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has sponsored House Resolution 887, a call for a U.S. postal stamp in honor of the Marines’ Beirut mission.
Bangert, a hobby cyclist, will also bring about $1,000 in local donations for a proposed Gold Star Mothers of America monument in Washington, D.C. A Gold Star mother, whose son was among the fallen Marines in Beirut, will accept the contribution.
Ellie