thedrifter
10-21-08, 07:14 AM
Tragedy forged community bond
Beirut bombing was blow felt by everyone
October 20, 2008 - 11:47PM
JENNIFER HLAD
It was the largest non-nuclear explosion since World War II.
When the bomb-laden truck exploded that October morning in Beirut, it destroyed the headquarters of Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. It left 241 dead, hundreds of families broken and mourning and thousands of dreams shattered.
But in the wake of so much destruction, a community pulled together.
"I will always believe that this was one of the turning points in this community," said Delma Collins, an Onslow County commissioner who was working for the Jacksonville Police Department at the time of the bombing.
"So many of those Marines and sailors were, even though they were not from here, perhaps, they had established homes here. ... And it was like ... if you didn't know someone personally, you knew someone who knew that person," Collins said. "Members of the community came together and they focused on what can we do to show these family members who are left behind that their loved ones are not forgotten, are not going to be forgotten."
Richard Ray was a gunnery sergeant with Camp Lejeune public affairs on Oct. 23, 1983. He remembers standing in the Catholic chapel on base when the base's commanding general stepped to the pulpit to tell the congregation that hundreds of his fellow Marines were dead.
Ray felt like he had been punched in the gut. He wasn't alone.
"This city came together, felt the pain we felt," said Ray, now a retired Marine and past vice president of the Beirut Veterans of America. "I heard so many negative things about Jacksonville before I got here the first time. ... And none of it came true. (The city) went far and above what anybody expected."
Sgt. Maj. R.D. Himsworth, sergeant major of II Marine Expeditionary Force, called the bombing a "turning point in this community, along with the II Marine Expeditionary Force and especially 2nd Marine Division."
"When the Marines were killed ... the community realized, and I think it brought this community together like no other community in the United States," said Himsworth, who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in 1983 and spent 14 years of his career on the West Coast.
"When we first came down here, you can feel the sense of not only respect for the Marine Corps, but a genuine love of the Marines," he said. "I think that this city takes a look at their Marine Corps, that it's not that Marine Corps or the Marine Corps. It's their Marine Corps."
Brian Pensak was stationed in Nicosia, Cyprus, at the time of the bombing. He came to Jacksonville after that tour, in June of 1984. The retired sergeant major now works as the executive officer of Weapons Training Battalion at Stone Bay.
"In many military communities, even though you have a lot of retirees outside the gate, they become part of the civilian community. And so in some cases, it's an us against them sometimes," Pensak said.
"That event, because so many of the Marines who were members of 1/8 and the supporting units lived in town, the sense was, somebody went to school, and all throughout Onslow County school district, teachers were getting notified that the children in their classes, their fathers had just been killed. So it wasn't something that happened inside the gates of Camp Lejeune. It wasn't something that was happening at another base, it was something that was happening in town," he said.
After the news of the tragedy began to spread through the town, Collins said it was evident the entire community felt a sense of loss.
"Every place you went, it was a topic of conversation," he said. "It reminds me of the feeling that the entire nation had after 9-11, but this was more focused, because it was just our community that was impacted."
The shared tragedy blurred the lines between base and civilians, Pensak said, and that stronger relationship still exists today.
"That event brought home, I think to everyone in the community, that ... yeah, there's a very fine boundary between the base and the city and Onslow County, and there's gates and there's barriers, but those physical things aren't really how this community works," Pensak said. "And that event has sort of steamrolled into the type of community we have today, which is ... it's a great place to live."
Contact interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467.
Ellie
Beirut bombing was blow felt by everyone
October 20, 2008 - 11:47PM
JENNIFER HLAD
It was the largest non-nuclear explosion since World War II.
When the bomb-laden truck exploded that October morning in Beirut, it destroyed the headquarters of Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. It left 241 dead, hundreds of families broken and mourning and thousands of dreams shattered.
But in the wake of so much destruction, a community pulled together.
"I will always believe that this was one of the turning points in this community," said Delma Collins, an Onslow County commissioner who was working for the Jacksonville Police Department at the time of the bombing.
"So many of those Marines and sailors were, even though they were not from here, perhaps, they had established homes here. ... And it was like ... if you didn't know someone personally, you knew someone who knew that person," Collins said. "Members of the community came together and they focused on what can we do to show these family members who are left behind that their loved ones are not forgotten, are not going to be forgotten."
Richard Ray was a gunnery sergeant with Camp Lejeune public affairs on Oct. 23, 1983. He remembers standing in the Catholic chapel on base when the base's commanding general stepped to the pulpit to tell the congregation that hundreds of his fellow Marines were dead.
Ray felt like he had been punched in the gut. He wasn't alone.
"This city came together, felt the pain we felt," said Ray, now a retired Marine and past vice president of the Beirut Veterans of America. "I heard so many negative things about Jacksonville before I got here the first time. ... And none of it came true. (The city) went far and above what anybody expected."
Sgt. Maj. R.D. Himsworth, sergeant major of II Marine Expeditionary Force, called the bombing a "turning point in this community, along with the II Marine Expeditionary Force and especially 2nd Marine Division."
"When the Marines were killed ... the community realized, and I think it brought this community together like no other community in the United States," said Himsworth, who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in 1983 and spent 14 years of his career on the West Coast.
"When we first came down here, you can feel the sense of not only respect for the Marine Corps, but a genuine love of the Marines," he said. "I think that this city takes a look at their Marine Corps, that it's not that Marine Corps or the Marine Corps. It's their Marine Corps."
Brian Pensak was stationed in Nicosia, Cyprus, at the time of the bombing. He came to Jacksonville after that tour, in June of 1984. The retired sergeant major now works as the executive officer of Weapons Training Battalion at Stone Bay.
"In many military communities, even though you have a lot of retirees outside the gate, they become part of the civilian community. And so in some cases, it's an us against them sometimes," Pensak said.
"That event, because so many of the Marines who were members of 1/8 and the supporting units lived in town, the sense was, somebody went to school, and all throughout Onslow County school district, teachers were getting notified that the children in their classes, their fathers had just been killed. So it wasn't something that happened inside the gates of Camp Lejeune. It wasn't something that was happening at another base, it was something that was happening in town," he said.
After the news of the tragedy began to spread through the town, Collins said it was evident the entire community felt a sense of loss.
"Every place you went, it was a topic of conversation," he said. "It reminds me of the feeling that the entire nation had after 9-11, but this was more focused, because it was just our community that was impacted."
The shared tragedy blurred the lines between base and civilians, Pensak said, and that stronger relationship still exists today.
"That event brought home, I think to everyone in the community, that ... yeah, there's a very fine boundary between the base and the city and Onslow County, and there's gates and there's barriers, but those physical things aren't really how this community works," Pensak said. "And that event has sort of steamrolled into the type of community we have today, which is ... it's a great place to live."
Contact interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467.
Ellie