Remember Beirut?

[thegimprider]

32 years ago a truck drove through poorly constructed wire gates past guards with unloaded weapons into the front door of BLT. Several tons high explosives wrapped around oxygen tanks in a shape charge that brought down the entire building. 246 died from wounds received that day and America was quickly distracted by the invasion of Granada.
Veterans are still not eligible for combat duty status and few want to remember that day in USMC history.

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[29palms]

I was in the reserves at the time when this went down. It was a sad thing. Just a low point. Prior to Beruit, the Vietnam War which we lost and then Beruit some 8 years later, military still somewhat not popular, nobody wore hair that short, Marines looked upon as social outcast to a lot of people still thinking in terms of the Vietnam war syndrome all over again.
How do you defend against a suicide bomber? How do you defend against someone in the mainstream you don't expect to attack you? For starters, where suicide bombers are a threat, you have to think one step ahead of them. If you look at our history, we tend to do nothing until attacked. Just like Pearl Harbor. Only after we get attacked, do we take full measures to counter. Instead of taking full measures in anticipation of an attack.

[Kegler300]

I remember it well. Rest in peace, Val ...

val-lewis.jpg

o-VAL-LEWIS-570.jpg

[thegimprider]

There was no excuse for a truck to get that close inside a combat zone. There were no real barricades and most important there was no lethal force boundary. Marines were required to call Caspar Weinberger for permission to return fire when under attack. Commandant Gen Kelly swore before congress that defenses were adequate but every marine on site knew different. One week before the bombing 60 minutes aired story where a young marine looked into the camera and said, "get us out of here we are sitting ducks!" It was only a matter of time. Embassy bombing in April demonstrated the clear danger yet the ROE at airport never changed until October 24th. Airport was not defended because marines were under orders to NOT DEFEND without the 15min phone call to Washington.

[thegimprider]

Monday May 30 is coming to an end and I'm lying in bed with a cast on my leg from VA surgery. Spending much time on the web I finally found a good easy link to Beirut KIA list
http://www.usmcvietnam.net/MARINES-KIA-IN--BEIRUT.html

[thegimprider]

How do you defend against a suicide bomber? How do you defend against someone in the mainstream you don't expect to attack you?
The embassy bombing in April told us what to expect in Beirut. Even then Marines were not allowed the basic security taught in boot camp.
1. A deadly force boundary
2. Locked and loaded guards
3. Vehicle proof barricades
4. LAAWs rockets at guard hut and 50 cal on roof of BLT
This bomb was large enough it would have killed many if blown up during approach but it would not have brought down the building.
We quickly learned how to stop Kamikaze attacks in WW2 so we greatly reduced their effectiveness. Japan had hoped for much more success in that program.