Never Forget,...

[SEATJERKER]

...It has been 20 years, but Beirut will never be forgotten,...

...May they rest in peace...

...

the pain of the loss of a son and brother still burns - but the pride still beams




By: Robert Cristo , The Record 10/23/2003




COHOES - Two decades after a terrorist bombing killed 241 U.S. Marines on a peace-keeping mission in Beirut, one local family still clutches to the memories of a son lost - and the sadness of wondering what his life could have been.


In 1983, Lance Cpl. Harold Gratton was a free-spirited, blond-haired and blue-eyed 19-year-old barely out of high school who put his heart and soul into the dream of becoming a Marine.
Gratton's life was taken at a base in Beirut, Lebanon, just before dawn on Oct. 23, 1983, when an Iranian terrorist drove his truck through a series of barriers (including a chain link fence and barbed wire) and smashed through the doors of the building in which Gratton and hundreds of other Marines were sleeping.
The surprised guards' attempts to open fire were futile, as the truck smashed into the headquarters
building with about 2,000 pounds of explosives that turned the four-story structure into rubble and instantly killed 241 Marines who never had a chance to defend themselves.
"I was very proud of him and all of them ... still am," said Gratton's mother, Maude Mancucci of Cedar Street. "He was a wonderful, excellent person who died too young."
For Mancucci, her family and the community, the horror and reality of war literally came knocking at their front doors after three days of watching on television the nightmarish images of bodies being pulled out of the rubble and praying their son somehow cheated death.
Regretfully, the words that came from Capt. Patrick Fitzsimmons, of the Albany Marine Reserve Training Center, were not what they wanted to hear: "We're sorry, but we regret to say your son is dead."
It's a day that remains fresh in the mind of each family member, even after 20 years.
"I think about him all the time. ... Wish he was here, but it (the Marines) gave him something special to achieve because he couldn't find himself here," said Bruce Gratton, who was 23 at the time and is one of two siblings left behind.
"When it happened, we were all mad, but I'm definitely also proud. It was something he thought was the right thing to do ... " he added.
Ironically, on the night of the bombing, Gratton's mother woke up with breathing problems, had a cup of tea and turned on the television to first find out about the suicide attack.
Initially, frantic calls made to a local Marine office assured the family that Gratton was not in the barracks at the time.
"It's still very hard to talk about. ... There's not a day in my life that goes by when I don't think of him," said Mancucci. "He always hugged and kissed me and did little funny things to make me laugh."
State Assemblyman Ronald Canestrari, D-Cohoes, was mayor of the city in 1983 and was called on to recite "The Prayer of the Faithful" during the community's tearful goodbye to Gratton at St. Rita's Church on St. Rita's Lane.
Looking back on that solemn day, Canestrari remembers a small city banding together to give strength to a heartbroken family.
"When servicemen die from small communities, the impact is particularly intense," said Canestrari. "In this case, I remember a strong sense of patriotism and care for the family, but there also was a greater sense of loss people never get past.
"These are sad occurrences that are still taking place today (with the war in Iraq). Families (of those serving overseas) are always waiting for the shoe to fall and that kind of tragedy to come to their doorsteps."
Teachers from Cohoes High School say they recall Gratton as "terrific" young man who stood only a few inches over 5 feet but showed a huge heart and relentless determination to succeed as a Marine.
Early on, Gratton took strides to make his dream become a reality when he was picked as his platoon's "honor man."
Retired English teacher Sharon Mitchell fondly remembered Gratton as a young man who was unsure about his future until he decided to be a Marine.
"I remember he went to talk with the recruiter and came back beaming and told me he's going to enlist and make us proud," said Mitchell. "He was a compassionate kid who turned his life around."
Gratton's promise to make his teacher and community proud came to fruition when he returned to her class shortly before the bombing in his Marine dress uniform.
"While I was teaching class I saw him standing there in the doorway. ... He saluted me and said: 'I told you I'd make you proud,'" said Mitchell, who retired two years ago. "Later on, when we found out he died, it was devastating to all the faculty and students.
"I know it sounds sappy, but at least he died proud of himself and all he accomplished," she added.
Until five years ago, Gratton's legacy was kept alive with photographs and mementos housed in the Cohoes High School Library, but a fire destroyed those items.
"Students would ask questions about him. ... We'd tell them, 'If you ever think you can't accomplish something, you should take a look at him,'" said Mitchell.
For Maude Mancucci, photographs will never be necessary to remember the baby-faced, mischievous grin and gleam in the eyes of her sorely missed son.
To commemorate today's anniversary, the family will visit his grave at St. Mary's Cemetery in Waterford.
The Marines in Beirut were part of a multi-national peacekeeping mission intended to provide stability during civil war between Muslims and Christians.
Based on evidence found in a federal trial, the bombing was part of Iran's efforts to stamp out the U.S. presence in Lebanon by killing American diplomats and servicemen and kidnapping civilians.
One month after the bombing, then President Ronald Reagan ordered the U.S. troops to withdraw from Lebanon.


...

[BLUEHAWK]

Seat -

Thanks for putting that back into print... what a day it must've been for those men, and why America waited so long to wage such a war as we are said to be waging, is beyond my capacity to fully understand.

[Jerry D]

Tonight I went to my SCV camp meeting here in Georgia and brought in the Days Newspaper(Georgia Times-Union) It had an article covering the 20th Anniversary of the Beirut Barracks Bombing. Pictured with a Father standing next to his sons Grave Marker.His Son was LCpl John W Blocker USMC and on his marker was engraved the globe and anchor ,the US Flag and the Confederate Battle Flag and his Sons Picture. Here was a Man proud of his sons accomplishments and heritage. One of the last letters LCpl Blocker wrote his 4 year old little brother before he was killed ended with the following phrase: "If I Die today , I will be proud of my God, Family, Country and Corps" the phrase is on his gravestone, Also on a Plaque at the Nassau County Building in Yulee, Fla. and there is a monument to his memory at the Fernandina Beech Middle School which was the High School at the Time . My SCV Camp Commander Sam Lyons (marine)was serving aboard the New Jersey when the Barracks in Beirut was blown up and he lost a lot of friends and fellow marines so this day was difficult for him. So for him It's still personal the events in the Middle East. "God Bless" all the troops we lost that day and all the others to this day 20 years later. May there be Peace before the next 20 year anniversary so our guys did not die in vain. AMEN