They came in peace...

[thedrifter]

They came in peace...
Corps remembers victims, survivors of Beirut bombing

Submitted by: MCRD Parris Island
Story Identification Number: 20031020145639
Story by Staff Sgt. Benjamin N. Haynes



MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.(Oct. 17, 2003) -- "When we fight, we strongly believe in God, Corps and Country, but we fight for our buddies."-Anonymous Beirut veteran

At approximately 6:22 a.m., Oct. 23,1983, a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives crashed through the gates of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The bomb exploded inside the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regimental Battalion Landing Team taking the lives of 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers and wounding more than 100 others.

The bombing is considered the most deadly act of terrorism prior to Sept. 11, 2001, when the world witnessed the destruction of the World Trade Center and the damage to the Pentagon.

Although the two terrorist attacks took place nearly 20 years apart, the reasons behind the bombing are the same. According to an anonymous letter from a Marine who served in Beirut, the purpose of these cowardly acts was to separate us.

However, the effect of these acts had the opposite affect on the American people and military.

"As Americans, these tactics only serve to draw us together," the letter read. "Some are calling Beirut the first battle of World War III. This is a conflict we did not want, but one in which we cannot afford to lose. It is a war between good and evil. We have the will to win, and we will prevail."

Prior to the bombing there were nearly 1,600 Marines serving as part of a multinational force trying to help restore order and stability in Lebanon. The Marines had been stationed in Lebanon to provide a presence. The year before, in June, the Israelis had invaded Lebanon in one final push to drive out PLO terrorists. This move upset balance in the Middle East and U.S. forces were attempting to referee the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. They had been deployed around the Beirut airport to stand between the Lebanese army and Syrian-backed Shiite units fighting in the Shouf Mountains.

In the months leading up to the attack, Marines operated in a high-threat environment and continued to actively patrol, train the Lebanese armed forces, and improve security.

Throughout their stand in Beirut, there was a noticeable conflict with some local groups. The embassy Marines faced verbal harassment, rocket and mortar attacks against the LAF, and stray rounds coming into their positions. The Marines recognized the increased threat posed by this firing, and continued to harden positions by emplacing sandbags and digging in deeper.

After a Sept. 26 cease-fire began to break down, the threat of terrorism remained vague, while the active threat from artillery and small arms was increasing.

While the majority of the Marine forces lay asleep on the early morning of Oct. 23, 1983, a five-ton truck entered a public parking lot adjacent to the four-story, steel-reinforced concrete and sandbagged building which housed the headquarters elements of BLT 1/8. After making a complete circle around the parking lot for acceleration, and while traveling at a high speed, the truck crashed through the outer defense of a barbed-wire emplacement. It moved at high speed between two sandbagged sentry posts; passed through a gate into an iron fence; jumped over a sewer pipe which had been placed there as an obstacle to impede vehicles; plowed through a sandbag barrier; and precisely hit a four-foot wide passenger entry into the lobby where its cargo detonated.

According to then Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. P. X. Kelley, the entire event, which can best be described as the delivery by a suicidal driver of a 5,000-pound truck-bomb at very high speed, took approximately six seconds from start to finish.

Thursday will mark the 20-year anniversary of the tragedy our fellow Marines and armed forces faced in Beirut. Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C., has special programs planned for those who sacrificed and served. The Beirut Veterans Association will host ceremonies, dedications and banquets to honor the heroes of Beirut Thursday. For more information on the events, visit www.lejeune.usmc.mil/ncb/beirutmemorial.asp.




The explosion of the Marine Corps Building in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, totally demolished every floor of the building, leaving 220 Marines and 21 other service members dead.
Photo by: Official USMC Photo





The building shown above was used by the Marines as a barracks before the terrorist attack Oct. 23,1983. Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the attack. For more information on memorial services, visit www.lejeune.usmc.mil/mcb/beirutmemorial.asp.
Photo by: Official USMC Photo

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...C?opendocument


Sempers,

Roger

[thedrifter]

Remember
Beirut 20 years later: Were the lessons buried with them?

Sgt. A. C. Strong
Combat Correspondent

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the Beirut bombing. A remembrance ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Beirut Memorial at Camp Johnson. People from all over the country gather each year at the memorial to remember all the 241 service members who were killed in the bombing, and also those who lost their lives in other attacks while serving in Beirut. (The following story was provided by the Public Affairs Office Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.)

MIRAMAR, Calif. - ?There are moments in life that shape who you are, what you think, what you know, even what you believe,? said retired 1st Sgt. Richard B. Truman, ?And it stays with you. The Beirut bombing was one of those.?
Oct. 23, 1983, 241 Marines and fellow service members were killed and more than 100 wounded, when a truck carrying explosives slammed through the guard posts and entered the Battalion Landing Team headquarters building of the Marine Amphibious Unit compound in Beirut, Lebanon.

The bombing of the BLT headquarters, whose duties included acting as a contingent to the multinational peacekeeping force, was even more shocking to the American public, as it came on the heels of the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut which occurred in April of the same year.
August 25, 1982, Col. Stuart Knoll, commanding officer, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, remembers arriving in Beirut.

Knoll, then a captain with 2nd Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, was working as a communications relay.
?The positive outlook of the Lebanese people at that time is something I will always remember,? said Knoll, who shipped out prior to the embassy bombing. ?We were there on a peacekeeping mission.?

Even with the bombing of the embassy in April of 1983, the posture did not change for the incoming Marines including 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. They were there to ?maintain the perimeter,? said Brig. Gen. Christian B. Cowdrey, commanding general, Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command Twentynine Palms, Calif.

?May of 1983, 1/8 landed to assume duties...? said Cowdrey. ?Although our embassy had been blown up, we were still very well received by the community. There was no change in mission and we continued to provide security to West Beirut as a part of our mission.?

According to then-Capt. Cowdrey, rifle company commander, Charlie Co., between the time of the embassy bombing and the BLT headquarters bombing, ?Marines trained, organized and assisted? the Lebanese army so they could work autonomously upon the departure of the peacekeeping force. They were to provide a safe haven for the unprotected.

At 6:21 a.m., the Marines in the barracks were sleeping. Charlie Co. was on duty maintaining the perimeter.

Because it was Sunday, the Marines offshore, aboard USS Iwo Jima, were still sleeping.

At 6:22 a.m., the calm turned to cauas when a truck carrying explosives slammed through guard posts and crashed into the headquarters building. According to a Department of Defense spokesman at the time, ?The force of the explosion ripped the building from its foundation. The building then imploded upon itself.?

?I saw the mushroom cloud,? said Cowdrey, who was 500-meters from the building. ?It was surreal. We attempted to make radio contact, but no one answered.?

The Marines of Co. C, with Cowdrey, moved across the runway to where moments before there was a building.

?There was just rubble with a crater in the center,? he said. ?Everything in the periphery was blown back, trees were blown over. Some things simply vaporized.?

The captain and his Marines immediately began rescue efforts.

?I couldn?t even recognize the men we were pulling out,? Cowdrey said thoughtfully. ?I remember pulling Chaplain Wheeler out of the rubble, and I talked to him. He was conscious. Most ... most you couldn?t identify.?

According to the general, all were covered in a thick, gray dust. ?You couldn?t tell black from white, old from young. They were in sleep clothes, gym clothes,? he said. ?If you found someone alive in the concrete that entombed them, if you found a pulse at all, you hurried them away.?

As their efforts continued, rescuers were confronted with the very real possibility that their efforts to rescue one would rain debris on another.

Marines and Sailors worked to organize aid stations, that would be used to triage, stabilize and prepare for the evacuation of the casualties to USS Iwo Jima.

Aboard ship, the sleepy Sunday went from ?zero to hell? according to then-Cpl. Truman, as the medical personnel worked to treat the ever-increasing number of wounded.

Truman was released from his regular duties as CH-46 crew chief for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 162, because prior to his enlistment in the Marine Corps, he was a trained emergency medical technician - and they needed all the help they could get.

?The hangar deck was full of wounded,? said Truman. ?There were all kinds of injuries - burns, broken bones, and crushing injuries.?

Truman was to stick with the surgeon as he went from crew chief to starting IV?s and triaging the wounded.

?I had my hand pressed hard against a wound and I looked down,? taking a breath, he said, ?And I knew them. We knew them.?

As the days passed, the rescue efforts became recovery efforts.

?And those of us that were left behind, we stayed and continued the mission,? said Cowdrey.

In the states and abroad, Marines and fellow Americans were shocked at what was called, at the time, the ?largest terrorist attack in United States history.? Many looked for blame.

?I was angry,? said Knoll. ?Like we should have seen it coming.?

?I?ll tell you someone who, in my opinion, bore the brunt of the blame but was one of the finest commanders I?ve served under, Col. Tim Gerahty,? said Cowdrey. ?He recognized and understood from a national, theater and tactical perspective.?

The general also spoke highly of Lt. Col. Larry Gerlach who was the commanding officer, 1/8, and injured in the bombing. ?Here?s a man that is in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and now has a letter in his record finding him to blame for what occurred. But he was a good commander and I learned a lot from him.?

The general seemed frustrated that many today seem to have forgotten the lessons from Beirut.

Knoll said, ?After all these years Lebanon really doesn?t seem any better off or any more stable. There really seems to be no solution to some of these Middle East problems, at least in this case this seems to be true.?

?It?s not something that is remembered as it should be,? Cowdrey said. ?We were there for almost two years, for a very noble mission.

?It should be remembered like this - a group of young Marines, principally from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, gave their lives for a very noble cause - to secure peace in a land that had been in civil war for decades. I was in the building the night before it blew. We were remembering Mike Ohler (a Marine captain killed by sniper fire in Beirut, a week prior to the BLT building bombing). All of us knew that we were there to support peace. They were proud of what they were doing, recognized the risk and were willing to take the risk to secure peace.?

The lessons learned in Beirut are applicable today.

?I learned from it and carried that with me when I took my Marines into Operation Iraqi Freedom. I drew on it to tell them what to expect, because it?s a different environment and things that make sense in the U.S. just don?t make sense there,? said Knoll.

?Beirut ?82 through ?83 is a case-study in War College when discussing mission creep, rules of engagement and U.S. policy. It?s important for leadership to study this when deciding to commit forces, so we have the right numbers, right reasons, and the rules of engagement,? Cowdrey added.

September 9, 2003, a federal judge assigned responsibility for the embassy bombing to Iran, awarding $123 million to the 29 victims and their families.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates concluded, ?Iran was ultimately responsible for the radical Islamic group Hezbollah detonating a car loaded with explosives inside the embassy entrance on April 18, 1983.?

It is reported to be the first large-scale attack on an American embassy anywhere in the world and was considered a ?watershed act that ushered in two decades of terrorist attacks on U.S. targets overseas and at home.?

No one has been assigned blame for the Oct. 23 blast, which took 10 times as many lives.

?We shoulder the responsibility,? said Cowdrey. ?Every one of them had families. Any service member who dies in a foreign land should be shown the same compassionate admiration and respect as those who died in 9-11. Every one of them should be remembered.?

Visit the Beirut Memorial Online at http://www.beirut-memorial.org/index.html.

Editors Note: Not including the BLT barracks bombing, 32 service members died while serving in Beirut from 1982-1984 bringing the total lost to 273. To all of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice we salute you and will remain- Semper Fidelis.

Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

A Moment In Silience........

[thedrifter]

Our first duty is to remember?
20th Beirut remembrance events Oct. 23

6 a.m. - Candlelight Service for Beirut Veterans and family members at the Beirut Memorial site at Camp Johnson. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Alphas with ribbons/badges and barracks cover.

10:30 a.m. - 20th Beirut Memorial Observance Ceremony will be conducted at the Beirut Memorial site at Camp Johnson. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Alphas with ribbons/badges and barracks cover.

2 p.m. - The Military Order of Devil Dogs will conduct a remembrance ceremony at the Memorial Circle at Camp Geiger. Retired Maj.Gen. Ray L. Smith will provide the ceremony address. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Alphas with ribbons/badges and barracks cover.

4 p.m. - In conjunction with the Beirut Remembrances, the Marine Corps Battle Colors Ceremony and the Silent Drill Team will perform at Liversedge Field, Camp Lejeune. Uniform for active duty attending is Service Charlies.

The public is invited to attend all events listed above. Parking for the general public during the ceremony will be available at the Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, across the street from the memorial.
For more information, call Beirut Memorial Advisory Board members: Michael Ellzey - 938-5328 or Richard Ray - 389-5186.

Sempers,

Roger

[thedrifter]

Leaving Beirut:
?Give me somebody to turn it over to?
Col. Keith Oliver
Public Affairs Officer

If there was a single act or gesture that epitomized the 2d Marine Division?s involvement in the country of Lebanon over the past two years (?82 and ?83), it was probably that which occurred Sunday morning, Feb. 26 at Beirut International Airport. The scene was photographed by a Marine gunnery sergeant and has been described in a variety of military and civilian publications worldwide, running the gamut from Camp Lejeune The Globe to the New York Times Magazine.

The day before had been a flurry of activity as the ships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet welcomed home men and machines in one of the most orderly and efficient tactical redeployments ever conducted. Howitzers, tanks, jeeps and scores of Marines, veterans of conflict in both Grenada and Lebanon, made their way to USS Guam, USS Manitowoc and other vessels which supported the 22d Marine Amphibious Unit operations in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

In the wee hours of the morning Feb. 26, Gunnery Sgt. Randy Bare of West Virginia reported that ?it was as if a silent command were given? as the remaining forces of Echo Company trooping toward waiting helicopters, fell quiet while passing the devastated ?BLT building? which had been leveled by the now-infamous terrorist attack in October 1983.

Daylight would come soon and, shortly thereafter, a touching moment which would be forever engraved on the memories of the few who participated.

The location: the Lebanese Liaison Office at Beirut International Airport. The occasion: the formal turning-over-of-the keys to the Lebanese Government.
Col. William ?Pat? Faulkner, a former corporal and native of Charlotte, N.C., commanded the MAU throughout its highly successful Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada and now, with the establishment of a joint task force ashore headed by Brig. Gen. Jim Joy, found himself MAU commander at a more quiet but, perhaps no less significant, moment.

This was it. The Marines had done a job; not the taking of an island or a hill that suits their nature so well, but rather as disciplined, pliable tools in the hands of their country, serving once again, with distinction on foreign soil.

Such poetic thoughts were probably far from Faulkner?s mind when he deliberately but courteously marched into the liaison office with a handful of his staff looking for ?somebody to turn it over to.? Appearing for all the world like a camouflage-clad John Wayne, with one hand crooked in his flak jacket and a no-nonsense glint in his eye, the Marine aviator conducted the transfer the way he conducted much of his business ,brief and to the point.

Smiles and handshakes were exchanged all around and, cueing his operations officer, Lt. Col. Ernie Van Huss, the MAU commander expressed a desire to retrieve the American flag which was displayed behind the liaison officer?s desk. Old Glory?s staff crossed one that supported the cedar-adorned national ensign of the Lebanese. As a symbol, the American flag represented the last official U.S.

vestige at a complex which, it was believed, would be turned over to largely anti-government forces (the Amal) within days.

Van Huss, a God-fearing infantry officer whose Tennessee upbringing and boyhood association with scouting had given him a special respect for the Stars and Stripes from early on, reached for the colors. As he had planned to do even the day before, Van Huss and the air officer, Maj. Bill Sublette, very reverently and properly folded the American standard as all hands stood at the position of attention.

After Van Huss had made the final fold, making the flag into its traditional star-covered triangle, the room was very quiet for a few seconds until, almost wistfully, a Lebanese officer spoke.
?Here,? the Middle Eastern officer said, reaching for the flag of Lebanon, ?you might as well take ours, too.?

Reprinted from a 1985 edition of Follow Me, newsletter of the 2d Marine Division Association, with permission. Story by then - Capt. Keith Oliver. Col. Oliver is the Marine Corps Base Public Affairs Director.


Joe Ciokon, U.S. Navy (ret.)



Sempers,

Roger

[thedrifter]

Hough leads Marines of BLT 1/8 home
Sgt. Roman Yurek
Combat Correspondent

USS IWO JIMA- Col. David K. Hough, Battalion Landing Team 1/8?s commanding officer, recently deployed as part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), was promoted to his current rank Oct. 1 aboard USS Iwo Jima.

Hough spoke of his Marines when asked to explain the significance of this promotion. ?Officers receive recognition as a result of the hard work and dedication of their men, I am extremely fortunate that I have had the privilege to serve with this outstanding group of professionals.?

For Hough, this is not the first time he has served in this battalion. Twenty years ago, Hough served as a rifle platoon commander with 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, BLT 1/8, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit as part of the Multinational Peace-keeping Force deployed to Beirut, Lebanon.

As a result of subsequent Marine battlefield successes, which negated the warring factions? conventional war fighting abilities, the increasingly desperate enemy sought drastic and unconventional measures.

In the early morning of Oct. 23, 1983, an explosive-laden truck detonated the largest non-nuclear blast at that point in history by exploding against the BLT?s command post inside the Beirut International Airport. This terrorist attack, arguably the first one of its kind against Americans, changed the nature of that conflict and foreshadowed the Global War on Terrorism.

Two hundred and forty-one U.S. service members were killed in that attack alone. Before their return to Camp Lejeune Dec. 7, 1983, BLT 1/8 endured a heavy toll of killed and wounded Marines resulting from the combat operation and caused an untold number of dead and wounded enemy.

For Hough, Beirut has many memories, but he summarized them by saying that, ?the battalion?s performance in Beirut joins in history with its efforts in Iraq, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Tinian. The Marines and Sailors fought bravely in Beirut and the many who gave their lives for their God, Country and Corps will not be forgotten. The Marines and Sailors of BLT 1/8 carry on the their legacy, taking the fight to our nation?s enemies with the same pride, professionalism, and espirit as their predecessors who served so gallantly from World War II to the present. It was truly an honor to be afforded the opportunity to return to BLT 1/8 and serve as their commander.?

As the 26th MEU (SOC) and BLT 1/8 steam across the Atlantic Ocean en route to a well-deserved homecoming, Hough looks back with pride at the deployment, which started with the MEU and BLT?s participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, continued to Joint Task Force ? Horn of Africa and culminated with JTF-Liberia.

?During the past eight months, we have traveled more than 40,000 miles and participated in two major operations. BLT 1/8?s Marines and Sailors accomplished every mission assigned to them in those operations with the dedication and skill of true professionals. I could not be more proud of them.? Hough said.

Asked what he believes to be the biggest factor contributing to the successful deployment, Hough said, ?My early experiences as a rifle platoon leader in Beirut molded my approach to leadership. As a commander, I believe that you must concentrate on those things that contribute to the fight and minimize those things that detract from combat readiness. As the MEU?s ground combat element, we concentrated on our ability to shoot, move and communicate effectively.?

Hough has not forgotten where his leadership foundation began nor will he ever forget those who were lost 20 years ago. ?I try to attend some of the ceremonies every year and honor those we lost that fateful day,? he said.

Hough understands the importance of being able to come home when so many have not been able to. And right now Hough said he?s looking forward to being at home with his wife and four children after another successful deployment.


Sempers,

Roger

[Boats]

Hey Roger,

I just that on the radio - its been 20 years since that event!!

What's happening to us older guys - time doesn't seem to register and events seem like only the other day - why is that?

My regards to the Marine Corp and to those losses suffered at the hands of the enemy. They are not forgotten but hold places in our memories - forever and ever - AMEN.

[Jerry D]

like Boats said, and Amen

[Arrow]

What Boats said and Amen