Never forget.



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...ut_barracks_bombings

I remember, I was a teenager.

Then later when I joined the CG I was appointed to be a “force protection officer” fancy name for someone who tells the sailors about to go on liberty in whatever third world shithole we were visiting, how to be safe, what the threats were etc.

The bombing of the Marine Barracks was a reference point.

There’s a whole bunch of other places now that make the list.

Yeah clearly. And then we pulled out. Wrong message.

Coming up on 40 years…I was 14 and it was my first reality check that the world was a scary place and not at all like the small Minnesota town I was growing up in.

Semper Fi

As bad as it was, who ever was in charge of designing the security of the Marine barracks was extremely naïve. He did not think the situation through at all.

I remember being on my paper route and reading the headlines. One of my customers was either parents or relatives of one of the dead. I didn’t collect from them for a couple weeks. Sad times.

Among those lost was PFC Craig Stockton, who was from my hometown. He died one week short of his 19th birthday. Never forget.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Yeah clearly. And then we pulled out. Wrong message.

SECDEF Weinberger argued against a retaliatory strike, arguing there wasn't enough indicators it was the Iranians who were responsible. SECSTATE George Schultz was in favor of payback yet, Reagan took up Weinberger's postion. I remember my dad was pissed, yelling at the TV, why were all the Marines in a single building, the images on the morning paper was pretty striking for a 10-year old. 2-days later the invasion of Grenada started.

US and French forces who were the principal ground forces, pulled out 4-months later in February. Nearly a year later, the US embassy annex in Beirut was bombed, blowing the entire face off the building. The multiple embassy bombings, the hesitancy amongst national security officials when dealing with attacks and the bungling of the Grenada operation, highlighted many gaps of the post-Vietnam defense establishment. Goldwater-Nicols Act was passed in '86 to address decision making issues with the Defense Department's chain of command.

I was home and honorably discharged from the USMC when this happened. But, I was there only a few months before the bombing.

I was with E 2/6 and we were in Beirut from Feb-May 1983. We were camped out near the end of the runway. I did not know any Marine killed in the bombing. However, had the bombing taken place while I was there, I would have known a bunch of Marines that would have been killed or injured.