Remarks by Ambassador Hale on the 30th Anniversary of the Attack on the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut
October 23, 2013
Good afternoon and welcome to the Ambassador of France, Patrice Paoli, and the French Defense Attaché, Colonel Olivier Labrosse. Thank you all for joining us today to remember the sacrifice of 241 American service personnel at the Marine Barracks in Beirut thirty years ago.
American Marines came to Lebanon, with French, British and Italian colleagues, in 1982 in order to help end foreign occupation of Lebanon and restore order and stability in this war-torn land during a dark time in its history.
The Marines came in peace, for peace.
Hizballah's response was a suicide bombing on their barracks that killed 220 American marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers, and wounded 128 others. It was the deadliest attack against the Marines since the battle of Iwo Jima in February, 1945. Thirty minutes later, 58 French paratroopers were blown up in a similar attack on their barracks.
I remember this day thirty years ago very well. I was in graduate school studying Arabic and the Middle East and waiting for admission to the U.S. Foreign Service. Just as a generation of Americans carries the iconic image of the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11, many of my generation remember an iconic photo of a wounded American Marine being carried by stretcher out of the rubble of those barracks. It has come to my mind every time I have passed that site, just outside Beirut airport.
Thirty years on, we honor the men and women who gave their lives for our nation and for peace. We honor the courage and bravery of those who survived the attack and fought to rescue their comrades from the rubble. And we seek to honor their memory with our own commitment to the defense of our nation and of our allies, and to peace for this troubled region.
Thank you.
American Marines came to Lebanon, with French, British and Italian colleagues, in 1982 in order to help end foreign occupation of Lebanon and restore order and stability in this war-torn land during a dark time in its history.
The Marines came in peace, for peace.
Hizballah's response was a suicide bombing on their barracks that killed 220 American marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers, and wounded 128 others. It was the deadliest attack against the Marines since the battle of Iwo Jima in February, 1945. Thirty minutes later, 58 French paratroopers were blown up in a similar attack on their barracks.
I remember this day thirty years ago very well. I was in graduate school studying Arabic and the Middle East and waiting for admission to the U.S. Foreign Service. Just as a generation of Americans carries the iconic image of the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11, many of my generation remember an iconic photo of a wounded American Marine being carried by stretcher out of the rubble of those barracks. It has come to my mind every time I have passed that site, just outside Beirut airport.
Thirty years on, we honor the men and women who gave their lives for our nation and for peace. We honor the courage and bravery of those who survived the attack and fought to rescue their comrades from the rubble. And we seek to honor their memory with our own commitment to the defense of our nation and of our allies, and to peace for this troubled region.
Thank you.
posted by DELTA BLOG at 12:21 PM
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