Never forget....

Never. I was a senior in HS. I live in a small town in South Georgia where everybody knows everybody. We took that attack as a personal attack on us. There was a guy from our town that was in the barracks. I went to school with his younger sister. Back then there were no cell phones. Our town watched and supported his family for 2 weeks before they found out that he was one of the survivors. Just a little over 2 months later, I took my oath at the MEPS in Jacksonville along with 3 of my classmates. Before it was over, we had 9 guys from my senior class that joined the Marine Corps. 1stBN, 8thMarines was the unit that suffered the most casualties. 2 years later, I was a member of 3rdBN, 8thMarines sitting on a ship off the coast of Beirut.
 
Don't remember much about it during when it happened as I was a few years behind you, but I did serve with some Beirut vets and deployed with/in support of 1/8 on a few occasions. Word I had heard back in the day is that all the trees planted on Lejeune Blvd outside Camp Lejeune added up to 243 for those that were lost. Now there's also a Beirut Memorial Garden on the exit of the Hwy 17 bypass where it connects back to the regular Hwy 17 out by the airstation/Camp Geiger. This is in addition to the Beirut Memorial over by Camp Johnson.
 
MarineUKFan said:
Don't remember much about it during when it happened as I was a few years behind you, but I did serve with some Beirut vets and deployed with/in support of 1/8 on a few occasions. Word I had heard back in the day is that all the trees planted on Lejeune Blvd outside Camp Lejeune added up to 243 for those that were lost. Now there's also a Beirut Memorial Garden on the exit of the Hwy 17 bypass where it connects back to the regular Hwy 17 out by the airstation/Camp Geiger. This is in addition to the Beirut Memorial over by Camp Johnson.
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All true. At least that's what I was told as well.
 
OldDevilDawg said:
Sometime next year I'm taking my wife on a road trip up the East Coast. Gonna hit PI, Beaufort Air Station, Lejeune, Damneck and Little Creek in VA Beach. Showing her all the places I was stationed. Maybe I'll get the chance to buy you a brew.
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I joined the Navy in April of 83, after boot and school, I was on a flight headed to meet my ship in the Med, we landed at Sigonella in Sicily, I watched out the window as Wounded were being transferred to other planeson the tarmac, I'll never forget that.
 
I worked with a guy that was stationed there and wounded that day. Won a Purple Heart for the incident. I don’t want to give away his last name here. His first name is Brad. He is still very heavily active with veterans and helping wounded veterans. Said it took him decades to be able to honor those lost without carrying the guilt. Amazing warrior.
 
One of my college professors claims that had the PLO not been kicked out of Lebanon, a more peaceful outcome would have resulted.
 
Crypto Juice said:
One of my college professors claims that had the PLO not been kicked out of Lebanon, a more peaceful outcome would have resulted.
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The PLO was funding and training Hezbollah long before they "got kicked out of Lebanon". In my eyes, Yasser Arafat died a terrorist with personal responsibility and blood on his hands in the death of so many of my brothers in arms. 2 of his best friends were Saddam Hussein and Idi Amin. He was Idi Amin's best man at his wedding in Uganda in '75.

Nobel Peace Prize, my ass.
 
OldDevilDawg said:
The PLO was funding and training Hezbollah long before they "got kicked out of Lebanon". In my eyes, Yasser Arafat died a terrorist with personal responsibility and blood on his hands in the death of so many of my brothers in arms. 2 of his best friends were Saddam Hussein and Idi Amin. He was Idi Amin's best man at his wedding in Uganda in '75.

Nobel Peace Prize, my ass.
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I started taking a dim view of the Nobel Prize when Arafat won. (The Peace prize anyway).

Arafat was given the award because he promised to stop killing civilians via terrorism. Unfortunately, he lied. One of the most vile humans that has walked the Earth.
 
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