British soldiers give a hand in rescue operations at the site of the bomb-wrecked U.S. Marine barracks near Beirut airport Sunday, Oct. 23, 1983. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos will speak Wednesday Oct. 23, 2013 at a memorial bordering Camp Lejeune that honors the deadliest terrorist attack on Americans prior to Sept. 11, 2001. Many of the 241 Americans killed on Oct. 23, 1983, were members of Camp Lejeunes 24th Marine Amphibious Unit. (AP Photo/Bill Foley/File)
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 23, the 297th day of 2024. There are 69 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Oct. 23, 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at the U.S. Marine Corps barracks at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon, while a near-simultaneous attack on French barracks in Beirut killed 58 paratroopers.
Also on this date:
In 1915, an estimated 25,000 women marched on Fifth Avenue in New York City in support of womens suffrage.
In 1942, during World War II, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt, resulting in an Allied victory.
In 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began; the largest naval battle of World War II resulted in a major Allied victory against Japanese forces.
In 1956, a student-sparked revolt against Hungarys Communist rule began; as the revolution spread, Soviet forces started entering the country, putting down the uprising within weeks.
In 1987, the U.S. Senate rejected the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork 58-42.
In 1989, 23 people were killed in an explosion at a Phillips Petroleum chemical complex in Pasadena, Texas.
In 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays won their second consecutive World Series as Joe Carter hit a walk-off, three-run home run in Game 6 to win the series over the Philadelphia Phillies.
In 1995, a jury in Houston convicted Yolanda Saldivar of murdering Tejano singing star Selena.
In 2001, Apple released the iPod. An estimated 450 million iPod devices were sold before the line was discontinued in 2022.
Todays Birthdays: Film director Philip Kaufman is 88. Advocate and humanitarian Graça Machel is 79. Film director Ang Lee is 70. Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is 68. Country singer Dwight Yoakam is 68. Activist and philanthropist Martin Luther King III is 67. Author and commentator Michael Eric Dyson is 66. Film director Sam Raimi is 65. Comedic musician Weird Al Yankovic is 65. Rock musician Robert Trujillo (Metallica) is 60. Racing driver and paracyclist Alex Zanardi is 58. CNN medical reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta is 55. TV personality Cat Deeley is 48. Actor Ryan Reynolds is 48. TV personality Meghan McCain is 40. R&B singer Miguel is 39. Actor Emilia Clarke is 38. Actor Margaret Qualley is 30. Actor Amandla Stenberg is 26.
Facts On October 23, 1983, 241 US service personnel including 220 Marines and 21 other service personnel are killed by a truck bomb at a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon.
Three hundred service members had been living at the four-story building at the airport in Beirut. There were 1,800 Marines stationed in Beirut at the time.
A multi-national force with units from France, Italy and the United Kingdom was also on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon at the same time.
At the same time the Marine barracks was hit, a suicide bomber drove a pickup truck full of explosives and crashed into a building housing French paratroopers. Approximately 58 French soldiers were killed in the attack.
This was the deadliest attack against US Marines since the battle over Iwo Jima in 1945.
The bombing was traced to Hezbollah, a militant and political group that originated in Lebanon in 1982. Iranian and Syrian involvement was also suspected.
The Marines were criticized for having lax security at the barracks.
The commander of the barracks, Col. Timothy J. Geraghty, said in congressional hearings investigating the attacks that the compound was hard to defend because it was on flat ground and vehicles drove by it daily to access the airport.
Timeline 1982 - US President Ronald Reagan sends Marines to Lebanon on a peacekeeping mission.
October 23, 1983 - At 6:22 a.m., a truck carrying 2,000 pounds of explosives drives into the Marine compound in Beirut and crashes into the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regimental Battalion Landing Team barracks.
February 1984 - US troops withdraw from Lebanon.
1985 - The Inman Report is released. It finds that Marine officers did not take proper steps to protect the barracks against terrorist attacks.
May 30, 2003 - A US federal judge rules that the terrorist group Hezbollah carried out the attack at the direction of the Iranian government. The ruling allows families of the victims to sue Iran.
September 7, 2007 - US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth orders Iran to pay $2.65 billion to survivors and to family members of the service members killed in the 1983 bombing.
March 1, 2010 - A lawsuit is filed in New York City seeking to force Iran to pay the $2.65 billion awarded to survivors and family members in 2007.
March 30, 2012 - Judge Lamberth issues a judgment against Iran of $2.1 billion, to be paid to the families and survivors of the attack.
July 2013 - US District Court Judge Katherine Forrest rules to release $1.75 billion of Iranian funds, held in a New York Citibank account, to set up a fund for victims of the 1983 bombing.
July 9, 2014 - A federal appeals court affirms a 2013 ruling that $1.75 billion in Iranian funds should be awarded to the victims family members.
April 20, 2016 - The Supreme Court rules that the families of the 1983 bombing victims should be allowed to collect the $1.75 billion in Iranian funds.
March 22, 2023 - A federal judge in New York orders Bank Markazi, Irans central bank, and Clearstream Banking SA to pay out $1.68 billion to family members killed in the bombing.
The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these peoples door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.
Yes, it was very recently declassified that Israel did, in fact, build the sophisticated compressed gas-accelerated bomb that was used to blow up the Marine BLT building. It was the most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever detonated until the early 2000s.
A bunch of illiterate, ragtag 5th century towelheads didn't have the capability to design and build such a device in the days before the internet.
It was not reported on any MSM news source.
The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these peoples door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.
Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American) (Toby Keith)
The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these peoples door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.
I knew a guy from Chicago that was in the Marines. He was in Lebanon when the barracks was bombed. He was lucky to not be in the barracks at the time of the bombing.
After 10 years in the Marines, he got out and joined the DEA. He told me some interesting stories about our fearless leaders and drugs. It seems though all of that was suppressed. ;)
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke