Greyhawk: Beirut and Beyond Contributed by Bill Faith
Greyhawk
Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1983 , Lebanon.
On October 23, 1983, around 6:20 am, a yellow Mercedes-Benz delivery truck drove to Beirut International Airport, where the 1st Battalion 8th Marines, under the U.S. 2nd Marine Division of the United States Marines, had set up its local headquarters. The truck turned onto an access road leading to the Marines' compound and circled a parking lot. The driver then accelerated and crashed through a barbed wire fence around the parking lot, passed between two sentry posts, crashed through a gate and barreled into the lobby of the Marine headquarters. The Marine sentries at the gate were operating under their rules of engagement, which made it very difficult to respond quickly to the truck. By the time the two sentries had locked, loaded, and shouldered their weapons, the truck was already inside the building's entry way. ...
One of the opening battles in the war that goes on today - unfortunately only one side was battling at that time.
But two years later, in December, 1985 resulted in an even higher death toll: ...
Contributed by Bill Faith on October 24, 2006 at 09:43 PM in , |