In Memory of the 241........Semper Fi

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by Sgt. Melvin Lopez Jr.
Henderson Hall News

A remembrance ceremony was held at the Arlington National Cemetery Saturday to remember the Marines who were victimized by a gruesome terrorist attack 21 years ago.

On October 23, 1983 at 6:22 a.m., a large delivery truck drove to the Beirut International Airport where the Marine Barracks was located.

After turning onto an access road leading to the compound, the driver rushed through a barbed-wire fence, passed between two sentry posts, crashed through the gate, and slammed into the lobby of the barracks.

The driver detonated explosives with the power equal to more than 12,000 pounds of TNT. The explosion crumbled the four-story building, crushing service members to death while they were sleeping.

The terrorist attack killed 220 Marines and 21 other U.S. service members who were stationed there to help keep the peace in a nation torn by war.

It was the bloodiest day in the Corps' history since World War II, when Marines fought to secure Iwo Jima.

On the 21st anniversary of the bombing, the ceremony began with words from the Master of Ceremonies, retired U.S. Navy captain, Capt. William Perry. He explained how one comrade expressed what it was like to lose a friend.

"The whole idea of knowing that this person gave his life for something he truly believed in," said Perry, reiterating words spoken by 1st Sgt. James Richard, "how the flood of memories of that person burned into your mind, is lost in people who have never experienced it."

Following the captain's opening statements were commentary from several speakers including the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, retired General A. M. Gray.

During the somber ceremony, they spoke about the Marines who went to Beirut on a peacekeeping mission, and that their actions should not be forgotten.

"That is why we're here today," said Carmella LaSpada, director, White House Commission on Remembrance, "and why we'll be here next year, and each year after that."

Gray repeats the words spoken to him by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan at a funeral service at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, following the bombing.

"Our former warriors have now joined a long line of Soldiers of the Sea who have given their lives in the service of a grateful nation," said Reagan.

"They had one simple mission," said Gray. "They came (to Lebanon) in peace, and they wanted to provide an opportunity for people to live in peace.

Afterward, students from Mt. Vernon High School's Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps in Alexandria, Va., marched onto the gravesite where 21 out of the 220 Marines killed were laid to rest. They placed a rose on each gravestone and immediately thereafter, saluted to show respect for those who gave their lives.

A wreath-laying proceeded in which a Marine lance corporal, in his dress blue uniform, marched slowly to a memorial stone marking the spot of the site. He placed the wreath alongside the stone and a Lebanese cedar, symbolizing the nation where the Marines died.

"We pledge that we would never forget their memories, their sacrifice," said Gray.

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I remember.