Marine Barracks Bombings

Fallen Hero’s Hometown and State: Beirut, Lebanon

Branch of Service: United States Marine Corps

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On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilians and the 2 attackers. The first suicide bomber detonated a truck bomb at the building serving as a barracks for the 1st Battalion 8th Marines (Battalion Landing Team – BLT 1/8), killing 220 Marines, eighteen sailors and three soldiers, making this incident the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II, the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Armed Forces since the first day of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War, and the deadliest terrorist attack on American citizens overseas.

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Date of Death: October 23, 1983