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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Iran is responsible for the 1983 suicide bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 241 American servicemen, a U.S. District Court judge ruled Friday.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) --Iran is responsible for the 1983 suicide bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 241 American servicemen, a U.S. District Court judge ruled Friday. In the early morning hours of 23 October 1983, a truck loaded with explosives crashed through the security perimeter of the United States Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. In the explosion that followed, 220 Marines and 21 other U.S. military personnel, were killed and 80 seriously wounded. These young people, on a mission of peace in a land stricken by violence, were killed as they slept. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. In May 2003, a U.S. Federal Court found Iran guilty of the bombing.
Caption:Marines from the 32d Marine Amphibious Unit man a checkpoint at the port in Beirut, Lebanon in late Aug. 1982 during the evacuation of PLO and Syrian fighters from the country. The 32d MAU, later named the 22d MAU, would serve four tours in Beirut in support of multi-national peace-keeping operations there.Photo by: Official USMC Photo Caption:Marines from the 32d Marine Amphibious Unit prepare 'Green Beach' outside Beirut, Lebanon for the introduction of additional forces on Oct. 1, 1982. The 32d MAU was in Beirut to participate in a multi-national peace-keeping operation.Photo by: Official USMC Photo 22d MEU MAU History
Caption:A Marine patrol from BLT 2/6, the ground combat element of the 22d Marine Amphibious Unit, takes cover after receiving fire in the Ouzai district of Beirut in March 1983. Behind the Marines, in beret and sunglasses, is a French soldier.Photo by: Official USMC Photo 22d MEU MAU History
Caption:Marines from from HMM-264 (Rein) fan out to help Lebanese civilians caught in a sudden snowstorm. The 22d MAU helped 200 Lebanese civilians during the crisis.Photo by: Official USMC Photo Caption:Assault Amphibian Vehicles from BLT 2/6, the ground combat element of the 22d MAU, plow through deep snow during an attempt to rescue Lebanese civilians trapped by snowstorms in the Beka'a Valley.Photo by: Official USMC Photo 22d MEU MAU History
Marines patrol the streets as curious Lebanese watch 22d MEU MAU History
22d MEU MAU History Marines establishing a beachhead. During the morning of 17 July, two Marines from BLT 2/2 were "captured" in the Basta area, a Moslem section of the city. They were questioned and lectured about the "duplicity" of American foreign policy and the evil of American "imperialism." After an hour and a half the Marines were released.
Marines exit an amphibious vehicle in Beirut . 22d MEU MAU History
Caption:Signs outside a tent from BLT 1/8, the ground combat element of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, in Beirut. The signs, written in July, August, and September 1983, show the loosening of the rules of engagement for the Marines involved in peace-keeping operations in Lebanon.Photo by: Official USMC Photo 22d MEU MAU History
Caption:A Marine sniper from Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 8th Marines, the ground combat element of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, engages in a long range duel with Druze and Shi'ite militia snipers in Beirut in Oct. 1983 during the peace-keeping mission in Lebanon.Photo by: Official USMC Photo 22d MEU MAU History
Caption:Lt. Col. Larry Gerlach, commanding officer of BLT 1/8, talks to the Marines outside the BLT headquarters building Oct. 9, 1983 on the occasion of the 8th Marine Regiment's anniversary celebration. Gerlach, who was seriously injured in the bombing, stands on the very spot where the truck entered the building. Photo by: Official USMC Photo 22d MEU MAU History
Department of Defense Statement: “At approximately 0622 on Sunday, 23 October 1983, the Battalion Landing Team Headquarters building in the Marine Amphibious Unit compound at Beirut International Airport was destroyed by a terrorist bomb. The catastrophic attack took the lives of Marines, sailors, and soldiers and wounded many others. The bombing was carried out by one lone terrorist driving a yellow Mercedes Benz stake-bed truck that accelerated through the public parking lot south of the BLT headquarters building, where it exploded. The truck drove over the barbed and concertina wire obstacle, passed between two Marine guard posts without being engaged by fire, entered an open gate, passed around one sewer pipe barrier and between two others, flattened the Sergeant of the Guard’s sandbagged booth at the building's entrance, penetrated the lobby of the building and detonated while the majority of the occupants slept. The force of the explosions [12,000 pounds] ripped the building from its foundation. The building then imploded upon itself. Almost all of the occupants were crushed or trapped inside the wreckage.”
Caption:The devastation of the barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, left Marines searching through tons of rubble for their missing comrades. Photo by: Official USMC Photo
Caption: A weary 24th MAU leatherneck waited his turn to assist fellow Marines, sailors, Lebanese soldiers and civilians who continued rescue and recovery efforts in the days following the terrorist truck bombing of the 1/8 barracks on 23 Oct. 1983.
Caption: A stretcher bearing a wreath and the sign “24 MAU: THEY CAME IN PEACE” was put up soon after the recovery operation at the explosion site of the bombed out BLT Headquarters building.
President and Mrs. Reagan honor the victims of the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. 4/23/83 Our fallen comrades return home.
“Where do we find men like this? They come from families like yours. From farms and villages, towns and cities across the nation….Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.” President Ronald Reagan Camp Lejeune, North Carolina 1983 Semper Fidelis
Information and imagery contained in this presentation can be found on these websites: http://www.usmc.mil http://www.beirut-memorial.org/ http://www.afa.org/magazine/Feb2002/0202terror2.jpg http://www.beirutveterans.com/photo1.html http://www.terrorism victims.org/terrorists/beirut-marine-barracks.html