Marines Barracks Beirut 1983 Suicide Bombing Defense Department Report

Description

Beirut Bombings: October 23, 1983

Timeline of Main Events

• October 23, 1983: A suicide bomber driving a truck filled with explosives crashes through the perimeter of the U.S. contingent’s compound (Battalion Landing Team Headquarters) at Beirut International Airport, Beirut, Lebanon, and detonates.
• This explosion results in the deaths of 241 U.S. military personnel: 220 Marines, 18 Navy personnel, and 3 Army soldiers.
• Sixty Americans are injured in the attack.
• This becomes the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
• October 23, 1983 (Concurrent Attack): A second suicide truck bomber attacks the French barracks in Beirut.
• Fifty-eight paratroopers from the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment are killed.
• Fifteen French paratroopers are injured.
• This becomes the single worst military loss for France since the end of the Algerian War.
• Post-October 23, 1983: The provided source states that the “report examines the circumstances of that terrorist attack and its immediate aftermath.” This indicates an investigation and analysis of the events occurred after the bombings.

Cast of Characters

This source primarily focuses on the event and its impact on the military personnel involved. It does not explicitly name individuals beyond the nationalities and branches of service affected. Therefore, a traditional “cast of characters” with individual biographies is not directly possible based solely on this source.

However, we can identify the groups of principal people involved:

• U.S. Military Personnel:Marines: 220 members of the United States Marine Corps who were killed in the bombing of their barracks.
• Navy Personnel: 18 members of the United States Navy who were killed in the bombing of the U.S. compound.
• Army Personnel: 3 members of the United States Army who were killed in the bombing of the U.S. compound.
• Injured Americans: 60 American military personnel who sustained injuries in the attack.
• French Military Personnel:Paratroopers (1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment): 58 members of the French 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment who were killed in the bombing of their barracks.
• Injured French Paratroopers: 15 French paratroopers who sustained injuries in the attack.
• Suicide Bombers: Unidentified individuals who drove the explosive-laden trucks into the U.S. and French barracks, causing the devastating explosions. The source does not provide any details about their identities or affiliations.

Marines Barracks Beirut 1983 Suicide Bombing Defense Department Report

On October 23, 1983, a truck full of explosives, driven by a suicide bomber, crashed through the perimeter of the compound of the U.S. contingent of the Multinational Force at Beirut International Airport, Beirut, Lebanon, penetrated the Battalion Landing Team Headquarters building and detonated. The force of the explosion destroyed the building resulting in the deaths of 241 U.S. military personnel, 220 Marines, 18 Navy personnel and three Army soldiers, along with sixty Americans injured. This attack produced the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II.

A second suicide truck bomber drove into the French barracks. Fifty-eight paratroopers from the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment were killed and 15 injured. This would be the single worst military loss for France since the end of the Algerian War.

This report examines the circumstances of that terrorist attack and its immediate aftermath.