Corpsmen Beirut Lebanon 1983 – Corpsmen Memorial

The 1983 Beirut barracks bombings were terrorist attacks that occurred on October 23, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces-members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF)-killing 241 U.S. and 58 French servicemen, six civilians, and the two suicide bombers. An obscure group calling itself 'Islamic Jihad' claimed responsibility for the bombings and that the bombings were aimed to get the MNF out of Lebanon.

Two suicide bombers detonated each of the truck bombs. In the attack on the building serving as a barracks for the 1st Battalion 8th Marines (Battalion Landing Team - BLT 1/8), the death toll were 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers, making this incident the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima, the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Armed Forces since the first day of the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive, the deadliest single terrorist attack on American citizens in general prior to the September 11 attacks, and the deadliest single terrorist attack on American citizens overseas.

Another 128 Americans were wounded in the blast. Thirteen later died of their injuries, and they are numbered among the total number who died. An elderly Lebanese man, a custodian/vendor who was known to work and sleep in his concession stand next to the building, was also killed in the first blast. The explosives used were later estimated to be equivalent to as much as 9,525 kg (21,000 pounds) of TNT. In total 18 Corpsmen died as a result of the attack. The 15 whose lives were lost initially are listed on this page. Three others are believed to have died indirectly as results of injuries sustained that fateful day in 1983

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BEIRUT, LEBANON 1983