The age of mega terrorism begins in Lebanon. Using massive truck bombs, Hizballah simultaneously attacks the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks at the Beirut Airport and a housing complex for French paratroopers in West Beirut. The blasts kill 241 Marines and 58 French paratroopers.
At approximate 6:22 AM, a large truck laden with explosives equivalent to 12,000 pounds of TNT crashed through barbed wire and concertina fencing of the U.S. compound at Beirut International Airport and detonated at the front entrance to the Marine Battalion Landing Team Headquarters. The truck penetrated the obstacles, passed between guard positions six and seven without being engaged, entered an open gate, passed around one sewer pipe obstacle and between two others, flattened the sergeant-of-the guard booth, and entered the interior of the lobby by passing through the main entrance, and then exploded. The force of the explosion destroyed the building.
FBI forensic laboratory investigators later described the blast as the largest conventional blast ever seen by their community. Just in April, another attack had destroyed the U.S. embassy.
The bombings successfully caused the removal of the multinational force, in particular the U.S. contingent, from Lebanon. The government of Iran and Syria were ultimately implicated in the attack. That’s almost 40 years ago. Some things never change.
