Two Walls & A Beam

I love it when we can take our kids places where they can actually see and touch things to get a real idea and feel of what I am telling them about. We were able to take the kids to three places today right here in Jacksonville, North Carolina! It was perfect, especially for this time of year. September 11th has just passed and the bombing in Beirut happened 26 years ago this coming October. First stop was the Vietnam Memorial. It was beautiful! Right there in the middle of the trees. All the names were engraved on the walls going around the fountain. The kids were able to get a good idea at how many people we lost in that war. Their Grandpa Kenny, my Dad, fought and received his purple heart in that war, so it hits closer to home with them. Next stop was the steel beam from the World Trade Center. It was brought here and put in a memorial for the Firefighters and the Military. The kids could actually touch it and feel how strong and big it was to get an understanding of the type of building it was. Our last stop was the Beirut Memorial. It is interesting that this is right next to the 9/11 Memorial; as the one who orchestrated the Beirut bombing is believed to have inspired bin Laden. Terrorist attacks started long before 9/11. I remember when this happened. My Dad lost several friends in this attack. I will always remember his face when he told me what had happened. Here is just a little bit of history on Beirut….
The Beirut mission began as an effort to stabilize a fragile peace in this war-torn country. Lebanon had been a mess since the Palestine Liberation Organization, having been literally kicked out of Jordan, they took refuge there in the 1970s. In 1975, a group of Christian and Muslim militias, some backed by neighboring powers like Iran, Syria and Israel, turned what once was a Middle East oasis into a no-man's land of basic urban warfare.

Than, Israel invaded in 1982, hoping to just wipe out the PLO. In exchange for Israel to withdrawal, the U.N. sent in a peacekeeping force of troops from Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States.

U.S. forces set up camp right there at Beirut International Airport. This was not an easy spot to defend because like the airport was still open for business and then there were still warring factions that happened to control the strategic hillsides nearby.

The situation fell apart quickly. Militia leaders of course began to think the United States and its allies were favoring the Christian-led forces of the Lebanese government. A car-bomb attack at the U.S. Embassy in April 1983 that killed 63 people solidified that.
On Oct 23 1983 a suicide bomber steered a truck loaded with the equivalent of six tons of TNT down the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon. He plowed into the four-story barracks where more than 300 U.S. troops from a U.N. peacekeeping mission slept and detonated what the FBI called the largest non-nuclear bomb in history
A splinter group of the Iranian-and Syrian-supported Hezbollah organization carried out the attack, which allegedly was planned by a man who later inspired Osama bin Laden. Then a tiny guerrilla outfit, Hezbollah has grown into a political and military force in Lebanon.
The Marines' departure brought Beirut no peace. The civil war raged for seven more years until a settlement left Syria firmly in control of the country.

Experts believe Imad Mugniyah played a key role in the twin bombings in Beirut and went on to mastermind the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 and a series of kidnappings of Americans in Lebanon. He is believed to have met with bin Laden in Sudan in 1996 and was assassinated in a car bombing in Damascus, Syria, in February. No one has claimed responsibility.
It was the largest single-day loss of life for Marines since the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.
Almost 26 years later and two wars with Iraq have dulled the public's memory of the Beirut attack. But, I won't ever forget my Dad's face that day.....pictures are on my facebook