Eggs sends us the solemn reminder of the vicious attack on foreign personnel quartered there, killing 19 U.S. airmen and wounding nearly 500 others.
Nomads remembered at Khobar Towers memorial ceremony
By Airman Christian Corely
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Members of the 33rd Fighter Wing held the 26th Annual Khobar Towers Memorial Ceremony, June 23, to honor 12 Nomads and seven Airmen who lost their lives in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
On June 25, 1996, a sewage truck was used as a bomb and detonated near the housing complex where military, coalition partners and civilians lived.
“We are gathered here today, just as we have for the last 26 years, as Nomads past and present and as survivors and family members, to pay our respects, to honor the sacrifice, to thank God for the survivors, and to remember our 12 Nomads who gave their lives that day in service of a grateful nation,” said Col. Jack Arthaud, 33rd FW commander. “It is a privilege to be here with you today.”
Khobar Towers housed approximately 3,000 Air Force personnel and several hundred U.S. Army troops. The attack left 498 U.S. and international military members and civilians injured.
“This was the bloodiest attack on America, between the Beirut Marine barracks bombing in 1983, and September 11, 2001,” said Arthaud. “The immediate heroism and steadfast response of our Airmen and coalition partners following the Khobar Towers attack demonstrated the virtuous character of our Nomads and the justice of our purpose.”
Hezbollah, acting as as a proxy for Iran carried out this attack. Never forget.
Thanks, Eggs.
Warning: file_put_contents(): Only 12288 of 14657 bytes written, possibly out of free disk space in /home/azuse/htdocs/www.azuse.cloud/wp-content/plugins/wpdiscuz/utils/class.WpdiscuzCache.php on line 149
There but for the Grace of God….
I was enroute to Saudi when the attack took place. IIRC, I was at LaGuardia and contacted Mrs Toxic. She was all in a panic wondering if I was hurt.
A day earlier and i would have been there in the ReplDepl waiting reassignment…………
I was in the Philadephia airport when I was paged over the PA. I was troop commander for an approx 80 person rotation from my unit. In response to the page. I called our Command Post at home drome and they passed the word. Once I cleared security I found a bar with a TV and got the story. When we landed in Dharahan enroute to Riyadh. We got held on the plane while they did the transfer of remains ceremony for the casualties.
Over there for one-year anniversary. Could see half the building off and bloody hand prints still on walls with binos from our operating location.
Another step on the road to 9/11. Needless deaths without swift retribution.
I was working up at KKMC at the time and wondering what was coming next.
Shipped in and out their DS/DS, the slab Constuction with fist size gaps in the walls said DEATHTRAP.
RIP
Prayers for the friends, families and victims.
Never Forgive.
A very close friend lost his brother there, it is still a sore subject with him
Another Glorious Day for the Religion of Pieces. That Former Jewish Carpenter was all about that Forgiveness Thing. I’m not.
Rest Easy Warriors.
Apparently the USAF leadership at the Pentagon couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge the day. Must be way too busy with this month’s pandering.