{"id":149017,"date":"2023-10-26T07:51:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T11:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=149017"},"modified":"2023-10-26T03:27:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T07:27:01","slug":"149017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=149017","title":{"rendered":"40th Remembrance of the Beirut Bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have delayed posting anything about the 40th<\/sup> Remembrance of the 241 U.S. service members who were killed in a terrorist attack in Beirut, Lebanon on 23 October 1983.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Beirut Memorial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have struggled to write something several times.\u00a0 Too many recent events were imposing upon that remembrance to count them all. \u00a0\u00a0I will try to touch upon many of them, but in no particular order.<\/p>\n

It was, in part, a Political Grandstanding Event.\u00a0 With the Presidential election looming and campaigns in full swing there were many \u201cadditional\u201d people who found it opportunistic to attend. \u00a0There were so many \u201cVery Important Persons\u201d attending that there was no parking or access to many of the events.\u00a0 All of those “Special” people who had hoards of special security seemed to have no understanding that the only real \u201cVery Important People\u201d in attendance were the actual Beirut Veterans themselves.<\/p>\n

I will probably enjoy my trip to the Beirut Memorial at some later date when I can actually have a moment to honor my dead brothers without great fan fair or grand standing of any sort.\u00a0 I will enjoy that moment without having to dodge soapbox preachers of one ilk or another.\u00a0 There won\u2019t be any Lawyers passing out business cards wanting to get them<\/span> me some of that State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.\u00a0 No family members of the fallen who were never actually in Beirut trying to explain to me how things should be run.\u00a0 No film crews will be there wanting an interview.\u00a0 No t-shirts will be for sale, no Beirut coins will be hocked, no patches, no pins, no vests.\u00a0 No Security guards restricting my access to the Memorial.\u00a0 In fact, at those times there is nothing there but me and a granite wall.<\/p>\n

Al Gray<\/a> was there and has always supported Beirut Veterans.\u00a0 I have long since had the opportunity to witness his support and thank him for all of his support over the years.\u00a0 Al is a warrior, a Marine who earned and kept our respect.\u00a0 Col. Tim Geraghty<\/a> has carried and accepted full responsibility for the loss of so many on 23 October 1983.\u00a0 I don’t know a single person who was actually deployed to Beirut who thinks that should be the case.\u00a0 The Bombing ended his career as a Marine but he was quickly given a new career with the CIA.<\/p>\n

There are new film projects in the works.\u00a0 I refuse to participate in most of those efforts.\u00a0 The following one I participated in only because I was asked to do so by our Beirut Historian and loyal friend.\u00a0 They worked closely with our Historian and spent lots of time interviewing actual Marines instead of the usual high profile types.\u00a0 The project is not finished yet but I have hope it will come out well.\u00a0 I predict that the couple hours of video they did at my home will find its way to the cutting room floor,\u00a0 unless they keep a clip or two with the Former Soviet in the background.<\/p>\n

[arve url=”https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/874548039″ title=”We Came in Peace” \/]<\/p>\n

I have rather strong opinions about Israel, Hezbollah<\/span>, Iran, Russia and current events.\u00a0 Two drafts of this post were promulgated with\u00a0 so much animus I doubt even the readers of TAH could have tolerated my rants.\u00a0 I really miss the days when I could load up the comment section with my ramblings and let Jonn deal with things.<\/p>\n

Only one person was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal from Beirut, he died in captivity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On February 17, 1988, Higgins disappeared while serving as the Chief, Observer Group Lebanon and Senior Military Observer, United Nations Military Observer Group, United Nations Truce Supervision Organization<\/a>. Higgins was driving alone on the coastal highway between Tyre and Naqoura<\/span> in southern Lebanon, returning from a meeting with a local leader of the Amal movement, when he was pulled from his vehicle by armed men.[2]<\/a><\/sup>[3]<\/a><\/sup> He had been abducted by the Lebanese group Hezbollah<\/a>.[4]<\/a><\/sup> During his captivity, he was interrogated and tortured.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

As a reaction to his abduction, the United Nations Security Council<\/a> adopted Resolution 618<\/a>, demanding his release. A year and a half after his abduction, images of his body, hung by the neck, were televised around the world from a videotape released by his captors. The exact date of Colonel Higgins’ murder is uncertain; he was declared dead on July 6, 1990. Finally, on 23 December 1991, his remains were recovered by the late Major Jens Nielsen (Royal Danish Army) attached to the United Nations Observation Group Beirut.[5]<\/a><\/sup> His remains had been “…dumped beside a mosque near a south Beirut hospital.” [6]<\/a><\/sup> He was interred at Quantico National Cemetery<\/a> on December 30, 1991.<\/p>\n

Col. Higgins\u2019 military decorations include: the Defense Distinguished Service Medal<\/a>, Defense Superior Service Medal<\/a>, Legion of Merit<\/a>, Bronze Star<\/a> with combat “V”<\/a>, Purple Heart<\/a>, Meritorious Service Medal<\/a>, Navy Commendation Medal<\/a> with gold star and combat “V”, Combat Action Ribbon<\/a>, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry<\/a> with silver star, Staff Service Honor Medal, United Nations Medal<\/a>, and numerous unit commendations and campaign ribbons.<\/p>\n

On March 18, 1992, President George Bush awarded Col. Higgins the Presidential Citizens Medal<\/a> (posthumous). The medal was accepted by his wife, Robin, and daughter, Chrissy. Col. Higgins was also survived by two sisters.<\/p>\n

On February 17, 1994, the Secretary of the Navy<\/a> announced a new Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer would be named for Col. Higgins. On October 4, 1997, the USS\u00a0Higgins<\/i>\u00a0(DDG-76)<\/a> was christened by Col. Higgins’ widow, Robin Higgins<\/span>. It was commissioned on April 24, 1999.[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In April 2003, he was posthumously granted a Prisoner of War Medal<\/a>.[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Col. Higgins was mutilated while still alive for a prolonged period of time.\u00a0 The evidence of prolonged and repeated torture so gruesome that it would make any of us wretch was done over many months.<\/p>\n

There are people who do not consider Col. Higgins a Beirut Veteran, his name is not on the Memorial. \u00a0 I spent more time than I care to remember in the AO of Southern Lebanon.\u00a0 23 October 1983 was a horrific day, it is however one day.\u00a0 There are so many others that were there long before that day and I can offer my attestation\u00a0 to the fact that many of us remained there long after that day.<\/p>\n

I watch smarmy and unctuous<\/span> pundits pontificate about things they know nothing of.\u00a0 The moment the PLO accepted help from the United States and were evacuated from Beirut they humiliated Arab radicals.\u00a0 That was the moment in time that Hezbollah was born.\u00a0 The Gaza Palestinians are just the remains of an eviscerated PLO and Hamas the radical thugs that took control through force.<\/p>\n

I only see supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah screaming from the cheap seats.\u00a0 Let them go to Gaza and gaze into the black empty eyes of a soulless being consumed with hate for a moment.\u00a0 After they have seen what I have… they will sing a different song.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have delayed posting anything about the 40th Remembrance of the 241 U.S. service members who … 40th Remembrance of the Beirut Bombing<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":654,"featured_media":149021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[481],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beirut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/654"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149022,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149017\/revisions\/149022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/149021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}