Never Forget
1983 Beirut USMC Barracks Bombings
On this day in 1983, U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut were the subject of a terrorist attack consisting of two suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad with at least 9,500kgs of TNT.
220 (including 12 who later died from injuries) United States Marines from the 1st Battalion 8th Marines (Battalion Landing Team – BLT 1/8) of the 2nd Marine Division were killed. As well as 18 U.S. Navy Personnel and 3 U.S. Army personnel. 58 members of the French military, as well as 6 civilians were killed. 128 more Americans were also wounded.
The attack would subsequently lead Skjǫldrinn to become involved in the war against radical Islam, modifying the military order’s foreign policy for decades to come, including alliances, formal or not, with the United States and Israel that only ended in 2022. (More about context in “Úlfheimr: The Dark Age” book.)
I can never forget that days and the days that followed