On 23 October 2023 marked the 40th Anniversary of the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut Lebanon. The Marines of the 1st Battalion 8th Marines of the 2nd Marine Division were deployed Beirut Lebanon as part of a multi nation peacekeeping force.
Early on a Sunday morning, 23 October 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon.
The first suicide bomber detonated a truck bomb at the building serving as a barracks for the 1st Battalion 8th Marines (Battalion Landing Team – BLT 1/8) of the 2nd Marine Division, killing 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers, making this incident the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II and the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Armed Forces since the first day of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War.
LCpl Craig Wyche was a graduate of Ossining High School class of 1982, and part of the peace keeping force, and was one of three Marines from Westchester County who was killed in this terrorist attack. Each year in remembrance of this horrific event, members of the Marine Corps League Westchester County Detachment #254 gather with members of the Ossining American Legion Post #52, members of the Ossining Police Department, Ossining High School Alumni, students and staff and the family of Craig Wyche gathered on the front lawn of the Ossining High School, where the Detachment planted a tree in his honor. The ceremony was officiated by Detachment Adjutant Paymaster Steve Topilnycky with the benediction by Detachment acting Chaplain Kelly Topilnycky. Detachment member Donald O’Keefe placed the memorial wreath and rendered honors. Ossining High School student Jonathan Kang played taps. The ceremony ended with all those present, meeting and speaking with the family of LCpl Wyche.
“I know there are no words that can express our sorrow and grief for the loss of those splendid young men. -Likewise, there are no words to properly express our outrage and I think the outrage of all Americans”
–President Ronald Regan
The Westchester County Detachment sponsors scholarships at two schools in our local area. Each scholarship is a cash award to a student who is pursuing further education in the Engineering or Trades fields. For more information, or to donate, please visit:
https://www.mclwestchester.org/programs/marine-memorial-scholarship-program/
“Lest We Forget“
References: Wikipedia, Marines.mil
