Awakened At Impact

Evans, Thomas A.

Sun, 04 Dec 1983 12:00:00 EST

Evans, Thomas A.

USMC Cpl.
Conrad, MT

Water can't quench love, neither can floods drown it

Sun, 27 Nov 1983 12:00:00 EST

As they drove past the Onslow Garden apartment complex heading back to Florida Carol sat in the passenger seat of the car with her father Ed in the drivers seat. She gazed out the window towards the apartment building where her and Bill had spent nine months living together.

She pulled out a pen and the note pad Bill had used to write letters to her and his family before they got married. The Marine Corps emblem was in the top left header and on the right were the words "United States Marine Corps". In the bottom left was the silhouette of Marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima. She wrote the date, November 27, 1983, and began to pour out memories of her time there.

"We're on our way home, back to Fla.

I feel like my home was in North Carolina. It hurts to know and realize I'll not be making my home there.

I love the Marines...

Their bald heads, their tuff ways, courage, their camies, but also their dress blues. They make you feel like the best cook in the whole world, even if you burn everything. It's the only time where four guys and a girl can get together and go out for pizza and have a really good time.

I miss Todd, Tim, and Jeff. They're so funny. Todd almost lived with us. We shared and told jokes, we prayed and cried. He went through a lot with me and Bill. He saw the good and bad, early mornings, late nights, and the dumb way wives can be. He and Bill worked so hard hard on Bill's ghillie suit. When they finished it, they dressed up and colored their faces. Then they went to Kathy's (she was 5 months pregnant and alone, because her husband Mike was gone). They knocked on the door and got back. She answered and both of them jumped out and scared her. I thought she was going to have her baby right there. Boy, it was so funny!

Tim and Todd surprised us once. We were eating dinner and they knocked on the door asking Bill to come out. He came back in a few minutes later looking real humble and teary eyed. They had bought 5 or 6 bags of groceries for us. We had been going through a tight time on money our first few months. I cried so much, I couldn't go outside.

Tim had bought a box of oatmeal cookies for me to make him when he came over. I thought that was cute. They used to go out visiting friends and Sunday school members on Saturdays from our church. I loved that, knowing there were a million things a guy could be doing and they chose that.

Jeff was something else. He was a milkshake man. He'd come over and bring milk, ice-cream, bananas, and sometimes peanut butter. Not always all of them, but at least one. He'd hand them to me and smile. I'd make him a blender full and he'd usually drink it all.

We took a long walk to K-mart department store one night. Jeff and Bill got into the the toy section and turned into little boys. They had guns and all kinds of things. It was funny and embarrassing.

Then Jeff found an outfit and had to have my approval. After we fitted him, he looked at me and smiled again. Bill said "oh no Carol, he wants something". He wanted me to measure his pants and hem them. I did.

They used to fuss about not wanting to go to the barracks to eat in the chow hall. That's why I loved to have them over. We were watching TV one night with Jeff and when we were ready to go to sleep we said something to him. Then about 10 minutes later we looked over and he was asleep."

Carol looked up and out the window again. They had left Jacksonville, and she knew it was time to let go and look ahead. She had gone through an emotional rollercoaster over the past 18 months that would fill a lifetime of memories with the upmost highs and debilitating lows. As she sat in the car driving away from a life she knew was gone, she continued to pray and ask for God to guide her through the months ahead.

Confirmation Call

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 08:00:00 EST

Carol was sound asleep in a back bedroom of her parents' home, as they waited several hours to digest the news reports. They called Carol’s twin sister, Kim and asked her to come to the house to break the news to Carol. The sun was already up by 8am when Kim finally woke Carol to tell her what had happened.

The reaction when Carol heard the news was sudden. In disbelief she jumped out of bed, ran to the phone to call the number Bill had given her to his floor in the BLT building. The line was busy…

Close enough to feel the impact

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 07:30:00 EST

Across the world in the U.S. were the Marines of the 22nd MAU (Marine Amphibious Unit) who had been replaced in Beirut by the 24th MAU. If anyone in America knew what the Marines in Beirut were facing it was this band of brothers.

Corporal Andy Mull from the 2/6 Battalion STA platoon, which had been a part of the 22nd MAU, just happened to be at the Scout/Sniper Instructor Course in Quantico, Virginia in October of 1983. After full day of training on Saturday at the course, he was staying at a friends house in Silver Springs, Maryland this Sunday morning. As he came up the stairs from the basement hideaway for breakfast, he was met by at the top of the stairwell with the news of the bombing at the BLT Headquarters building.

Hearing this news took him back to when he was in Beirut earlier that year. He was at the BLT Headquarters building on April 18th when the U.S. Embassy was bombed. Andy had been assigned to guard the Embassy immediately after this attack. He had lived, worked, and slept in the BLT Headquarters building. His body may have been in the Washington, DC metro area, but his mind was now in Beirut. He could visualize the scene, as well as smell and taste the air there.

Without yet knowing the full details of the attack, he and all the Marines of the 22nd MAU understood significance of this news as soon as they heard it. Andy's thoughts went to Bill and Sgt. Bob Conley from the 24th MAU, who were part of the 1/8 BLT advance party. He had worked with both Bob and Bill for over a week prior to the command change between the 22nd and 24th MAU's.

Rude awakening

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 05:57:00 EST

It was now just under 7 hours since the initial explosion when the phone rang at the Gaines' family home in Port Charlotte, Florida. Sunday mornings were typically quiet and slow moving, so the phone ringing this early was enough to arouse a change in the normal routine.

When Michael heard the phone ring it brought him out a deep sleep. He rolled over to see the time on the pale red numbers of the digital alarm clock, it was 5:57 am EST. He closed his eyes and casually wondered who was calling so early. About five minutes later his mother opened the bedroom door and walk over to where he was laying with his eyes half open. She told him Carol’s mom had called to tell them there had been an explosion at the building Bill was in.

At fourteen, there is no way to grasp the complexity or gravity of emotions that come with hearing news that your older brother may be gone. As Michael watched his mom walk out of the room leaving the door open, a flood of thoughts swept through the fog of trying to wake up and absorb the words he had just heard. Sitting up in the bed and looking down at the floor from the top bunk, he felt the numbness begin to form in the front of his mind. Even though he had no way to discern what awaited him when he jumped down to walk through the open door, he was certain what came next would alter his life regardless of the outcome.

First notice home

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 04:30:00 EST

It was approximately 4:30am EST, just over 6 hours after the bombing, when Ed Taylor, Carol Gaines' father received a call from his brother to tell him about the blast at the Marine headquarters building in Beirut. Ed woke Carol’s mom Tena and they turned on CNN to see the news reports for themselves. After confirming the news, Tena called Bill’s parents, Bill Sr. and Kaye to tell them about the blast.

A Midnight Cry

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 01:00:00 EST

Stephen Baynard had no awareness past the crib he was lying in. It was midnight eastern standard time in Richmond, VA when he awoke. As an infant not yet two months old, it was normal for him to wake up and cry at almost any hour of the night.

As his mother picked him up she noticed a difference in his cry. This was not an angry cry for food or caused by discomfort. It was a soft cry she could not discern. As she held Stephen she thought about her husband, LCpl. Ricky Baynard and how in just over a month he'd be home to hold Stephen for the first time. She held him until he fell back to sleep on her shoulder, and she wondered what had caused him to wake.

Spyglass1 to Habitat

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:24:00 EST

The Faculty of Science Building, known as "the University" was positioned like a perch overlooking the Beirut International Airport, which sat at the edge of the Mediterranean ocean. The University position was located just a mile east of the airport in the hills of Beirut that steadily rose higher into the Shouf mountains. This was the highest strategic checkpoint for the Marines, whose positions had all been designated by the Multinational Force to help stabilize the Lebanese Government. The Marines and other forces were not in Beirut to occupy or control the city and thus did not hold the best strategic military areas. All of the Multinational Forces positions were selected to show their presence.

Cpl. Jeff Mosher was on guard at the University position looking out towards the sea as the sun slowly crept up behind him. He could see the airport below, and through the stillness of the morning he pondered the series of events that occurred at the University checkpoint since Alpha Company rotated into this position. When he heard the initial blast, Cpl. Mosher quickly looked down to see the rising formation of the mushroom cloud that engulfed the Marine headquarters area at the airport. As the reality of what he had just witnessed set in, a fire of anger built up in Cpl. Mosher's eyes, while fear and sadness began to brew in his heart for the Marines impacted by the blast.

All three levels of the Library shook from the bomb blast at the BLT HQ. As dust fell from the ceiling, everyone in the building thought they had taken a direct hit from a rocket attack. The Marines inside quickly awoke and cautiously made their way to the open windows on the west side of the Library to see what damage this attack had caused.

Cpl. David Baldree had lived at BLT HQ building when the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) first arrived in Beirut. As a sniper with STA platoon, Cpl. Baldree had been assigned to the University position to provide support for enemy sniper fire due to escalation of attacks on Marine positions since late August. Alpha Company had rotated into this position only a few weeks earlier, and they had already experienced the heaviest fighting and casualties since the Marines landed in Beirut over a year earlier.

Cpl. Baldree immediately went to his tactical radio to get a damage assessment. He kept calling the battalion S2 shop on the intel net to find out what had happened, "Spyglass1 to Habitat, status report?", no one responded.

With complete radio silence from the BLT HQ and no reports on what had happened at the airport, all the Marines at the University could do is wait, and prepare for another attack on their position.

The final stand

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:23:00 EST

At the moment of impact, Lt. Colonel Larry Gerlach was standing on the first floor of the BLT headquarters building. He was looking out the window towards the corner of his room that was closest to the airport highway. Earlier that morning around 5:00 a.m. the yellow Mercedes truck that just crashed into the lobby had passed by this window before entering the south parking lot directly in front of the building. Lt. Colonel Gerlach had been outside only fifteen minutes prior to the bomb blast to check on the status of the perimeter, where all appeared to be quiet.

When Lt. Colonel Gerlach heard the commotion coming from the lobby he turned toward the door. By the time he took his first step, the bomb that had been meticulously designed to destroy the building detonated inside the lobby. The tremendous concussion forced the compacted air inside the building to escape through the easiest paths it could find. In the blink of an eye a huge percussion of air shot him out the window like a gush of wind tossing a feather through the air.

As Lt. Colonel Gerlach's shocked and unconscious body crashed to the ground outside the BLT Headquarters, the rest of the building which had been blown off its foundation began crumbling to the ground beside him. The debris from the blast rapidly rained down and covered him with dust from shattered concrete.

WRGj

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:20:00 EST

It was hidden in a slight breeze coming through an open window in late October. No matter how many times he opened and closed his eyes, Corporal Bill Gaines could not escape where he was. Having just turned 21 five days earlier, he could still hear the sound of Carol's voice coming across the transatlantic phone line telling him to 'just stay inside'.

Since arriving in Beirut on May 24th with the 1/8 BLT advance party, he had counted 152 days on station and only 23 until he would be on his way home. This Sunday morning did not seem all that different from the others. As the light leaked through the broken windows outside his 2nd floor room, Bill could hear the city rustling to life.

Throughout the night bullets were being fired and rocket attacks made on the Marine positions at the airport. Due to multiple alarms elevating the threat level from these attacks, Bill was lying on the concrete floor next to Sergeant Ybarra and Cpl Townsend. As he looked up at his military cot, he thought about getting up to head downstairs for a morning run. The cot was covered in green netting to keep out the bugs that freely flew through the windows. Looking at it now he remembered the bunk bed he'd shared with his little brother for more than six years. It reminded him why he always preferred the top bunk. It was warmer off the ground, and it made it easier for him to jump out of bed.

Just about the time Bill mustered the energy to get up, the silence of his thoughts was suddenly broken. He heard the faint sound of a large diesel engine and several shots fired. Then he heard a yell from the Sergeant of the Guard echo inside the building's hollow center, "hit the deck!, hit the deck!" just as there was a large crash in the lobby below. He was suddenly awake, but as the seconds ticked, it seemed like minutes inside his head. This was one of those moments when your mind processes actions faster than your body can respond. Time appeared to be in slow motion as his thoughts shifted from home, to the reality of being in Beirut, Lebanon. A place where his life, and those around him were threatened every day.

The next moment was a literal version of an event that turns life upside down. An explosion inside the lobby lifted all four floors of the building into the air. It would later be described as the largest TNT bomb ever detonated.

As Bill and the other Marines, Sailors and Soldiers in the building floated in the air immediately after the bomb exploded, an awakening was beginning around the compound. By the time the fractures of what was left of the Marine BLT Headquarters landed in the crater the bomb created, the awakening was reverberating around Beirut, and within hours around the world.

It is 6:22am (EET) Sunday morning, October 23, 1983. Just as Pearl Harbor represented America formally entering World War II, the Beirut Bombing that would ultimately kill 241 Marines, Sailors and Soldiers stands out in military history as the beginning of the war on terror.

Hanton, Gilbert

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

USMC Sgt
Washington, DC

Boccia, Joseph J. Jr.

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

Boccia, Joseph J. Jr.

USMC Capt
Northport, NY

Wolfe, John E.

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

Wolfe, John E.

USMC Cpl
Phoenix, AZ

Belmer, Alvin.

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

Belmer, Alvin.

USMC GySgt
Jacksonville, NC

Estler, Sean F.

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

Estler, Sean F.

USMC Pfc
Kenall Park, NJ

Dibenedetto, Thomas A.

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

Dibenedetto, Thomas A.

USMC LCpl
Mansfield Center, CT

Greaser, Robert B

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

USMC Sgt
Lansdale, PA

Green, Davin M

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

USMC LCpl Baltimore, MD http://beirut-memorial.org/memory/green/green.html

Garcia, Randall J

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

USMC LCpl 
Modesto, CA

Decker, Sidney James

Sun, 23 Oct 1983 12:00:00 EST

Decker, Sidney James

USMC Pfc
Clarkson, KY