[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 158 (Thursday, September 28, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THOSE FALLEN SERVICE MEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES ON THE 40TH 
ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOMBING OF THE MARINE BARRACKS IN BEIRUT, LEBANON ON 
                            OCTOBER 23, 1983

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GREGORY F. MURPHY

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2023

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor those service members 
who died on October 23, 1983 when the Marine barracks was blown up in 
Beirut, Lebanon by two terrorists from Hezbollah.
  There were 220 Marines, 18 Sailors, and 3 Soldiers who died on that 
ill-fated day.
  A few minutes later in a coordinated attack, another suicide bomber 
blew up the French barracks just a few blocks away killing 58 French 
paratroopers.
  In the summer of 1983, the Reagan Administration approved the 
deployment of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) from the world-
renowned Camp Lejeune, which is in my congressional district.
  This deployment was at the request of the Lebanese government, and 
the battalion landing team (BLT) was First Battalion Eighth Marines, 
now known as ``The Beirut Battalion''.
  Their mission was a peacekeeping one. The Beirut Memorial in Lejeune 
Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, North Carolina has this sentence 
forever etched in stone,
  ``They came in peace''.
  They were there to help bring peace to the war-torn city of Beirut, 
Lebanon.
  These American service members and the French paratroopers paid the 
ultimate sacrifice for their beloved nations.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to the families 
of these noble men. Many who still live in my congressional district 
today.
  God bless them for keeping the faith and enduring the loss of their 
loved ones. May they never be forgotten.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to include in the Record the poem on the Beirut 
Memorial in Jacksonville, North Carolina as it is fitting to do so on 
this solemn occasion.


                   ``The other wall'' by r.a. gannon

     It does not stand in Washington
     By others of its kind
     In prominence and dignity
     With mission clear defined.
     It does not list the men who died
     That tyranny should cease
     But speaks in silent eloquence
     Of those who came in peace.
     This Other Wall is solemn white
     And cut in simple lines
     And it nestles in the splendor
     Of the Carolina pines
     And on this wall there are the names
     Of men who once had gone
     In friendship's name to offer aid
     To Beirut, Lebanon
     They did not go as conquerors
     To bring a nation down
     Or for honor or for glory
     Or for praises or renown.
     When they landed on that foreign shore
     Their only thought in mind
     Was the safety of its people
     And the good of all mankind
     Though they offered only friendship
     And freedom's holy breath
     They were met with scorn and mockery
     And violence and death
     So the story of their glory
     Is not of battles fought
     But of their love of freedom
     Which was so dearly bought
     And their wall shall stand forever
     So long as freedom shines
     On the splendor and the glory
     Of the Carolina pines.

  God bless them and their outstanding families. Semper Fidelis.

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