As well as the ceremony at the Beirut Memorial, my husband’s squadron hosted a reunion dinner. And as you can imagine, being surrounded by old Marines telling stories is just about my husband’s favorite place to be.
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From left to right… Corporal, Gunny, Captain.
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The next day it was a picnic at the marina on base.
More old comrades, more stories.
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And while they were on the air station? A chance to refamiliarize themselves with the big toys.
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The V-22 Osprey, an 80 million dollars per nightmare of an aircraft. My husband worked on this program when the Marine Corps first adopted them to replace his beloved CH-46 helicopter. 30 years of R&D and they were still falling out of the sky. We had one crash down the road from our house when we lived in North Carolina and Marines were refusing orders to fly in them. Meant to assist troop deployment in the Middle East, it was discovered the intake clogged with sand which rendered it virtually useless. I’ve read they’ve finally worked out the kinks. Time will tell.
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A CH-53 Sea Stallion. The first heavy lift transport helicopter to be refueled in the air. I’ve been in one of these, they’re beasts.
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The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, otherwise known as the Huey…. the workhorse of the Marine Corps and beloved by Vietnam Veterans like my husband.
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The twin engine AH-1W Super Cobra with its blades folded down. This is a lean, mean, made for attack machine.
(Believe it or not yours truly can identify which of these choppers is flying over her head by sound alone. That’s what you get from living in a military town for 16 years.)
My husband was flying down to Jacksonville North Carolina for a long weekend to attend his old squadron’s 40 year remembrance reunion of the Beirut bombing.
I went to the 30th ten years ago and as you might imagine, spent most of my time standing around waiting for my husband to stop talking. And though he really wanted me to go with him again, I passed.
Though I did miss visiting with our daughter of the heart, her husband and an old Marine Corps buddy…
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I knew my husband would be better off alone on this quick trip… free to catch up and have endless conversations with fellow Marines without me tapping my toe in the background.
He argued, but in the end I was right and he had a great time.
Here are a few highlights.
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The major event was the ceremony at the Beirut Memorial.
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241 servicemen lost their lives that horrible day in 1983 and the Corps does not forget their sacrifice.
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This statue is a new addition to the park and honors the Navy Corpsmen who treat and protect our Marines in combat.
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The current Commandant of the Marine Corps gave a very moving speech. The husband videoed the whole thing but I’ll just drop a photo.
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The old gentleman in the middle is General Grey. He was the Commandant in 1983 and attends this ceremony of remembrance every single year. He’s 95 years of age now and is positively beloved by the Corps.
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This is my husband with Colonel Gerahty. They served together on the USS Iwo Jima and were standing on the deck of the ship side by side when the building was bombed. I can tell by my husband’s face this was an emotional reunion.
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Being a multi national peace keeping force in 1983, the Italian Navy sent representatives.
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Some with very spiffy hats.
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My husband with the French representatives.
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