It was 40 years ago today that two bombs rocked the Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. (220 U.S. Marines, 18 U.S. Navy Sailors, and three U.S. Army Soldiers) 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilians, and 2 suicide attackers. A group called Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombings and said that the aim was to force the MNF out of Lebanon.

It was 6:22 am on October 23, 1983, when a yellow Mercedes truck driven by Iranian-backed Hezbollah suicide bombers and carrying 12,000 pounds of TNT explosives crashed through the airport barriers and raced towards a four-story concrete building that served as headquarters and barracks for the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines (Battalion Landing Team – BLT 1/8) of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit. The truck crashed into the front of the building and exploded, creating a giant crater and a mountain of rubble, killing 241 U.S. Citizens and 58 French peacekeepers, along with 6 civilians and the two attackers.

Minutes later a second vehicle also driven by Iranian-backed Hezbollah suicide bombers, crashed into a second location a few kilometers away, at the French Multinational Force Headquarters building. The destruction of the nine-story building killed 55 paratroopers from the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment and three from the 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment.

To this day, the Beirut barracks bombing remains the deadliest single-day attack for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. There is a list of all those who died as a result of this attack.