The U.S. Marines were honored on the Senate floor Tuesday, the 24th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said that although terrorists and suicide bombers are still with us today, “thankfully for America, so are the United States Marines.”
“By their courage on the battlefield, and constant risk of danger, today’s Marines honor every one of their forebears who died defending our country,” McConnell said. “We continue to fight terror today with a steady hand, even if it is at times paired with a heavy heart. And we are proud of the brave men and women who fight for their country.”
On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck separate buildings in Beirut housing U.S. and French members of the Multinational Force who were stationed in Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 241 American Marines, sailors and soldiers. Several hours later, an organization called Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
“I rise today in honor of the 241 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers who were killed in a despicable suicide bombing attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. That attack occurred 24 years ago today on October 23, 1983.
President Ronald Reagan had dispatched U.S. forces in 1982 to maintain the peace in Lebanon. On the morning of October 23, one Lebanese terrorist drove a truck packed with explosives through three guard posts and a barbed-wire fence, straight into the lobby of the U.S. Marine Corps’ headquarters.
The bomb exploded with the force of 18,000 pounds of dynamite. It transformed the four-story cinderblock building into rubble.
It was so powerful, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia later described it as ‘the largest non-nuclear explosion that had ever been detonated on the face of the Earth.’
Some of the men and women lost that day were murdered in their sleep. Others, who saw the truck come crashing in, may have seen the face of the enemy as their last sight on Earth.
Either way, 241 Americans wearing their country’s uniform were killed in a brutal attack that shocked America and the world.
Terrorists and their favorite tactic, the suicide attack, are still with us today.
Thankfully for America, so are the United States Marines.
Founded in 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps has been ‘at the tip of the spear’ in every one of this nation’s wars. And they will never be stopped by a terrorist’s suicide attack.
This November, the country will celebrate the Corps’ 232nd birthday, and thank them for defending our freedoms.
By taking the fight to the terrorists, wherever they hide, the Marines have put terrorists on the defensive, making it less likely they will hit us again here at home.
By their courage on the battlefield, and constant risk of danger, today’s Marines honor every one of their forebears who died defending our country.
Mr. President, America still remembers her brave men and women lost in the Marine barracks bombing of 1983. We honor them and their families for their sacrifice.
We continue to fight terror today with a steady hand, even if it is at times paired with a heavy heart. And we are proud of the brave men and women who fight for their country against the would-be terrorists of today and tomorrow.”
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Welcome Home Root Vet!
Vet helps fight personal battles
Marine witness to devastating attack now helping fellow wounded warriors
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Tuesday, October 23, 2007
COLONIE -- Darrel Franklin saw the world change 24 years ago today in Beirut. It ended up changing his own world, too.
The Marine from Arbor Hill was standing guard in Lebanon at 6:22 a.m. Oct. 23, 1983, when a suicide bomber detonated a truckload of explosives at the Marines' barracks, killing 241 U.S. military members.
The lance corporal not only survived the era's first major terrorist attack, but also the personal difficulties that followed.
He got a job as a mail carrier, but battled post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism for years. Now Franklin, 44, has a second career helping a new generation of wounded warriors at Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany.
Working in the center's drug and alcohol rehabilitation program has made Franklin feel better about the memories of the thunderous blast in Beirut and the friends he lost, he says.
"I found out that by taking my experiences, pains and heartaches and sharing them with other people, I can be a tool for them," he said in his Latham home, which he shares with his wife, Angela, and two daughters.
Franklin's personality mixes black and military pride, and he wants to spend the rest of his life helping young African-Americans and combat veterans. But for Franklin, it's been a long road to rebirth.
He grew up on Colonie Street in Albany with his mother and sister, and always wanted to be a Marine. He signed up at age 17 and left for boot camp four days after graduating from Albany High School.
"School wasn't my thing," Franklin said.
After being assigned to bases in California and Okinawa, Japan, for a year, Franklin volunteered for a multinational peacekeeping mission in Beirut in 1983. The U.S. had entered Lebanon after Israel invaded the country and a civil war broke out.
Franklin and others made daily patrols around the Beirut region. He endured sniper fire and other attacks from what he believes were Hezbollah fighters. Members of Hezbollah were blamed for the bombing that blew the four-story cinder-block building into rubble and crushed many inside.
Franklin was standing about 400 yards away from the blast, which ultimately caused President Ronald Reagan to withdraw U.S. troops from Lebanon.
"They shook the ground beneath our feet," Franklin said. He remembers feeling anger, emptiness and a desire for revenge when he saw coffins carrying dead Marines being loaded onto a plane.
Franklin returned to the United States in December 1983. He re-enlisted and got married the next year.
But something was brewing within him. Franklin had trouble sleeping, often waking in a heavy sweat. At a military parade, he hit the ground in a panic at the sound of a cannon shot.
After he got back, he took a job with the U.S. Postal Service. He soon started drinking to numb his anxious feelings.
In 1990, at the urging of both his wife and mother, Franklin got help from the Albany Veterans Center on Central Avenue. He went to individual and group counseling for stress and anxiety.
1Franklin was inspired to go to college after he attended the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., in 1995. Over the next decade, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Sage Colleges, the latter in community psychology and counseling. The VA hired Franklin two months ago.
"I can always trust that he's working with the best interest of the veteran at heart," said Kirsten Danfourth, acting program manager. "His compassion and the work he does definitely stems from his own experience as a veteran."
Franklin says he wants to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts who are suffering from similar problems. He says he still lives a "guarded" life.
"I want to let the guys and girls know that you can live with it and be productive," Franklin said. "You face a lot of stuff. It isn't easy. But you can become aware of trigger signs and make changes."
Yusko can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.
Marine witness to devastating attack now helping fellow wounded warriors
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Tuesday, October 23, 2007
COLONIE -- Darrel Franklin saw the world change 24 years ago today in Beirut. It ended up changing his own world, too.
The Marine from Arbor Hill was standing guard in Lebanon at 6:22 a.m. Oct. 23, 1983, when a suicide bomber detonated a truckload of explosives at the Marines' barracks, killing 241 U.S. military members.
The lance corporal not only survived the era's first major terrorist attack, but also the personal difficulties that followed.
He got a job as a mail carrier, but battled post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism for years. Now Franklin, 44, has a second career helping a new generation of wounded warriors at Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany.
Working in the center's drug and alcohol rehabilitation program has made Franklin feel better about the memories of the thunderous blast in Beirut and the friends he lost, he says.
"I found out that by taking my experiences, pains and heartaches and sharing them with other people, I can be a tool for them," he said in his Latham home, which he shares with his wife, Angela, and two daughters.
Franklin's personality mixes black and military pride, and he wants to spend the rest of his life helping young African-Americans and combat veterans. But for Franklin, it's been a long road to rebirth.
He grew up on Colonie Street in Albany with his mother and sister, and always wanted to be a Marine. He signed up at age 17 and left for boot camp four days after graduating from Albany High School.
"School wasn't my thing," Franklin said.
After being assigned to bases in California and Okinawa, Japan, for a year, Franklin volunteered for a multinational peacekeeping mission in Beirut in 1983. The U.S. had entered Lebanon after Israel invaded the country and a civil war broke out.
Franklin and others made daily patrols around the Beirut region. He endured sniper fire and other attacks from what he believes were Hezbollah fighters. Members of Hezbollah were blamed for the bombing that blew the four-story cinder-block building into rubble and crushed many inside.
Franklin was standing about 400 yards away from the blast, which ultimately caused President Ronald Reagan to withdraw U.S. troops from Lebanon.
"They shook the ground beneath our feet," Franklin said. He remembers feeling anger, emptiness and a desire for revenge when he saw coffins carrying dead Marines being loaded onto a plane.
Franklin returned to the United States in December 1983. He re-enlisted and got married the next year.
But something was brewing within him. Franklin had trouble sleeping, often waking in a heavy sweat. At a military parade, he hit the ground in a panic at the sound of a cannon shot.
After he got back, he took a job with the U.S. Postal Service. He soon started drinking to numb his anxious feelings.
In 1990, at the urging of both his wife and mother, Franklin got help from the Albany Veterans Center on Central Avenue. He went to individual and group counseling for stress and anxiety.
1Franklin was inspired to go to college after he attended the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., in 1995. Over the next decade, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Sage Colleges, the latter in community psychology and counseling. The VA hired Franklin two months ago.
"I can always trust that he's working with the best interest of the veteran at heart," said Kirsten Danfourth, acting program manager. "His compassion and the work he does definitely stems from his own experience as a veteran."
Franklin says he wants to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts who are suffering from similar problems. He says he still lives a "guarded" life.
"I want to let the guys and girls know that you can live with it and be productive," Franklin said. "You face a lot of stuff. It isn't easy. But you can become aware of trigger signs and make changes."
Yusko can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.
9/11 did not start the Terriorism train
23 October 2007
Think back to the many heroes we lost that day. Think of the enemies that ran us out of Lebannon, and remember that these are the same enemy we fight today. Hizballah, Syria, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The list goes on. These are the same enemies trying to defeat us in Iraq today.
Our enemy has been at war with us now for more than 24 years. Only since 9-11 have we recognized this fact and begun to fight back.
Right Wing Nut House » BEIRUT BARRACKS BOMBING ANNIVERSARY
The driver of the yellow Mercedes Benz truck in Beirut that awful day 24 years ago knew precisely where to go. According to intelligence reports, two members of what was then the underground terrorist organization known as Hizbullah had mapped the layout of the Marine barracks so that the suicide bomber could carry out his mission to maximum effect. He knew the Marines pulling sentry duty had pocketed their ammo clips thanks to some ridiculous rules of engagement. And he was aware that there were no barriers protecting the structure so that his truck laden with 12,000 pounds of explosives would only have to crash through ordinary wood and plaster in order to be positioned perfectly so that detonation would have catastrophic effects on the building.
The truck had apparently been prepared with the help of Syrians and Iranians in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon where several Revolutionary Guard units had been stationed under Syrian protection. An NSA intercept revealed at a trial that convicted the Islamic Republic of Iran of being behind the attack, stated that a message sent from Iranian intelligence headquarters in Tehran toAli-Akbar Mohtashemi, the Iranian ambassador in Damascus and directed the Iranian ambassador to get in touch with Islamic Amal which has since been identified as the military arm of Hizbullah at the time, and instruct him to “take spectacular action” against the Marines.
Read the whole horrible story, because remembering what happened is half of preparing for what is next. We can’t go through life pretending that there isn’t a huge fanatical movement in the world praying for our destruction. Sticking your head in the sand is not what these heroes deserve on the anniversary of their murders.
And now we face the same decision that Reagan faced then. Do we run, or do we stand and fight? Do we allow the forces of militant jihadism to force us to leave with our tail between our legs, and wait for the next bombing or hijacking? Or do we keep kicking their asses wherever we find them?
Reagan, and the rest of this nation, made the mistake of thinking this war wouldn’t follow us home if we just got the hell out. Today we know from experience that this simply isn’t the case. They always come back home. Victory is the only option. Harden the fuck up and quit your bitching..
Posted in The Long War | Trackback | del.icio.us | Top Of Page
One Response to “Remembering: The Beirut Barracks Bombing Anniversary”
1. Solo Says:
October 24th, 2007 at 6:23 am
It would be good if people would look back and remember. Too many I’ve talked to think that Islamic terrorism started on 9/11/01.
Think back to the many heroes we lost that day. Think of the enemies that ran us out of Lebannon, and remember that these are the same enemy we fight today. Hizballah, Syria, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The list goes on. These are the same enemies trying to defeat us in Iraq today.
Our enemy has been at war with us now for more than 24 years. Only since 9-11 have we recognized this fact and begun to fight back.
Right Wing Nut House » BEIRUT BARRACKS BOMBING ANNIVERSARY
The driver of the yellow Mercedes Benz truck in Beirut that awful day 24 years ago knew precisely where to go. According to intelligence reports, two members of what was then the underground terrorist organization known as Hizbullah had mapped the layout of the Marine barracks so that the suicide bomber could carry out his mission to maximum effect. He knew the Marines pulling sentry duty had pocketed their ammo clips thanks to some ridiculous rules of engagement. And he was aware that there were no barriers protecting the structure so that his truck laden with 12,000 pounds of explosives would only have to crash through ordinary wood and plaster in order to be positioned perfectly so that detonation would have catastrophic effects on the building.
The truck had apparently been prepared with the help of Syrians and Iranians in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon where several Revolutionary Guard units had been stationed under Syrian protection. An NSA intercept revealed at a trial that convicted the Islamic Republic of Iran of being behind the attack, stated that a message sent from Iranian intelligence headquarters in Tehran toAli-Akbar Mohtashemi, the Iranian ambassador in Damascus and directed the Iranian ambassador to get in touch with Islamic Amal which has since been identified as the military arm of Hizbullah at the time, and instruct him to “take spectacular action” against the Marines.
Read the whole horrible story, because remembering what happened is half of preparing for what is next. We can’t go through life pretending that there isn’t a huge fanatical movement in the world praying for our destruction. Sticking your head in the sand is not what these heroes deserve on the anniversary of their murders.
And now we face the same decision that Reagan faced then. Do we run, or do we stand and fight? Do we allow the forces of militant jihadism to force us to leave with our tail between our legs, and wait for the next bombing or hijacking? Or do we keep kicking their asses wherever we find them?
Reagan, and the rest of this nation, made the mistake of thinking this war wouldn’t follow us home if we just got the hell out. Today we know from experience that this simply isn’t the case. They always come back home. Victory is the only option. Harden the fuck up and quit your bitching..
Posted in The Long War | Trackback | del.icio.us | Top Of Page
One Response to “Remembering: The Beirut Barracks Bombing Anniversary”
1. Solo Says:
October 24th, 2007 at 6:23 am
It would be good if people would look back and remember. Too many I’ve talked to think that Islamic terrorism started on 9/11/01.
Grenada 24 years later
Grenada (Heard From Today!)
By Lt Col P
23 Oct 1983, the same day as the Beirut bombing, a scratch joint task force assaults and takes the island of Grenada, overthrowing its tinpot Marxist government and ejecting Cuban soldiers and workers.
The Navy history website has a nifty little account of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Fox and Echo companies [of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines] merged north of St. George's and secured a flat, stadium-like area called the Queen's Racecourse, which the Marines dubbed "LZ Racetrack" (LZ standing for landing zone). The battalion landing team commander set up headquarters there.
"We did a lot of humping today," said Marine Captain Mike Dick, Fox Company commander, after the first day of the operation. He looked over his men and added in a low tone, "It's quite a bit different from Camp Lejeune. We're doing this for real and for keeps."
Make that Capt Mike Dick, VMI '77, now Colonel, USMC, retired.
By Lt Col P
23 Oct 1983, the same day as the Beirut bombing, a scratch joint task force assaults and takes the island of Grenada, overthrowing its tinpot Marxist government and ejecting Cuban soldiers and workers.
The Navy history website has a nifty little account of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Fox and Echo companies [of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines] merged north of St. George's and secured a flat, stadium-like area called the Queen's Racecourse, which the Marines dubbed "LZ Racetrack" (LZ standing for landing zone). The battalion landing team commander set up headquarters there.
"We did a lot of humping today," said Marine Captain Mike Dick, Fox Company commander, after the first day of the operation. He looked over his men and added in a low tone, "It's quite a bit different from Camp Lejeune. We're doing this for real and for keeps."
Make that Capt Mike Dick, VMI '77, now Colonel, USMC, retired.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
24th anniversary of Beirut bombing marked
By Trista Talton - Staff writerPosted : Tuesday Oct 23, 2007 17:31:24 EDT
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — They gently brushed their fingertips across the stone where the names of the men who died on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon in 1983 are engraved.
On Tuesday, families and friends gathered around the Beirut Memorial here once again to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the day terrorists drove a bomb-laden truck into the headquarters building for the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, killing 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers.
The crowd — filled with an assortment of Marines, sailors, airmen, soldiers, mothers, fathers, wives, children and survivors of the blast — looked toward the wall as speakers talked about that fateful day.
Maj. Gen. Robert Dickerson, commander of Marine Corps Installations-East and the ceremony’s guest speaker, told the story of one survivor, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Nashton, who was fighting for his life on a hospital bed in Germany when he and other survivors were visited by then-Commandant Gen. P.X. Kelley.
Nashton could not see or speak and could barely hear. When Kelley knelt by his bedside, Nashton reached out a hand and brushed his fingers over the general’s star-collared shirt.
Nashton signaled he wanted to write something. He was handed a pen and paper and scribbled two words — “Semper Fi” — before handing the paper to Kelley, Dickerson said.
“Jeffrey feels guilty, as many of you do today, that he survived,” Dickerson said. “Don’t feel guilty. It’s your memory. It’s their legacy you’re maintaining.”
Dickerson rattled off a long list of terrorist attacks dating back to November 1979, when the U.S. Embassy in Iran was taken over by militants. He spoke of various embassy attacks throughout the years, the bombing of the Cole and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“The lessons learned in Beirut are relevant today,” Dickerson said. “These cowards are still out there. These cowards — these terrorists — are global. And they fear democracy.”
Photo slideshow:
Remembering Beirut
Source
Friday, October 19, 2007
OHIO CEREMONY
Ceremony for slain troops
Print StoryEmail to FriendDiscuss this story
The annual ceremony honors the loss of three local men in a 1983
terrorist attack.
By ANGIE SCHMITT
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS — A memorial that honors those killed in the Beirut bombing of 1983 stands about 4 feet high on the bank of Lake Hamilton here.
Centered around a circular flagstone, the memorial holds the names of the 14 Ohioans who lost their lives in the bombing that killed 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers deployed on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon that year.
"It just says 'Peace Keepers Memorial,'" said Richard Mitchells, commandant of the Tri-state Marine Detachment of the Marine Corps League, "because that's what they were — peacekeepers."
Family members of the three area men killed that day will return to this site Sunday, as they do every year near the anniversary of that date, Oct. 23, 1983.
A ceremony in honor of all those killed in the attack will begin at 1 p.m. with a call to attention and the posting of the Marine colors, said Mitchells, a Greenford resident who organized the event. Then, military officials will perform a ceremonial changing of the flags; one American, one POW, one Marine and one Navy.
A traditional memorial service will be held with a 21-gun salute. After that, New Castle resident Shirley Kirkwood will be among the family members invited to place a wreath on the stone in honor their lost loved ones.
Kirkwood's son, Shenango High School graduate James McDonough, was killed when a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of dynamite crashed through the gates of the multinational force barracks, where hundreds of troops, mostly Marines, were sleeping.
After all these years, fall is still a painful time of year for Kirkwood, a 69-year-old mother of six. Exactly one month before the bombing McDonough, her oldest child, had celebrated his 21st birthday.
"It's just like it was yesterday," said Kirkwood. "When you lose a son like that, you can't get over it."
Struthers resident Edward Johnston was instrum ental in bringing the memorial to Struthers in 1993. His son, Edward Anthony Johnston, also of Struthers, lost his life in the attack. He was 22. The third local victim was Niles resident Stanley Sliwinski.
Meeting at this site, year after year, the three families have become friends, Johnston said. And all three are expected Sunday, including Sliwinski's daughter and widow.
Though the experience isn't exactly pleasant for Johnston, he said he still appreciates the solemn annual gathering.
"I'm glad to see that people do attend," he said. "It makes you feel good."
aschmitt@vindy.com
Print StoryEmail to FriendDiscuss this story
The annual ceremony honors the loss of three local men in a 1983
terrorist attack.
By ANGIE SCHMITT
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS — A memorial that honors those killed in the Beirut bombing of 1983 stands about 4 feet high on the bank of Lake Hamilton here.
Centered around a circular flagstone, the memorial holds the names of the 14 Ohioans who lost their lives in the bombing that killed 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers deployed on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon that year.
"It just says 'Peace Keepers Memorial,'" said Richard Mitchells, commandant of the Tri-state Marine Detachment of the Marine Corps League, "because that's what they were — peacekeepers."
Family members of the three area men killed that day will return to this site Sunday, as they do every year near the anniversary of that date, Oct. 23, 1983.
A ceremony in honor of all those killed in the attack will begin at 1 p.m. with a call to attention and the posting of the Marine colors, said Mitchells, a Greenford resident who organized the event. Then, military officials will perform a ceremonial changing of the flags; one American, one POW, one Marine and one Navy.
A traditional memorial service will be held with a 21-gun salute. After that, New Castle resident Shirley Kirkwood will be among the family members invited to place a wreath on the stone in honor their lost loved ones.
Kirkwood's son, Shenango High School graduate James McDonough, was killed when a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of dynamite crashed through the gates of the multinational force barracks, where hundreds of troops, mostly Marines, were sleeping.
After all these years, fall is still a painful time of year for Kirkwood, a 69-year-old mother of six. Exactly one month before the bombing McDonough, her oldest child, had celebrated his 21st birthday.
"It's just like it was yesterday," said Kirkwood. "When you lose a son like that, you can't get over it."
Struthers resident Edward Johnston was instrum ental in bringing the memorial to Struthers in 1993. His son, Edward Anthony Johnston, also of Struthers, lost his life in the attack. He was 22. The third local victim was Niles resident Stanley Sliwinski.
Meeting at this site, year after year, the three families have become friends, Johnston said. And all three are expected Sunday, including Sliwinski's daughter and widow.
Though the experience isn't exactly pleasant for Johnston, he said he still appreciates the solemn annual gathering.
"I'm glad to see that people do attend," he said. "It makes you feel good."
aschmitt@vindy.com
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Beirut Vet in the News
By K.C. MYERS
staff writer
October 09, 2007
SANDWICH — To say John Santos suffered during his military service would be an understatement.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 1983, the lifelong Sandwich resident fell asleep in the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and woke up buried in debris, unable to hear and suffering from a concussion and a fractured skull.
And he was one of the lucky ones. Approximately 241 service members died, most of them fellow Marines, when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives into the barracks. It has been called the most deadly act of terrorism to U.S. citizens prior to Sept. 11, 2001.
Last month, almost 24 years after the bombing, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth awarded $2.65 billion to nearly 1,000 survivors of the bombing and their families, to be paid by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The judge stated that Iran clearly aided and backed the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which carried out the attack.
It's now up to the U.S. government to decide if and when to release Iranian assets frozen here and in other U.S.-friendly countries. There seems to be the political will to punish Iran for its participation in terrorist attacks, so the chances of the victims receiving this money are good, according to Washington, D.C., attorney Richard D. Heideman of Heideman Nudelman & Kalik, which represented some of the families.
Nine months too late
All this should be good news to Santos, 45, who has five children and cannot work because of back injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
But here is where his luck really ran out. Santos didn't find out about the lawsuit until his daughter, now a junior at Sandwich High School, came across a reference to the litigation while researching the Internet for a book her teacher recommended. Her discovery, in January, came nine months too late.
A law enacted in 1996 that allows Americans to sue nations that the State Department considers sponsors of terrorism for damages suffered in terrorist acts effectively expired in April 2006, Heideman said.
Santos contacted Heideman's office as soon as he heard, but was told he had missed the deadline.
The judge found Iran liable back in 2003, but the suit made big news last month when Lamberth awarded the actual damages. Santos called a fellow survivor living in Massachusetts. The man (who asked that his name not be published) told Santos he was expecting $2 million to $5 million from the suit.
"Oh, I went ballistic," Santos said.
Santos cannot understand how no one — not the attorneys themselves nor fellow survivors — contacted him during all the years the lawsuit was in process.
"It's not like I moved or have an unlisted home number," said Santos, who graduated from Sandwich High School in 1980 and returned to his hometown following his military service.
Santos suffers back problems from crushed discs, a result of being thrown and then buried in debris following the bombing. He also has disfiguring facial scars and is missing part of an earlobe, he said.
"But that's nothing compared to what I've gone through with PTSD," he said.
Panic attacks
Santos, who received a Purple Heart, recalls passing body parts as he walked out of the destroyed military base. He can no longer go into restaurants or malls for fear he may have a panic attack, he said.
The attorneys searched for other survivors and families by posting notices on the Internet, but they mostly worked through a national support group, the Beirut Veterans Association, Heideman said. Santos, however, said he was never involved with the association because it's mostly for family members of the deceased, he said.
"For a long time, I didn't want to face it because I felt guilty that I lived," he said.
A very active member of that group, Chris Devlin, lives in Westwood. She is the mother of Michael Devlin, who died in the bombing at age 21.
Devlin said she found and alerted many survivors and family members in the Bay State, including the man who told Santos he expected $2 million to $5 million.
But she never found Santos.
"I don't know how I missed him," she said of Santos. "I feel ever so badly about it."
Privacy laws hampered her ability to search, she said.
"We were not privy to names and current addresses," Heideman said.
After the damages portion of the lawsuit was announced in September, a number of people contacted Heideman's office saying they'd survived or are family members of the deceased, Heideman said. They too claimed to not know about the lawsuit, he said.
"We are evaluating the situation," Heideman said of the additional possible plaintiffs. "It's a matter we are reviewing."
This is about the only glimmer of hope for Santos and others like him.
"It's not so much about the money," Santos said. "I just feel dishonored. ... The worst part is, my daughter feels so guilty for showing me that letter (on the lawsuit). The children are now the victims of the bombing. That's the last thing I ever wanted."
K.C. Myers can be reached at kcmyers@capecodonline.com.
BLOG EDITOR'S NOTE!!!!!
"The attorneys searched for other survivors and families by posting notices on the Internet, but they mostly worked through a national support group, the Beirut Veterans Association, Heideman said. Santos, however, said he was never involved with the association because it's mostly for family members of the deceased, he said."
THE BEIRUT VETERANS OF AMERICA IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN FOR THE VETERANS,AND FAMILY MEMBERS
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Editorial in Washington Times
Hold Iran accountable
Thu. 04 Oct 2007
The Washington Times
Op-Ed
By Lynn Smith Derbyshire and Judith C. Young
On Oct. 23, 1983, the government of Iran sent a truck bomb into the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, destroying the building like a child smashing play-doh. Two hundred and forty-one men were killed, and countless others were wounded. It was mass murder.
It took three weeks to dig through the rubble and identify all the dead. The families of these victims, U.S. Marines and servicemen who were sent to Lebanon as peacekeepers, sat in front of our television sets and wept, and waited, and prayed — and waited and prayed, and wept again, desperate for news of those we loved.
For 24 years, since that horrible day, that horrible moment, the government of Iran has literally been getting away with murder.
In May 2003, after a trial that weighed the evidence of Iran's role in the bombing, the victims of Iran's state-sponsored terrorism and their families saw the first step toward justice. A U.S. district court found the government of Iran liable for organizing and funding the Beirut attack. And just last month, after a four-year process of painstakingly reviewing the claims of the hundreds of victims, that same court awarded damages in excess of $2.6 billion to the victims and their families.
Does this decision mean that Iran will finally be held to a measure of accountability for its sponsorship of terrorism? Well, not exactly. That is because several court decisions have held that legislation which Congress passed in 1996, giving victims of terrorism a federal cause of action, does not allow victims to attach assets held indirectly by terrorist states, even if these assets can be proven to be controlled for the benefit of the terrorist states. Terrorist states have used these decisions to hide their assets from victims seeking damages.
This has prompted Sens. Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey Democrat, and Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, along with 25 other cosponsors, Democrats and Republicans, to introduce S. 1944, the Justice for Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Act. And in recent days, despite continued opposition from the State Department, even as Iran's leaders were thumbing their noses at the United States last week at the United Nations, members of Congress have rallied to this cause, with the Senate unanimously agreeing to include the Lautenberg-Specter bill as an amendment to the defense authorization. The measure is now in conference with the House and must be signed by the president.
This bill sends a strong and clear message to terrorist states such as Iran: You cannot murder Americans without consequences anymore. You can and will be held accountable. America and Americans now have one more tool in the world war on terror. The cost of state-sponsored terrorism is about to go up.
Will Iran be hurt by losing more than $2 billion of their investments abroad? Absolutely. The Iranian reaction to the court's recent decision was very public and very critical. They don't want to be held accountable for what they do. They don't want our nation to have laws that can deter them from supporting terrorist acts. They don't want to face the possibility that their government, currently under mounting domestic criticism for its mismanagement of its economy, may lose investments that generate significant income.
Maya Angelou said: "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."
Governments such as Iran have been perpetrating acts of terrorism, and supporting terrorist organizations long enough. Today we say to them: no more.
None of us want the events of Oct. 23, 1983, to be repeated; they have been repeated far too many times already. The Achille Lauro, Robert Stethem of TWA Flight 847, the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, the U.S.S. Cole, September 11, Madrid, Bali, and on and on.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah says there is "Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.
"But God says to her, "Restrain your voice from weeping... because there is hope for the future." Time does not heal wounds; only hope can heal wounds.
This legislation will hold Iran accountable for the murder of the men who were killed and wounded on October 23, 1983. And if we can accomplish that, then we believe that we will truly have hope for the future.
Lynn Smith Derbyshire lives in Oak Hill, Va. Her brother, Marine Capt. Vincent Smith was killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing. Judith C. Young lives in Moorestown, N.J. She is the mother of Marine Sgt. Jeffrey Young, who was killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing.
Thu. 04 Oct 2007
The Washington Times
Op-Ed
By Lynn Smith Derbyshire and Judith C. Young
On Oct. 23, 1983, the government of Iran sent a truck bomb into the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, destroying the building like a child smashing play-doh. Two hundred and forty-one men were killed, and countless others were wounded. It was mass murder.
It took three weeks to dig through the rubble and identify all the dead. The families of these victims, U.S. Marines and servicemen who were sent to Lebanon as peacekeepers, sat in front of our television sets and wept, and waited, and prayed — and waited and prayed, and wept again, desperate for news of those we loved.
For 24 years, since that horrible day, that horrible moment, the government of Iran has literally been getting away with murder.
In May 2003, after a trial that weighed the evidence of Iran's role in the bombing, the victims of Iran's state-sponsored terrorism and their families saw the first step toward justice. A U.S. district court found the government of Iran liable for organizing and funding the Beirut attack. And just last month, after a four-year process of painstakingly reviewing the claims of the hundreds of victims, that same court awarded damages in excess of $2.6 billion to the victims and their families.
Does this decision mean that Iran will finally be held to a measure of accountability for its sponsorship of terrorism? Well, not exactly. That is because several court decisions have held that legislation which Congress passed in 1996, giving victims of terrorism a federal cause of action, does not allow victims to attach assets held indirectly by terrorist states, even if these assets can be proven to be controlled for the benefit of the terrorist states. Terrorist states have used these decisions to hide their assets from victims seeking damages.
This has prompted Sens. Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey Democrat, and Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, along with 25 other cosponsors, Democrats and Republicans, to introduce S. 1944, the Justice for Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Act. And in recent days, despite continued opposition from the State Department, even as Iran's leaders were thumbing their noses at the United States last week at the United Nations, members of Congress have rallied to this cause, with the Senate unanimously agreeing to include the Lautenberg-Specter bill as an amendment to the defense authorization. The measure is now in conference with the House and must be signed by the president.
This bill sends a strong and clear message to terrorist states such as Iran: You cannot murder Americans without consequences anymore. You can and will be held accountable. America and Americans now have one more tool in the world war on terror. The cost of state-sponsored terrorism is about to go up.
Will Iran be hurt by losing more than $2 billion of their investments abroad? Absolutely. The Iranian reaction to the court's recent decision was very public and very critical. They don't want to be held accountable for what they do. They don't want our nation to have laws that can deter them from supporting terrorist acts. They don't want to face the possibility that their government, currently under mounting domestic criticism for its mismanagement of its economy, may lose investments that generate significant income.
Maya Angelou said: "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."
Governments such as Iran have been perpetrating acts of terrorism, and supporting terrorist organizations long enough. Today we say to them: no more.
None of us want the events of Oct. 23, 1983, to be repeated; they have been repeated far too many times already. The Achille Lauro, Robert Stethem of TWA Flight 847, the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, the U.S.S. Cole, September 11, Madrid, Bali, and on and on.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah says there is "Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.
"But God says to her, "Restrain your voice from weeping... because there is hope for the future." Time does not heal wounds; only hope can heal wounds.
This legislation will hold Iran accountable for the murder of the men who were killed and wounded on October 23, 1983. And if we can accomplish that, then we believe that we will truly have hope for the future.
Lynn Smith Derbyshire lives in Oak Hill, Va. Her brother, Marine Capt. Vincent Smith was killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing. Judith C. Young lives in Moorestown, N.J. She is the mother of Marine Sgt. Jeffrey Young, who was killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing.
Monday, September 24, 2007
There's a killer loose in the city...............
Michael Daly New York Daily News
Thanks to Mr. Daly for his timely article on the Piece of Garbage, that recently flew in from Iran, I believe he calls himself the President of Iran now, 25 years ago he was nothing more than a murderous thug, and nothing has changed in the meantime.
No way to forget terror with Iran's president in your face
Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 4:00 AM
As the unrelentingly offensive president of Iran flies into JFK today, we should remember five beautiful sons of our city who were murdered at an airport far from home.
* Lance Cpl. Terrence Rich of Brooklyn.
* Lance Cpl. Steven Jones of Brooklyn.
* Lance Cpl. Warren Richardson of Brooklyn.
* Cpl. Obrian Weekes of Brooklyn.
* Lance Cpl. Dennis Thompson of the Bronx.
The five were killed along with 236 other Marines in a suicide attack on their barracks at the edge of Beirut International Airport on Oct. 23, 1983.
The CIA determined that the 12,000 pounds of explosives were furnished by Iran, whose hothead of state arrives among us today.
If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks a little smug, one reason may be that the United States did exactly nothing about the murder of those 241 Marines in revenge for our support for Saddam Hussein back then.
And, when 9/11 did rouse us to the reality of terrorism, Ahmadinejad was no doubt delighted to see the Bush Administration use the attack on the World Trade Center as a pretext to go after Iran's old enemy Saddam.
Iran commemorated its eight-year war with Iraq with a big parade yesterday that featured a new Ghadr-1 missile, whose name means "power." There were also the requisite signs indicating that the enemy of Iran's enemy is still its enemy.
"Death to America!"
Ahmadinejad was expected to board a plane later for America, to New York in particular. He will be moving through our city's streets under our protection even as his operatives set roadside bombs in Baghdad to murder our troops.
Iran almost certainly had nothing to do with 9/11, but it also almost certainly is aiding Shiite insurgents in killing G.I.s in Iraq. Ahmadinejad's current pals in this clandestine effort include Imad Fayez Mugniyah, the mastermind of the Beirut bombing that killed 241 Marines nearly a quarter century ago.
The number goes up to 242 if you include another New York Marine, Eddie Quail of upstate Hopewell Junction. Quail was eating in the chow hall at the four-story barracks in Beirut when the whole world seemed to explode around him.
"He didn't know if there was a nuclear war or the world had ended," a friend said yesterday.
Quail spent 2-1/2 days trapped in the rubble, not even knowing which way was up or down. He had somehow held onto a metal cup and he kept rapping it against the concrete.
Finally, somebody heard him. Quail was extracted alive, but part of his mind remained in the rubble. He was left alone in his terror as the country quickly forgot the attack.
"Like it never happened," the friend said.
A decade after the bombing, Quail's knees still shook when he sat.
"You would see it in him," the friend recalled. "He was the nicest, kindest guy, but he was a nervous wreck all the time."
Quail attempted to take his life by slicing his wrists. A few months later he ran in front of a truck and was killed.
"I guess it was a suicide," his friend said.
Word of Quail's death reached the Rev. Mychal Judge, then the FDNY's chaplain. Judge contacted the Marine Corps, which dispatched an honor guard to a modest funeral that ended with everyone holding hands in prayer.
Four years later, Judge himself became a victim of terrorism at the World Trade Center. Neither the Iranians nor Saddam had anything to do with that attack, but part of the blame rests squarely on all of us who were so quick to shrug off the terrorist attacks of the past.
The world did not change on 9/11. We just got a lesson in the world as it really is.
But, even now, people imagine that when we finally leave Iraq we will not still be at war, that the world will not still include Osama Bin Laden and Mugniyah. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's only virtue is he does not let us forget he is around.
While we are busy being outraged by Ahmadinejad's request to lay a wreath at Ground Zero, we should take the time to lay wreaths of our own at the graves of those five murdered Marines from New York, and one more for Eddie Quail.
Thanks to Mr. Daly for his timely article on the Piece of Garbage, that recently flew in from Iran, I believe he calls himself the President of Iran now, 25 years ago he was nothing more than a murderous thug, and nothing has changed in the meantime.
No way to forget terror with Iran's president in your face
Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 4:00 AM
As the unrelentingly offensive president of Iran flies into JFK today, we should remember five beautiful sons of our city who were murdered at an airport far from home.
* Lance Cpl. Terrence Rich of Brooklyn.
* Lance Cpl. Steven Jones of Brooklyn.
* Lance Cpl. Warren Richardson of Brooklyn.
* Cpl. Obrian Weekes of Brooklyn.
* Lance Cpl. Dennis Thompson of the Bronx.
The five were killed along with 236 other Marines in a suicide attack on their barracks at the edge of Beirut International Airport on Oct. 23, 1983.
The CIA determined that the 12,000 pounds of explosives were furnished by Iran, whose hothead of state arrives among us today.
If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks a little smug, one reason may be that the United States did exactly nothing about the murder of those 241 Marines in revenge for our support for Saddam Hussein back then.
And, when 9/11 did rouse us to the reality of terrorism, Ahmadinejad was no doubt delighted to see the Bush Administration use the attack on the World Trade Center as a pretext to go after Iran's old enemy Saddam.
Iran commemorated its eight-year war with Iraq with a big parade yesterday that featured a new Ghadr-1 missile, whose name means "power." There were also the requisite signs indicating that the enemy of Iran's enemy is still its enemy.
"Death to America!"
Ahmadinejad was expected to board a plane later for America, to New York in particular. He will be moving through our city's streets under our protection even as his operatives set roadside bombs in Baghdad to murder our troops.
Iran almost certainly had nothing to do with 9/11, but it also almost certainly is aiding Shiite insurgents in killing G.I.s in Iraq. Ahmadinejad's current pals in this clandestine effort include Imad Fayez Mugniyah, the mastermind of the Beirut bombing that killed 241 Marines nearly a quarter century ago.
The number goes up to 242 if you include another New York Marine, Eddie Quail of upstate Hopewell Junction. Quail was eating in the chow hall at the four-story barracks in Beirut when the whole world seemed to explode around him.
"He didn't know if there was a nuclear war or the world had ended," a friend said yesterday.
Quail spent 2-1/2 days trapped in the rubble, not even knowing which way was up or down. He had somehow held onto a metal cup and he kept rapping it against the concrete.
Finally, somebody heard him. Quail was extracted alive, but part of his mind remained in the rubble. He was left alone in his terror as the country quickly forgot the attack.
"Like it never happened," the friend said.
A decade after the bombing, Quail's knees still shook when he sat.
"You would see it in him," the friend recalled. "He was the nicest, kindest guy, but he was a nervous wreck all the time."
Quail attempted to take his life by slicing his wrists. A few months later he ran in front of a truck and was killed.
"I guess it was a suicide," his friend said.
Word of Quail's death reached the Rev. Mychal Judge, then the FDNY's chaplain. Judge contacted the Marine Corps, which dispatched an honor guard to a modest funeral that ended with everyone holding hands in prayer.
Four years later, Judge himself became a victim of terrorism at the World Trade Center. Neither the Iranians nor Saddam had anything to do with that attack, but part of the blame rests squarely on all of us who were so quick to shrug off the terrorist attacks of the past.
The world did not change on 9/11. We just got a lesson in the world as it really is.
But, even now, people imagine that when we finally leave Iraq we will not still be at war, that the world will not still include Osama Bin Laden and Mugniyah. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's only virtue is he does not let us forget he is around.
While we are busy being outraged by Ahmadinejad's request to lay a wreath at Ground Zero, we should take the time to lay wreaths of our own at the graves of those five murdered Marines from New York, and one more for Eddie Quail.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Marine leads lawsuit against Iran
Slickville Marine leads lawsuit against Iran
By Richard Gazarik
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, August 20, 2007
It was Oct. 23, 1983, when the largest non-nuclear explosion ever detonated sent Marine Lance Cpl. Terry Valore, of Slickville in Westmoreland County, flying into a wall as his barracks disintegrated around him in Beirut, Lebanon.
Valore was a member of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, which was part of a multinational United Nations peacekeeping force assigned to Lebanon when Hezbollah terrorists, backed by Iran, drove a truck filled with explosives past a Marine checkpoint. They crashed the truck into the barracks, killing 241 Marines, soldiers and airmen.
Nearly 24 years later, Volare could be on the verge of payback.
He is lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In March, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington entered a judgment against Iran that could allow Valore and relatives of Marines killed in the attack to recover damages.
story continues below
Now they have to collect.
A bill proposed Aug. 2 in the U.S. Senate -- Senate Bill 1944, the Justice for Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act -- would allow the plaintiffs to recover damages from Iranian assets frozen by the United States. The bill is before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"We're trying to put pressure on Congress to get it to a vote," said Valore, 45.
The former Marine, who was burned over 90 percent of his body, said, "it's been a long, tough road" to get to this point.
He said terrorists have been "exploiting loopholes" in the law by hiding behind sovereign immunity, which shields foreign governments from lawsuits.
"I've had my ups and downs every day," he said. "I lost a lot of good friends and would love to see their families get some monetary gain from it."
His attorney, Daniel Gaskill, of Rockville, Md., said the Senate bill would make exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which bars lawsuits against other nations. The exceptions include state-sponsored terrorism, kidnapping, extrajudicial killings, torture, hostage-taking and aircraft sabotage.
In entering the judgment, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote that Valore and the other 44 defendants "have established by clear and convincing evidence" that Iran was responsible for the attack. He added that the "elements of civil conspiracy are established between the defendants in this case and the actual perpetrators of the attack."
Lamberth said the evidence linked Iran through its Ministry of Information and Security to Hezbollah, which U.S. military officials say is now being backed by Iran in attacks on American forces in Iraq. The judge ruled that Iran provided money and support for the terrorists who planned and carried out the Beirut attack.
Lamberth will decide on the amount of damages at a hearing Sept. 7, Gaskill said. A court-appointed special master would determine individual amounts for Valore and the other plaintiffs.
"We don't know what the judge will decide," Gaskill said. "My guess is he will go about $3.3 billion. Whatever number he gives us, it's like one less roadside bomb that the Iranians will have money to spend on."
Gaskill, himself a former Marine, said the legislation is needed so his clients can recover damages from the Iranian assets held by the United States. He said an act of Congress is needed to gain access to the frozen funds since he is barred by law from suing the U.S. government to force their release.
According to court records, Hezbollah packed a 19-ton truck with explosives and disguised it as a water delivery vehicle that routinely arrived at Beirut International Airport, where Valore's unit was stationed. Hezbollah hijacked the real water truck and sent in the fake. The truck crashed through sandbags and concertina wire surrounding the barracks and detonated about 6:25 a.m., when many of the Marines were sleeping. The blast left an 8-foot-deep crater and leveled the four-story barracks.
"What resulted was the largest non-nuclear explosion ever detonated up to that time," Lamberth wrote.
Valore was on guard duty when the explosion occurred. The blast slammed him into a pillar, which kept him from being blown outside and buried when the building collapsed.
In his ruling, Lamberth said the physical and psychological toll on the survivors and families is incalcuable.
"This court acknowledges that there is little it can say to effectively convey to the (families) of these brave servicemen how deeply sorry it is for their losses." He said the attack "remains a tragedy that will never be forgotten."
"Parents and children alike were lost that day. Families were torn apart, never to become whole again. The physical and emotion and psychological scars suffered by these victims will undoubtedly endure long after the issuance of a judgment in this case."
In 2003, the families of the 270 victims of Pan Am Flight 103 settled their lawsuit against Libya for $2.7 billion after Libya admitted responsibility for the 1988 bombing as the plane flew over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Other lawsuits are pending in New York involving the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Somerset County.
Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism in 2003 filed a $116 trillion lawsuit against a company run by the family of Osama bin Laden, Sudan and a number of Saudi princes, alleging they helped finance the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The case is pending.
Valore said he plans to see the case through to the end.
"I got one shot at this," he said. "We all got one shot. I plan on changing history with this law. I almost lost my life over there. I can't let them win."
Richard Gazarik can be reached at rgazarik@tribweb.com or (724) 830-6292.
By Richard Gazarik
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, August 20, 2007
It was Oct. 23, 1983, when the largest non-nuclear explosion ever detonated sent Marine Lance Cpl. Terry Valore, of Slickville in Westmoreland County, flying into a wall as his barracks disintegrated around him in Beirut, Lebanon.
Valore was a member of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, which was part of a multinational United Nations peacekeeping force assigned to Lebanon when Hezbollah terrorists, backed by Iran, drove a truck filled with explosives past a Marine checkpoint. They crashed the truck into the barracks, killing 241 Marines, soldiers and airmen.
Nearly 24 years later, Volare could be on the verge of payback.
He is lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In March, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington entered a judgment against Iran that could allow Valore and relatives of Marines killed in the attack to recover damages.
story continues below
Now they have to collect.
A bill proposed Aug. 2 in the U.S. Senate -- Senate Bill 1944, the Justice for Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act -- would allow the plaintiffs to recover damages from Iranian assets frozen by the United States. The bill is before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"We're trying to put pressure on Congress to get it to a vote," said Valore, 45.
The former Marine, who was burned over 90 percent of his body, said, "it's been a long, tough road" to get to this point.
He said terrorists have been "exploiting loopholes" in the law by hiding behind sovereign immunity, which shields foreign governments from lawsuits.
"I've had my ups and downs every day," he said. "I lost a lot of good friends and would love to see their families get some monetary gain from it."
His attorney, Daniel Gaskill, of Rockville, Md., said the Senate bill would make exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which bars lawsuits against other nations. The exceptions include state-sponsored terrorism, kidnapping, extrajudicial killings, torture, hostage-taking and aircraft sabotage.
In entering the judgment, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote that Valore and the other 44 defendants "have established by clear and convincing evidence" that Iran was responsible for the attack. He added that the "elements of civil conspiracy are established between the defendants in this case and the actual perpetrators of the attack."
Lamberth said the evidence linked Iran through its Ministry of Information and Security to Hezbollah, which U.S. military officials say is now being backed by Iran in attacks on American forces in Iraq. The judge ruled that Iran provided money and support for the terrorists who planned and carried out the Beirut attack.
Lamberth will decide on the amount of damages at a hearing Sept. 7, Gaskill said. A court-appointed special master would determine individual amounts for Valore and the other plaintiffs.
"We don't know what the judge will decide," Gaskill said. "My guess is he will go about $3.3 billion. Whatever number he gives us, it's like one less roadside bomb that the Iranians will have money to spend on."
Gaskill, himself a former Marine, said the legislation is needed so his clients can recover damages from the Iranian assets held by the United States. He said an act of Congress is needed to gain access to the frozen funds since he is barred by law from suing the U.S. government to force their release.
According to court records, Hezbollah packed a 19-ton truck with explosives and disguised it as a water delivery vehicle that routinely arrived at Beirut International Airport, where Valore's unit was stationed. Hezbollah hijacked the real water truck and sent in the fake. The truck crashed through sandbags and concertina wire surrounding the barracks and detonated about 6:25 a.m., when many of the Marines were sleeping. The blast left an 8-foot-deep crater and leveled the four-story barracks.
"What resulted was the largest non-nuclear explosion ever detonated up to that time," Lamberth wrote.
Valore was on guard duty when the explosion occurred. The blast slammed him into a pillar, which kept him from being blown outside and buried when the building collapsed.
In his ruling, Lamberth said the physical and psychological toll on the survivors and families is incalcuable.
"This court acknowledges that there is little it can say to effectively convey to the (families) of these brave servicemen how deeply sorry it is for their losses." He said the attack "remains a tragedy that will never be forgotten."
"Parents and children alike were lost that day. Families were torn apart, never to become whole again. The physical and emotion and psychological scars suffered by these victims will undoubtedly endure long after the issuance of a judgment in this case."
In 2003, the families of the 270 victims of Pan Am Flight 103 settled their lawsuit against Libya for $2.7 billion after Libya admitted responsibility for the 1988 bombing as the plane flew over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Other lawsuits are pending in New York involving the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Somerset County.
Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism in 2003 filed a $116 trillion lawsuit against a company run by the family of Osama bin Laden, Sudan and a number of Saudi princes, alleging they helped finance the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The case is pending.
Valore said he plans to see the case through to the end.
"I got one shot at this," he said. "We all got one shot. I plan on changing history with this law. I almost lost my life over there. I can't let them win."
Richard Gazarik can be reached at rgazarik@tribweb.com or (724) 830-6292.
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