U.S. EMBASSY BOMBING
Beirut, Lebanon – 18 April 1983
Occurred at about 1300 (1:00 pm Lebanon Time) on April 18th, 1983. It was carried out by a terrorist driving a van, reportedly stolen from the Embassy in June 1982.
The van carried a 2,000-pound load of explosives, tearing through the front portion of the seven (7) story building.
Most of the victims were at lunch and were killed by the collapsing building. Killed were 63 occupants of the building, 17 of whom were Americans. One Marine was killed, Corporal Robert V. McMaugh, of Manassas, Virginia, an Embassy Guard. One journalist was killed – Janet Lee Stevens. Several State Department officials were killed, including three USAID employees. The entire U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Middle East contingent were killed. Several Army trainers were killed.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard