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American Morning
Twenty Years Ago Today, Terrorist Attack in Beirut
Aired October 23, 2003 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty years ago today, a terrorist drove a truck packed with explosives into a Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen.
As Art Harris reports, it was an unprecedented act of terror against Americans and it shocked the nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ART HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut after a suicide bomber hit it one Sunday morning 20 years ago. Underneath it all, 241 bodies from a failed peacekeeping mission.
RANDY GADDO, SURVIVED BEIRUT BOMBING: The concussion from the blast hit me in the chest and just picked up me up like a rag doll and threw me back about six, eight feet.
HARRIS: Marines used jackhammers, bulldozers, bare hands to dig for survivors in the rubble they now see as foreshadowing 9/11.
GADDO: We saw a sleeping bag and we saw the feet moving. And then slowly the feet just stopped moving.
HARRIS: Retired Colonel Tim Geraghty was in charge of the Marines.
COL. TIMOTHY GERAGHTY, U.S. MARINES (RET.): I think if you look around here, you see a lot of Marines that are mad.
HARRIS (on camera): That's you.
GERAGHTY: Yes.
HARRIS: Remember that?
GERAGHTY: Oh, yes. Yes. That was...
HARRIS: And your feelings?
GERAGHTY: A lot of things. Yes, that was a tough day. A tough day. A tough time.
HARRIS: Geraghty was surprised anyone survived.
GERAGHTY: The building, when it collapsed, it pancaked. There were four stories and it pancaked right on, not a whole lot unlike the World Trade Center. And that's what caused the pulverization and the same here, it crushed everyone. That's right.
HARRIS: And crushed his career as a Marine after Congress blamed him.
GERAGHTY: Why the security wasn't good enough in order to stop the attack, the gentlemen questioned.
HARRIS: Geraghty had asked to move away from Beirut's busy airport to dig tank tracks, to be allowed to shoot back before the bombing, but says he was often told no in his role as a peacekeeper.
GERAGHTY: The shooting back was limited because of the mission.
HARRIS: He was told no again when he asked to retaliate after the bombing.
GERAGHTY: That's what happened in Beirut. If you think it can't happen here, it's happened here.
LT. COL. LARRY GERLACH, U.S. MARINES (RET.): It took me a while to be convinced I wasn't going on any more 25 mile hikes.
HARRIS: Partially paralyzed in the bombing, Larry Gerlach doesn't remember getting blown out of the second floor window.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should I go ahead and fix dinner?
GERLACH: Sure.
HARRIS: But he remembers Marines who didn't make it, like his radio man.
GERLACH: We had a sort of like a ritual every day. I'd say, "Walker, how are you doing today?" He'd say, "Sir, I'm so motivated there ought to be two of me."
HARRIS: Every day he replays Beirut in his head.
GERLACH: I have a big loss. I lost a lot of men.
HARRIS (on camera): Twenty-two of the Marines killed in Beirut are buried here at Arlington National Cemetery, casualties without a context until 9/11. Now, 20 years later, Marine veterans hope celebrating the memory of those who died will bring a better appreciation for the early heroes of a war on terror few realized had begun.
Art Harris, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: A ceremony will be held this afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the more than 240 Americans and 58 French troops who died in that bombing.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 23, 2003 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty years ago today, a terrorist drove a truck packed with explosives into a Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen.
As Art Harris reports, it was an unprecedented act of terror against Americans and it shocked the nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ART HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut after a suicide bomber hit it one Sunday morning 20 years ago. Underneath it all, 241 bodies from a failed peacekeeping mission.
RANDY GADDO, SURVIVED BEIRUT BOMBING: The concussion from the blast hit me in the chest and just picked up me up like a rag doll and threw me back about six, eight feet.
HARRIS: Marines used jackhammers, bulldozers, bare hands to dig for survivors in the rubble they now see as foreshadowing 9/11.
GADDO: We saw a sleeping bag and we saw the feet moving. And then slowly the feet just stopped moving.
HARRIS: Retired Colonel Tim Geraghty was in charge of the Marines.
COL. TIMOTHY GERAGHTY, U.S. MARINES (RET.): I think if you look around here, you see a lot of Marines that are mad.
HARRIS (on camera): That's you.
GERAGHTY: Yes.
HARRIS: Remember that?
GERAGHTY: Oh, yes. Yes. That was...
HARRIS: And your feelings?
GERAGHTY: A lot of things. Yes, that was a tough day. A tough day. A tough time.
HARRIS: Geraghty was surprised anyone survived.
GERAGHTY: The building, when it collapsed, it pancaked. There were four stories and it pancaked right on, not a whole lot unlike the World Trade Center. And that's what caused the pulverization and the same here, it crushed everyone. That's right.
HARRIS: And crushed his career as a Marine after Congress blamed him.
GERAGHTY: Why the security wasn't good enough in order to stop the attack, the gentlemen questioned.
HARRIS: Geraghty had asked to move away from Beirut's busy airport to dig tank tracks, to be allowed to shoot back before the bombing, but says he was often told no in his role as a peacekeeper.
GERAGHTY: The shooting back was limited because of the mission.
HARRIS: He was told no again when he asked to retaliate after the bombing.
GERAGHTY: That's what happened in Beirut. If you think it can't happen here, it's happened here.
LT. COL. LARRY GERLACH, U.S. MARINES (RET.): It took me a while to be convinced I wasn't going on any more 25 mile hikes.
HARRIS: Partially paralyzed in the bombing, Larry Gerlach doesn't remember getting blown out of the second floor window.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should I go ahead and fix dinner?
GERLACH: Sure.
HARRIS: But he remembers Marines who didn't make it, like his radio man.
GERLACH: We had a sort of like a ritual every day. I'd say, "Walker, how are you doing today?" He'd say, "Sir, I'm so motivated there ought to be two of me."
HARRIS: Every day he replays Beirut in his head.
GERLACH: I have a big loss. I lost a lot of men.
HARRIS (on camera): Twenty-two of the Marines killed in Beirut are buried here at Arlington National Cemetery, casualties without a context until 9/11. Now, 20 years later, Marine veterans hope celebrating the memory of those who died will bring a better appreciation for the early heroes of a war on terror few realized had begun.
Art Harris, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: A ceremony will be held this afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the more than 240 Americans and 58 French troops who died in that bombing.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
