Today in U.S. military history: first Marines killed in Lebanon

Unto the Breach ^ | 29 August 2019 | Chris Carter

[fugazi]

Today’s post is in honor of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Floyd C. Holley. On this day in 2010, Holley was on his third combat deployment when he was killed while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. The 36-year-old from Casselberry, Fla. was serving with the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

1940: At Lawson Army Airfield (modern-day Fort Benning, Ga.), 1st Lt. William T. Ryder and his Parachute Test Platoon conduct the first mass parachute jump in U.S. military history.

Meanwhile, a delegation of British scientists begin sharing radar and other military technologies with the United States, hoping to secure assistance from the still-neutral nation.

1944: (Featured image) Four years after German conquerors marched through Paris’ famous Arc de Triomphe, 15,000 American soldiers of the 28th Infantry Division parade down the newly-liberated capital’s Champs-Élysées.

Meanwhile, a 21-man OSS force led by Lt. Cmdr. Frank Wisner parachutes into Romania, coordinating the rescue operation of well over 1,000 American prisoners of war before they can fall into the hands of the Soviet Red Army.

1945: An American B-29 Superfortress, carrying a load of humanitarian aid to Allied prisoners of war in Korea, is intercepted by Soviet Yak-9 fighters. The supposed allies attack the bomber, forcing 1st Lt. Joseph Queen’s crew to bail out before the plane crashes. The air crew are rescued, and the incident marks one of the first international confrontations between the soon-to-be Cold War rivals.

Across the Sea of Japan, Allied occupation forces begin arriving in Japan, as well as the battleship USS Missouri, which will host the upcoming formal surrender ceremonies on Sept. 2. Gen. Douglas MacArthur is granted the authority to oversee the formation of a new Japanese government. Rather than disband the

[fugazi]

Rules of engagement weren't just an Obama-era issue. Marines in Lebanon faced heavy restrictions which enabled Hezbollah to kill hundreds of our Marines, soldiers, and sailors in October, 1983.

[fugazi]

Ping list

[Leaning Right]

> Marines in Lebanon faced heavy restrictions which enabled Hezbollah to kill hundreds of our Marines, soldiers, and sailors in October, 1983. <

Yes, and that was Reagan’s greatest mistake. It is said that democracies should go to war reluctantly, and fiercely. Unfortunately no one pays any attention to that anymore.

[Cassius Flavia Agrippa]

I was air alerted to Beirut within hours. The adrenaline was amazing. A whole day in the rain waiting for a plane and did not even notice it.

[shanover]

I was always under the illusion that striking Iran would precipitate a war with Russia so that is why Reagan was extremely weak in response to Beirut. I would have bombed the sh*t out of the a-holes and not lobbed some 16 inch shells and sending some feeble airstrikes into empty camps in Lebanon. To this day Iran is still giving America the middle finger and America needs to rip that finger off along with their head.

[Leaning Right]

> so that is why Reagan was extremely weak in response to Beirut <

We never should have been in Beirut in the first place. The Gipper is one of my heroes. But Reagan never should have sent forces there. The US should not try to be the world’s policeman.

If the problem there was so bad, let France handle it (Lebanon was once a French colony). Or let the UN handle it.