October 23, 1983: The Beirut Barracks Bombing

October 23, 1983: Two truck-borne suicide bombs strike buildings in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War.

One attack, on an American barracks, kills 241: 220 U.S. Marines, 18 U.S. Navy personnel, and 3 U.S. Army personnel. This remains the deadliest single-day death toll for the Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, and the deadliest for America's armed forces overall since the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, in 1968. Another attack, on a French base, killed 58 French military personnel and 6 civilians.

The Lebanese Civil War had begun in 1975, and tore apart a nation that had once been a jewel among France's colonies, before independence in 1946, albeit with an intervention by the U.S. and France in 1958. The war continued until 1990, and Lebanon has recovered somewhat. Today, with Israeli, Syrian, American and French troops withdrawn, it is a democratic nation of 5.3 million people, 58 percent Muslim, 36 percent Christian.

Two days later, President Ronald Reagan launched an invasion of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada. Some people believed it was an attempt to cover up the debacle in Beirut. As it turned out, the Grenada plan was in motion well before the Beirut attack: Reagan had flown his National Security Council to his ranch outside Santa Barbara, California to discuss it.

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October 23, 1983 was a Sunday. This was also the day that NBC News weekend anchorwoman Jessica Savitch died in a car crash. I have a separate entry for that event.

The baseball season had ended a week before, when the Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series. The NBA season began 5 days later. The NHL season had gotten underway, and 4 games were played that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders, 6-5 at Madison Square Garden. Peter Sundstrom scored the winning goal, 1 minute and 13 seconds into overtime.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 8-5 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* And the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames, 7-4 at Chicago Stadium.

And there was a full slate of NFL games:

* The New York Jets lost to the Atlanta Falcons, 27-21 at Shea Stadium. This would be their last season at Shea, or in New York City, for that matter. They moved to the Meadowlands the next season.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 7-6 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Baltimore Colts, 21-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. This would be the Colts' last season in Baltimore. They moved to Indianapolis the next season.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Detroit Lions, 38-17 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-21 at Tampa Stadium.

* The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-0 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns, 28-21 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 20-17 in overtime at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Dallas Cowboys, 40-38 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers, 13-10 in overtime at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 14-6 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams, 45-35 at Anaheim Stadium.

* And the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 27-21 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the New York Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals played to a 20-20 tie at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. 

September 14, 1982: The Assassination of Bachir Gemayel

September 14, 1982: President-elect Bachir Gemayel of Lebanon is assassinated by a car bomb in the national capital of Beirut, at the height of the country’s civil war. He was only 34 years old.

For 6 years, he had led the Lebanese Forces, the military wing of the social-democratic Kataeb Party, founded by his father, Pierre Gemayel. His older brother, Amine Gemayel, had been elected to Lebanon's national legislature. Bachir had united the country's Christian groups, and had more of an electoral base than the country's Muslims did, resulting in his election as the youngest President in the country's history.

Habib Shartouni, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which was aiding Lebanon's Muslims in an attempt to unite that country in a "Greater Syria," was arrested for the crime. He confessed that he did it because he thought Gemayel had sold Lebanon out to Israel. He served 8 years in prison before being broken out by Syrian thugs during Syria's final offensive in the civil war. He is now 64 years old, and still at large.

Amine Gemayel was elected in his brother's place, with support from America and Israel. He became the country's youngest President, a record he still holds. He served 6 years, and was constitutionally barred from running again. He is still alive, age 80. However, his son, Pierre, who had become Kataeb Party Leader, was assassinated in 2006.

The Civil War raged from 1975 to 1990. It killed about 120,000 people, and caused another 1 million people to leave the country. Today, Lebanon is a country of about 5.3 million people: 57 percent Muslim (almost evenly divided between Sunni and Shi'a), 38 percent Christian (the majority of that being Maronite Catholic), and 5 percent Druze. It is again considered a democratic nation.

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September 14, 1982 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly the actress Grace Kelly, was killed in a car crash. I have a separate entry for that event.

Football was in midweek. The NBA and the NHL were out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees were swept by the Baltimore Orioles, in a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The O's won the opener, 5-4. Willie Randolph and Lee Mazzilli hit home runs in support of Shane Rawley, but Dave Winfield went 0-for-3 with a walk. The O's won the nightcap, 5-3. Andre Robertson hit a home run in support of Mike Morgan. Dave Winfield appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Storm Davis got the win.

Rookie Don Mattingly did not appear in either game. Eddie Murray went 1-for-8 with an RBI, but Cal Ripken went 2-for-7, including a grand slam in the 2nd game.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 3-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 12-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski, 43, did not play. Wade Boggs went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. John Stuper needed a 5-out save from Bruce Sutter to complete a 5-hit shutout. Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose each went 1-for-4.

* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike LaCoss needed a 6-out save from Frank LaCorte to finish a 2-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 15-5 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Robin Yount went 2-for-5. Paul Molitor went 1-for-5 with a walk.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Bruce Kison pitched a 7-hit shutout. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Rod Carew went 1-for-5.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at Royals Stadium (later Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. It was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Jays swept, 3-2 and 12-11. Dave Baker won the nightcap with a single in the bottom of the 9th. In that game, Jeff Burroughs went 2-for-4 with a home run and 6 RBIs for the Jays, but was taken out for a pinch-runner, Rickey Henderson, in what turned out to be Henderson's only appearance in the series.