shanneba
Professional
On April 18, 1983, a suicide bomber detonated a one-half-ton pickup truck laden with 2,000 pounds of TNT near the front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans. It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission to date, and changed the way the U.S. Department of State secured its resources and executed its missions overseas.
Members of the Diplomatic Security Service’s (DSS) predecessor organization, the Office of Security, were affected by the terrorist attack. Marine Security Guard Corporal Robert McMaugh was standing guard inside the front of U.S. Embassy Beirut’s east entrance when the blast exploded; it killed him and destroyed nearly every floor of the building. Charles Light was the embassy’s Marine Security Guard detachment commander, and despite suffering severe shrapnel wounds and five crushed neck vertebrae, he worked around the clock for 18 days helping survivors, securing classified information, and recovering the dead.
Members of the Diplomatic Security Service’s (DSS) predecessor organization, the Office of Security, were affected by the terrorist attack. Marine Security Guard Corporal Robert McMaugh was standing guard inside the front of U.S. Embassy Beirut’s east entrance when the blast exploded; it killed him and destroyed nearly every floor of the building. Charles Light was the embassy’s Marine Security Guard detachment commander, and despite suffering severe shrapnel wounds and five crushed neck vertebrae, he worked around the clock for 18 days helping survivors, securing classified information, and recovering the dead.