Putnam 

ceremony 

to remember 

Beirut 

Barracks 

bombing

Special to the Putnam Town Crier

PUTNAM — A special military remembrance ceremony is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 23 in Rotary Park. Organized by Brooklyn resident and Marine Mom Kat Voght in cooperation with the Mayotte-Viens American Legion Post #13, the ceremony will commemorate the bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in the early morning hours of that fateful Oct. 23 day in 1983.  This is the third year that the ceremony has taken place in Putnam.

The bombing that remains indelibly etched in the minds and hearts of those whose loved ones died that day, their families and friends, occurred when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives through multiple barriers and gates into the barracks.  The attack and explosion caused the collapse of the four story building, taking with it 241 lives of American Marines.

The attack represented the largest single one day death toll of U.S. Marines since the Battle of Iwo Jima in WWII and the largest single day death toll of U.S. military personnel since the first day of the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War.

“As a Marine Mom this tragedy in our history really hit home for me.  I remembered the news reports from the time, but realized that I had never heard anything about it in the years since.  Many, including Beirut era veterans believe this act was the first major act of terrorism against the United States,” said Voght.

On Oct. 23 Voght and members of the American Legion Honor Guard will honor the memory of the 241 lives lost on this day 32 years ago with a candlelight vigil.  The ceremony will gather at the bandstand in Rotary Park at 6 p.m. and proceed the short distance to Veteran’s Memorial Park across the Quinebaug River.  

“It’s unfathomable to me that so many lives should be lost and no one remembers.  That is why I’m so passionate about keeping the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice alive.  No veteran should ever be forgotten.  Our duty is to remember these individuals,” said Voght.

Voght and American Legion Post #13 Commander Ronald P. Coderre are urging people from northeastern Connecticut to join them for this solemn ceremony commemorating those individuals who lost their lives in that fateful event.