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Beirut barracks
bombing remembered
PUTNAM — In remembrance of the Beirut Barracks bombing Michael S. Vassar, commander of American Legion Post #13 of Putnam ,announced that the Post, with the support of the town's Recreation Department, will conduct a remembrance ceremony at noon Oct. 23 at the Veterans Memorial Park.
The program, which is open to all and free, begins at noon, and will include a prayer by Post Chaplain Pierre Desilets, presentation of the colors by the Post Honor Guard, greetings from the Town of Putnam by Mayor Norman “Barney” Seney, who is also a member of American Legion Post #13, and the reading of the names of the 241 American service personnel who were killed in the attack. The names of the deceased will be read by Post members Elizabeth Buzalski, Ronald P. Coderre, Brian D. Maynard and Barbara Smith.
The local event, which started approximately seven years ago, was initiated by Brooklyn resident Kat Voght and American Legion Post #13 member, the late Donald Steinbrick. This year’s event will be under the direction of Junior Vice Commander Christopher Steinbrick.
“I’m honored to have been asked to chair this year’s event. I am aware of all the work that my dad, Donald, and Kat put into originally getting the remembrance started. This is an event, that as veterans and Americans, we can’t let pass without pausing to remember,” said Christopher Steinbrick.
The 1983 bombing occurred at 6:22 A.M. when two truck bombs, operated by suspected Hezbollah insurgents, struck the barracks housing American and French service members. The attack killed a total of 307 people and injured an additional 150 individuals. Among the dead were 241 American Marines, six of whom hailed from Connecticut. During the commemoration ceremony, a rose will be placed in a wreath made by Kat Voght for each of the Connecticut Marines killed in the attack.
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