NATION AND WORLD: THE LEBANON CRISIS
University Daily Kansan, October 27. 1983
Page 9
Marines describe scene of bombing in Lebanon
By United Press International
Bandaged and badly bruised, Marines recounted yesterday how they crawled to safety through dark, smoke-filled concrete caverns in their bombed Beirut headquarters but could not to screaming comrades trapped below.
"I was fully conscious and went flying through the air and fell on my feet and watched the roof crashing down," recalled Lance Cpl. Burham Matthews, 20, of Odenton, Md., who on the building's third floor when a suicide bomber smashed an explosive-laden truck into the lobby.
"I DIDN'T REALIZE what it was," said Matthews, who had a deep gash on his forehead, during a news conference in Wiesbaden, West Germany.
Matthews said he heard his closest buddy call to him from beneath the tangled debris of the four-story headquarters.
"He was calling out my nickname,
'Animal!', Matthews said, adding he
could not reach his friend who was too deeply buried in the rubble. He pulled
Lance Cpl. Michael J. Balcolim, a 20-year-old Marine cook from Vernon, N.Y., said the blast trapped him in a boat and himself himself on a dangling wire to safety.
Matthews and the other Marines said they were prepared to return to Beirut.
IN THE CONFUSION following the explosion, he was officially listed as dead, Balcolm said. "When I finally managed to call my mother she was overjoyed. She thought it was a miracle." he said.
"I felt we were really doing something in Beirut. The civilians trusted us and I would have no hesitation in going back if asked to do so," Mathews said.
He said he felt deeply the loss of his comrades. "It's like losing a brother. We are all close in the Marines," he said.
Meanwhile, 19 injured servicemen hospitalized since Sunday in Cyprus were flown to the Rhine Main U.S air base in Frankfurt where they will be transferred to hospitals in West Germany.
Number of recruits increases in response to Beirut tragedy
By United Press International
Flushed with a rush of patriotism triggered by the deaths of more than 200 Marines in Berat, unusually high numbers of young men are joining the Marines and more veterans are asking for assistance, recruiters said yesterday.
Marine recruiters across the nation said they had been fielding dozens of swimmers at the Olympics.
"Just today I've also had 30 to 40 phone calls from former Marines wanting to re-enlist," said Lt. Col. James Bathurst, commander of Marine Corps Indiana. "The Illinois and corswell Indiana." "On a normal day I might get one."
THE 27 MARINE recruiting substations in the area normally conduct about 30 interviews with potential recruits on a normal Monday or Tuesday, Bathurst said.
But after Sunday's terrorist bombing in Beirut which killed at least 219 Marines, 58 potential recruits took the first step toward signing up Monday and about the same number showed up Tuesday, Bathurst said.
DAN POLLACK, WHO is in charge of 43 Marine recruiting stations in five southern California counties, said, "For every potential recruit we were working who called to say, 'I'm back saying, I don't want to go to war,' we've had three call saying, 'Send me to bootcamp, or don't send me to bootcamp, just send me to the war, I want to fight in the war.'"
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WASHINGTON — The American Flag flies at half-staff at the two lime memorial in honor of the U.S. Marines killed Sunday in the Beirut, Lebanon, bombing.
Records found in ruins may help identify dead
WASHINGTON — Marines searching the bomb-shattered U.S. military headquarters in Beirut have found records that could help identify some of the more than 200 servicemen killed in the day's blast, officials said yesterday.
Thus far, the process of putting names to the 219 bodies pulled from the demolished building that was headquartered in U.S. peace-keeping force has been slow.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said the Marine Corps has agreed to his suggestion that names of Marines who survived the attack be announced so that their families will know they are alive and well.
By United Press International
SCORES OF FAMILIES tensely awaited word on the fates of sons, fathers, husbands and boyfriends. But, only 41 of the dead had been identified.
"This should relieve the anxiety of so many families who are now waiting in fear and uncertainty for news about their loved ones," he said.
Seventy-six of the wounded were identified and authorities released the wounded.
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Circumstances have worked against the examiners seeking to identify the dead.
The terrorist truck bomb careened into the headquarters building while the men slept, and some apparently were not wearing the "dog tags" identification. Many bodies were mutilated or burned beyond recognition.
It was originally thought that the blast destroyed key personnel records that indicated exactly who was on duty before the attack. The data up-to-date information on next of kin.
Grand Opening of New Location
A Marine spokesman, however, said
six of those records have been
recovered.
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Kennedy, in a letter to the Marine commandant Tuesday, asked for the change in the normal notification process "to prevent any unnecessarily prolonged agony for the parents, wives and children of our men in uniform."
- Sgt. Daniel S. Kluck, Owensboro, Ky.
(previously listed as missing).
- Lance Cpl, Johnny Copeland, Burlington, N.C.
The Pentagon yesterday added these names to the list of U.S. servicemen killed as a result of the Beirut bombing, all are Marines except where noted:
THE COMMODORE 64
- Spec. 4, Marcus E., Coleman, Dallas,
Towson (person) listed as missing
*Lance Cpl. Johnnie Ceasar, El Campo,
Texas.
[previously listen as ...]
* Lance Bane, Ronald Meurer, Jacksonville.
- Hospital Corpsman Third Class James E. Fauk, Panama City, Fla.
- Drawing for Commodore 64
"BUT IT WILL still be a matter of days to complete the job," he said. "I can't give you a date when the job will be completed. It is a difficult job."
- Lance Cpl. Ronald Meurer, Jacksonville N.C.
Kennedy said Marine officials advised him yesterday that a list of uninjured military personnel serving in Beirut would be compiled as quickly as possible and made public.
"We are acutely aware of the anxiety of families who are still uncertain as to the fate of loved ones," another Marine officer said. "We are doing everything humanly possible to expedite the process."
N.C.
* Hospital Corrsman Third Class James
Names of the dead, wounded and missing are not released until military countrys have visited the victims' homes and personally given them the news.
Computerark
- Lance Cpl. Richard Morrow, Clairton Pa.
Pierce, M, Savage, Mu,
*Lance Cpl. James Silvia, Portsmouth
Malls Shopping Center 23rd & Louisiana
- Pfc, Craig Stockton, Rochester, N.Y.
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