Lebanon evacuation a unique opportunity for Marines

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By Maria Sanminiatelli
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus — It was a quiet trip over, and the 1983 attack that killed 241 Americans weighed heavily on their minds.

For Maj. Chris Abrams of the U.S. Marines, who piloted the helicopter that swooped into Beirut on July 16 and brought out the very first group of American evacuees fleeing the violence in Lebanon, it was an opportunity.

“There are very few opportunities — unique opportunities — that anybody wants,” Abrams said Wednesday in a telephone interview from the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima. “And as Marines we take pride in being able to help people.”

Abrams, 36, landed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut nearly 23 years after a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden truck into a building where many of the U.S. troops were staying, killing 241 Americans.

A near-simultaneous suicide attack killed 58 at the French multinational headquarters.

It was Oct. 23, 1983, and the attacks were blamed on allies of Hezbollah, the Shiite militia now battling Israel. The following February — after the Lebanese army split along sectarian lines — the Marines withdrew to U.S. Navy ships offshore and other multinational troops also left Lebanon.

There has been no American military presence since.

“It was mentioned once” on the way to Beirut, said Marine Corp. Jessica Buckley, who was crew chief on the second helicopter behind the one piloted by Abrams. Otherwise, it was a quiet, somewhat tense flight over the Mediterranean from the island of Cyprus.

“We were all kind of nervous going in,” she said.

The reward came when they met those they were rescuing.

“More than a few broke down in tears, and we asked if they were tears of joy or tears of sadness, and I think they were both — for what they were leaving behind and because they were safe,” Abrams said.

Each helicopter carried about 30 evacuees, including children and a few babies, “crying and screaming,” said Buckley, 26. The Marines brought them candy, and once the helicopters took off the children calmed down.

Since then, the Marines have been flying in and out of Beirut about twice daily, carrying aid in and people out.

It was during Buckley’s fourth or fifth day that a man being evacuated turned to his girlfriend — who was strapped in two seats away from him — and pulled out a ring.

“People were taking pictures and smiling,” she said. “It was kind of nice that they’re still getting on with their lives.

“That kind of made you realize that what you were doing was important.”

Some 35,000 people with foreign passports, including many with injuries, have been evacuated from Lebanon through Cyprus since fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas on July 12 — most from European countries, the United States and Canada.

So far, the United States has pulled out about 15,000 of its citizens, mostly by sea. The very first group of evacuees left on Abrams’ and Buckley’s helicopters.