Marine Security Guard Detachment

Hello, to the Marines who served in the American Embassy Beirut.

I was a Communications Programs Officer during the war years about May 1976 to April 1979. At the end of May 1976 our ambassador, the Econ Off, and the driver were killed while crossing to the North (green line). Several months later there was an evacuation of all Embassy personnel except for the seven Marines in the MSG Det, and about seven or eight Department of State (DOS) employees.

We all lived in the vacated Embassy for the next half year. Even during the dark days when the city was burning, there was a bond created between the Marines and us few DOS personnel working and living

under the one roof. Tragically all was lost in the bombing which took the lives of those Marines and many Foreign Service National (FSN) employees.

There is a plaque in their memory at the Embassy compound. I had the privilege of serving on temporary duty in 2000 which I could finally pay my respects personally to those Marines, seven FSN personnel who worked for me, and the
other FSN employees who I had known on two separate assignments in Beirut.

Although I was not a U.S. Marine myself, my years (1964 - 2007) of DOS employment repeatedly confirmed my respect for the professionalism of the Marines who guard our Embassies worldwide.