Ceremony in Louisville honors 7 killed in Beirut

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB News)

Tuesday marked 35 years since the Beirut bombing when seven Kentuckians were killed.

With each name called during a ceremony at the Patriots Peace Memorial on River Road, a bell rang for the fallen Kentuckians killed in the Beirut bombing on Oct. 23, 1983. Veterans and their families honored the Kentuckians who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“This catastrophic attack took the lives of 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers and wounded more than 100 others,” Retired U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Scott Hoffman said. “Seven of those killed that morning were from Kentucky.”

The five marines, one soldier and one sailor were killed by a truck bomb at a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon.

“It was a coordinated and simultaneous attack carried out by Hezbollah and sponsored and directed by Iran,” Hoffman said.

It was the deadliest attack against U.S. Marines since the battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945.

“The Patriots Peace Memorial is very impressive,” Hoffman said. “It’s to recognize those service men that gave their lives not in combat.”

The ceremony also honored Louisville native, Col. William Higgins, who was killed in 1990.

“He was captured in January of 1988 by Hezbollah in Beirut,” Hoffman said. “He was on a peace-keeping mission with the United Nations. They tortured him for two years and pronounced his death in July 1990.”

Their names are up at the memorial with black ribbons to remember what they did for the U.S.

“Marines don’t forget this, but society that is free does,” Hoffman said. “It’s a common attribute, I think, of democracy. But it’s up to us to make people remember.”

Some of the other Kentuckians killed were from Winchester, Murray and Owensboro.

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