Marines Return to Lebanon After 23-Year Absence

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The New York Sun

BEIRUT, Lebanon — American Marines landed back in Beirut for the first time in 23 years yesterday to help evacuate American citizens from the continued Israeli bombardment.

A first contingent of 40 went ashore early in the morning on a landing craft from the troop carrier USS Nashville.

Eventually 1,000 Americans were loaded up and taken to Cyprus.

The Marines, helped by Lebanese soldiers, waded through waves to carry women and children to the landing craft.

“We are thankful to leave but our hearts and prayers are with Lebanon and its people,” said Mireille Ayoub, 47, from Los Angeles. “It is very bad there, unsafe and uncertain.”

It was total chaos,”said Hisam Ajouz, 18, from Dearborn, Mich. “Everyone was trying to shove their way to the checkpoint. Women were screaming that they had babies and old people looked on the verge of collapse.”

The Marines were revisiting the scene of the American military’s single worst loss of life since World War II, when 241 Marines were killed after Hezbollah guerrillas drove a truck packed with explosives into their barracks on the old Airport Road.

They landed at the Dbayeh marina close to the American Embassy compound, where thousands of the 25,000 Americans in Lebanon had gathered. About 8,000 have asked to be evacuated.

As the exodus of foreigners from the shattered Lebanese capital gathered speed, the Royal Navy assault ship Bulwark departed in the evening with several thousand Britons on board, also bound for Cyprus. More than 1,000 British nationals and dual nationals have already been ferried to safety on board the destroyers York and Gloucester, which will continue to sail back and forth as needed.

Two of those evacuated, Martin and Denise Carlin, from Burnley, Lancs, were on holiday visiting their daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren when the bombing started.

They had no option but to stay in Beirut when the airport was destroyed.

Mr. Carlin said: “Lebanon is a lovely country and we visited it three years previously, but we did not expect this to happen. Our daughter lives 10 minutes from the airport, and it felt like the bombing was on top of us. It was frightening. I think the embassy were a bit slow. They have done the evacuation the wrong way ’round. They could have taken the children and tourists first.”

In the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, 700 American evacuees from Lebanon were housed yesterday in an exhibition center. A sea of orange camp beds provided by the Greek Cypriot civil defense organization were stretched out in what is now the main clearing center for the American citizens fleeing the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The island has become the hub of the evacuation operation and may have to deal with as many as 80,000 refugees in the coming weeks.


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