During the Lebanese Civil War, the United States of America participated in the Multinational Force in Lebanon on a peacekeeping mission. On the morning of 23 October 1983, two suicide bombers struck the buildings in which the peacekeepers were staying. They primarily targeted the Americans and the French. Fifty-eight of the French and 241 of the Americans were killed immediately in the blast with an additional thirteen Americans who died later of their wounds. There were 128 Americans wounded in the attack. The Islamic Jihad, a Shia militia, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The United States did not do anything to retaliate against the Islamic terrorists. It was later conjectured that the lack of an immediate and decisive retaliation was the reason global terrorism, in general, increased.
Steven Blake Henry, of Loysburg, and Stephen B. Oberman, of Saxton, served in the Air Force during the period of unrest in Beirut.
