‘The Root’: In Tribute to Veterans

Review by Bill Doughty––

The bombing was accurately described by Marine historian, journalist, and author Eric Hammel and his publisher as a “disaster”:

“At 6:22 a.m. on October 23, 1983, a yellow Mercedes truck raced across the parking lot of the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon. Crashing through a chain-link gate into the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit’s headquarters compound, it raced on, careening through a shack and into the open atrium lobby of a terminal building where the men were housed, many still asleep.

“The truck lurched to a stop. Seconds later, 12,000 pounds of high explosives piled in the bed of the truck exploded. The four-story steel and concrete building shuddered, then collapsed. Two hundred forty-one Americans were killed and many more injured in the disaster.”

The book’s cover sets the stage for “The Root: The Marines in Beirut, August 1982 - February 1984” by Eric Hammel (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985). Hammel arrived in Beirut Lebanon 40 years ago this month. He interviewed nearly 200 enlisted personnel and officers and reported on the who, what, when, where, and why of the devastating terrorist bombing of the barracks in a city the Marines nicknamed The Root. United States Marines and Navy and Army support personnel had been sent to Lebanon by then-President Ronald Reagan as part of a peacekeeping mission.

I was drawn to this book after reading and reviewing another contemporaneous account of the bombing, “Peacekeepers at War” by Col. Timothy J. Geraghty, USMC (ret.). Like Geraghty, Hammel brings forth fresh-at-the time details and rich context while focusing on the courage and sacrifice of service members involved. Hammel says upfront he is focused primarily on the Marines themselves:

“This is not a book about Beirut or Lebanon in the wake of the June 1982 Israeli invasion, nor is it about the Lebanese people, the Lebanese religious and political factions, Lebanon’s problems with its Syrian and Israeli neighbors, nor even the goals and aspirations articulated by the Reagan administration with respect to its hastily conceived and cosmetic solutions for the ongoing Lebanese tragedy. All those factors are part of this book only insofar as they impact upon Marines who were in Beirut.”

Beirut Memorial Run Oct. 20, Lejeune Memorial Gardens (LCpl. Ramsammy)

The relevance and parallels of what happened in Beirut 40 years ago to what is now happening in the Middle East are striking. 

Then, in 1983, the Israeli Defense Force invaded Lebanon after Islamist extremists in the Palestine Liberation Organization attacked villagers in northern Israel and established a “state within a state” within Lebanon, supported by the Palestine Liberation Army and Syria. Today, Israel is invading the southern sector of Gaza, after extremist Islamists in Hamas barbarically attacked innocent civilians in southern Israel with support from Iran and its agents.

In both cases, innocent civilians were and are caught in the crossfire of massive air and artillery bombardments. 

In both cases Islamist terrorists use civilians as human shields out of religious extremist beliefs justifying sacrifice for a greater good. 

And in both cases, the U.S. military assets respond in support of Israel in an attempt to deter an expansion of the war.

[Yesterday a U.S. MQ-9drone was reported to have been downed by attackers off the coast Yemen. Commenting in response, Neil Cavuto of FOX News said, “The war nobody wants to widen keeps stubbornly trying to widen.” Last night, most Republican candidates for president said in a televised NBC debate that the United States should attack Iran directly. Whether there will be further escalation, especially with Iran, is yet to be determined in that volatile region.]

Hammel describes a yawning “chasm that separates perception from reality in the Middle East.”

While the title of the book “The Root” refers to the city occupied by the Marines and other military personnel, there is also a possible double entendre. The root of the problem of the yawning “chasm that separates perception from reality” is religion –– A conflict between Moslems, Jews and Christians; a deadly feud between Shiite and Sunni sects; and a theocratic forever war by Islamist Jihadists against freedom, democracy, and diversity.

Clear-eyed reasoning can confront other root causes of world conflict and potential war: past imperialism, current overpopulation, and future climate change resulting in more mass migrations.

Hammel’s carefully researched and reported accounting of the Beirut tragedy is presented in who (including the names of U.S. service members killed in Lebanon September 1982 through February 1984), what (excellent descriptive writing), when (a chronological narrative), where (helpful maps and diagrams), and why (a scathing conclusion in the book’s epilogue).

He recounts the heroism of the Marines and Navy personnel who doggedly tried to make their mission a success despite growing attacks and other incidents of violence, including sniper fire in the months leading up to the bombing. “As nearly as any of the American servicemen who were directly involved could tell, the August 28 fighting in and around Beirut was precipitated by the desecration of a Maronite Christian church with posters depicting the Ayatollah Khomeini.”

Hammel describes the suicide bombing of the barracks with attention to detail and through the eyes and voices of the service members who experienced the horror. His matter-of-fact style brings forth the true heroism of the service members who responded, rescued and recovered their shipmates as well as the aftermath of dealing with the tragedy on the home front.

The epigraph of the book reads: “For the Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers Who Died in Beirut –– and for their families.”

This book is a good read as we approach Veterans Day and the Marine Corps Birthday, both occurring this weekend. Forty years ago the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, which is held anywhere in the world in which there are Marines, was a solemn event worldwide. There are moments of solemnity and remembrance at all Marine Corps birthday commemorations, where a table is set aside with empty chairs to remember the Marines who had made the ultimate sacrifice.

Leaders who send service members in harms way must always consider the why.

“The Root” hits home the truism that those who do not learn the lessons, mistakes, and disasters of history are condemned to repeat them.

Hammel died three years ago. He is remembered and honored by the Beirut Veterans Association as a “final muster,” publishing a note from Hammel’s son Daniel at the time of Eric’s death: “My dad wrote a lot of books about a lot of people, but there was no group that he was more in touch with than yours. I know that he touched many of your lives and many of you touched his. He saw you all as brothers, even though he didn't serve, he loved you all."

Top photo: U.S. Marines with the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing Band and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa prepare to enter a memorial service during a Beirut bombing commemoration in Lyon, France, Oct. 21, 2023. The Beirut bombing memorial commemorates the 40th anniversary of the attacks conducted against the French and Americans. (LCpl. Mary Linniman)