JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- More than 2,500 people attended the City of Jacksonville’s 42nd anniversary Beirut Memorial observance on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Lejeune Memorial Gardens.
The solemn event commemorated the 273 Marines, Sailors and Soldiers killed as a result of the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The ceremony included speeches and wreath layings by military and civilian leaders, musical performances by the 2nd Marine Division Band and Swansboro High School choir, a gun salute and “Taps.”
“Forty-two years have passed since that fateful day, but we do remember. We remember like it was yesterday,” said Stacey Pollard, Beirut Veterans of America liaison and Beirut Advisory Board member.
Veterans, family members, and representatives from the Beirut Veterans of America, the City of Jacksonville, Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River attended to honor the lives lost, and the family and Beirut veterans present.
The memorial in Lejeune Memorial Gardens was dedicated in 1986, created through a partnership between the City of Jacksonville and the Marines of Camp Lejeune.
“That spirit of service, of sacrifice and of shared purpose defines us today, as a testament to how that bond born of tragedy and shared loss between the community and the Marine Corps lives on,” said Brig. Gen. Ralph J. Rizzo, Jr., commanding general, Marine Corps Installations East-MCB Camp Lejeune.
“The lessons of Beirut, about awareness, preparation and unity of purpose, are woven into how we train, how we fight, and how we lead in combat, just as their sacrifice these many years ago is woven into the fabric of our Corps and lives on in those who wear the cloth today,” Rizzo said.
Brig. Gen. Joel F. Schmidt, assistant division commander, 2nd Marine Division, delivered the keynote address.
“To the families, we are with you,” Schmidt said. “Your loved ones are always with us. Their memories, their sacrifices, are a part of the very fabric of who we are as Marines and as a community. To the veterans here today, your courage and resilience sets the example for all of us to emulate and aspire to.”
The annual Beirut Memorial Observance continues to bring the community, families and Marines past and present together to remember the legacy of Beirut.
“The spirit of Beirut is that of resilience,” Schmidt said. “It is a spirit that lives on in every Marine that we will always be ready to answer the nation’s call, to protect the weak, and if knocked down, to get up, dust ourselves off to fight and win in any clime and any place.”
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From left to right, U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Joel F. Schmidt, assistant division commander, 2nd Marine Division; Col. Neil R. Berry, commanding officer; and Sgt. Maj. Justin K. Bradley, sergeant major, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, salute during the 42nd anniversary Beirut Memorial Observance Ceremony at the Lejeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. veterans, service members and families gather alongside the community each year on October 23, to remember the lives lost in the terrorist attacks at the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, and Grenada. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Loriann Dauscher)