D1 Nov.
10, 2010
Morning of mourning
Marine who survived Beirut barracks bombing shares his story
by Lisa Fipps
managing editor
editor@kokomoperspective.com
G
reg Rogers
was awake.
He was on
duty. And it
was his
duty to make sure
other essential crew
members were up and
at ’em. That’s what
saved him. He was
awake.
It was about 6:20 a.m.
on Oct. 23, 1983. Rogers
was a U.S. Marine. A new
Marine, in fact. After basic
training, he was assigned
to Beirut, Lebanon.
The now-Kokomoan
grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
and his sister teased him
when he joined the corps,
saying he was going to end
up in a hot spot.
“They told me I was
going to Beirut,” Rogers
said. “I was like, what part
of California is Beirut in?”
He laughed. “You’re going
to jump right into a hot
spot; that’s what she said.
She wasn’t kidding.”
Oct. 23, 1983
Rogers was stationed at
Camp Lejeune, so in Octo-
ber 1983, he became part
of that peace-keeping
force in Beirut. By Oct. 23,
he had been there for two
weeks.
While waking up peo-
ple, he wasn’t in a position
to see the yellow truck ap-
proaching. A lone terrorist
was inside.
The terrorist drove the
truck “over the barbed and
concertina wire obstacle,
passed between two Ma-
rine guard posts without
being engaged by fire, en-
tered an open gate, passed
around one sewer pipe
barrier and between two
others, flattened the Ser-
geant of the Guard’s sand-
bagged booth at the
building’s entrance, pene-
trated the lobby of the
(four-story) building and
(the bomb) detonated
while the majority of the
occupants slept. The force
of the explosion ripped the
building from its founda-
tion. The building then im-
ploded upon itself. Almost
all the occupants were
crushed or trapped inside
the wreckage,” according
to a U.S. Department of
Defense statement.
For comparison, Timo-
thy McVeigh used a 7,000-
pound bomb to take down
the nine-story Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building
in downtown Oklahoma
City in 1995.
The FBI called the
Beirut barracks bombing
the largest non-nuclear
bomb in history.
241 dead
SERVING AMERICA — Above, Greg Martin during his BEIRUT BARRACKS — Above, the building used for the
early military days in the Marines. Below, some of his Marine barracks. Below, photo taken just seconds after
buddies during training. the blast.
Perspective photo / U.S. Marine Corps
“I was already up and
waking up people when it
happened or we wouldn’t
be having this conversa-
tion,” Rogers said. “We
heard the whole thing. It
rattled the whole building,
and 238 didn’t make it out.
I’d just been there two
weeks. I’m just meeting
people, learning what’s
going, and something like
that goes down. The guys
on the ships in the
Mediterranean saw the big
cloud come up. They did a
rescue operation.”
All total, 241 American
Marines, soldiers and
sailors died.
“A lot of guys didn’t die
right then,” Rogers said.
“They eventually died
weeks or so later.”
“They heloed us out of IN BEIRUT — Above, Rogers, kneeling at right, with
there because they didn’t some of the Marines in Lebanon. All of these men sur-
know what else might hap- vived. Below, being in the infantry, he was trained as a
pen,” Rogers said. sniper.
Something else did hap-
pen.
Minutes later, a blast at
the compound of the
French peace-keeping
force killed 58 more.
As news hit, the Mari-
nes’ families huddled
around their telephones
and waited anxiously. THE AFTERMATH — Above, Marines dig through the
rubble to find survivors and bodies. Below left, then-Pres-
Rogers was able to call
home. “I told my mom I ident Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan with
was OK,” he said. the survivors during the memorial service, which Rogers
It really wasn’t OK. attended. Below, the Reagans survey the caskets at An-
When it was safe to re- drews Air Force Base. Rogers rode in a van with many
turn, the Marines worked dead bodies. Perspective photos / U.S. Marine Corps, Reagan Library
to clear the debris and find
any surviving and dead.
“I remember on one
drive back,” Rogers said.
“There were bodies right
there in the van with us.”
Then there were the fu-
nerals. “We had a big me-
morial service. President
Reagan was there. There
were all of these caskets
with flags on them. It was
something. The motor
pool had like 50 guys in
the platoon. After we fin-
ished with all the funerals
MORNING–D2
 Kokomo Perspective
D2
and head counts after the
bombing, there were only
three left. We didn’t stay
there in Beirut long after
that. We came right back to
the states. We were sta-
tioned at Camp Lejeune the
rest of the time.”
Rogers doesn’t talk about
the details or offer descrip-
tions of what he saw amid
the smoke and rubble that
October morning in 1983.
His wife, Kathy, said it’s
something he’s never talked
The Oct. 23, 1983, bombing of
the Marine barracks in Beirut
was the largest single-day loss
of life for Marines since the
World War II
Battle of Iwo Jima.
Nov. 10, 2010
kokomoperspective.com/salute to veterans
MORNING
continued from page D1
about — until after this in-
terview. Then he sat down
and went through the photo
album and shared some of
the story with his wife and
sons.
“I still think about it,”
Rogers said back in Octo-
ber before the 23rd. “We’ve
got an anniversary coming
up. I always wake up that
same time on Oct. 23, even
to this day.”
He was awake that morn-
ing. That’s what saved him.
They went in peace
Beirut had been “the Paris of the Mediterranean” for years.
It was a tourist mecca — until 1975, the start of the Lebanese
Civil War.
Discontent had been brewing for 32 years, since 1943.
That’s when Bishara al-Khuri (a Maronite Christian and
Lebanon’s first president after independence) and the first
prime minister, Riyad al-Sulh (a Sunni Muslim), had meetings
and entered a National Pact, an unwritten agreement, to deal
with the Christians’ fear of being dominated by the Muslims
and the Muslims’ fear of Western hegemony. But Muslim
groups were not
happy with the Na-
tional Pact, which
established a domi-
nant political role for
Christians, which
outnumbered Mus-
lims 6-5 at the time.
The start of the
Lebanese Civil War
“was followed by the
Israeli invasion into
Lebanon to root out
the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization in
1982,” according to
the U.S. Marine
Corps. “According to
Israel, the invasion was in response to an assassination at-
tempt on one their ambassadors. Differing accounts of who
started the shooting exist, but the key fact is that war had
begun again in the Middle East and the world community felt
it had to help stop it.”
“In the summer of 1982, at the request of the Lebanese gov-
ernment, the United States agreed to establish a U.S. military
presence in that country to serve as a peacekeeping force in
the conflict between warring Muslim and Christian factions,” REMEMBERING — Left and center, the Beirut Memorial
according to the U.S. Marine Corps. “On March 24, 1983, the at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Right, a Lebanese cedar planted
24th Marine Amphibious Unit, stationed at Camp Lejeune, at Arlington National Cemetery, where some of those
N.C., received orders to Beirut, Lebanon, in support of that who died in the bombing are buried.
commitment.” Perspective photos / Arlington National Cemetery, Camp Lejeune
“Initially, the U.S. forces, along with French and Italian
forces, provided a measure of stability; however, as diplo-
matic efforts failed to achieve a basis for a lasting settlement,
the Muslim factions came to perceive the Marines as ene-
mies,” according to the U.S. Marine Corps. “This led to ar-
tillery, mortar and small arms fires being directed at the
Marine Corps positions.” The Other Wall
It does not stand in Washington
By others of its kind
In prominence and dignity
With mission clearly defined.
It does not list the men who died
That tyranny should cease
But speaks in silent eloquence
Of those who came in peace.
This Other Wall is solemn white
And cut in simple lines
And it nestles in the splendor
Of the Carolina pines.
And on this wall there are the names
Of men who once had gone
In friendship’s name offer aid
To Beirut,Lebanon
They did not go as conquerors
To bring a nation down
Or for honor or for glory
Or for praises or renown.
When they landed on that foreign shore
Their only thought in mind
Was the safety of its people
And the good of all mankind
Though they offered only friendship
And freedom’s holy breath
They were met with scorn and mockery
And violence and death.
So the story of their glory
Is not the battles fought
But of their love for freedom
Which was so dearly bought.
And their Wall shall stand forever
So long as freedom shines
On the splendor and the glory
Of the Carolina pines.
Written by: R.A. Gannon

Ehase recounts his time aboard the USS Enterprise
About the ship
NUCLEAR-POWERED — Dennis Ehase was aboard the USS Enterprise when this
photo was taken to celebrate its 40th year.
The first, the fastest
It was 1954. Congress au-
thorized the construction of
the world’s first nuclear-pow-
ered aircraft carrier, USS En-
terprise (CVN-65). It was the
eighth U.S. ship to bear the
name Enterprise since the
first days of the American
Revolutionary War
The giant ship was to be
powered by eight nuclear re-
actors, two for each of its
four propeller shafts. This
was a daring undertaking, for
never before had two nuclear
reactors ever been harnessed
together. As such, when the
engineers first started plan-
ning the ship’s propulsion
system, they were uncertain
how it would work, or even if
it would work according their
theories.
Materials used by the ship-
yard included 60,923 tons of
steel; 1,507 tons of aluminum;
230 miles of pipe and tubing;
and 1,700 tons of one-quarter-
inch welding rods. The mate-
rials were supplied from
more than 800 companies.
kokomoperspective.com/salute to veterans
Serving by sea
Nine hundred shipyard engi-
neers and designers created
the ship on paper, and the
millions of blueprints they
created, laid end-to-end,
would stretch 2,400 miles, or
from Miami to Los Angeles.
Three years and nine
months after construction
began, Enterprise was ready
to present to the world as
“The First, The Finest” super
carrier.
The newly christened En-
terprise left the shipyard for
six days of builders’ and
Navy’s pre-acceptance trails.
The new super carrier’s per-
formance exceeded the
Navy’s most optimistic ex-
pectations.
Enterprise broke all previ-
ous records for speed when it
exceeded 40 miles-per-hour
during initial trials.
At the commissioning of
Enterprise, the world’s first
nuclear-powered aircraft car-
rier, then-Secretary of the
Navy John B. Connally Jr.,
called it a worthy successor
Perspective photo / U.S. Navy
to the highly decorated sev-
enth USS Enterprise of World
War II.
In October 1962, Enter-
prise was dispatched to its
first international crisis. En-
terprise and other ships in the
It’s my firm belief that every
able-bodied man should give back
“
to his community, whether through the
military or as a police officer or
firefighter — something that gives back.
Dennis Ehase, Navy veteran
Second Fleet set up a quaran-
tine of all military equipment
under shipment to commu-
nist Cuba. The blockade was
put in place on Oct. 24, and
the first Soviet ship was
stopped the next day. On Oct.
28, Soviet leader Krushchev
SHIP–D4
by Lisa Fipps
managing editor
editor@kokomoperspective.com
hen Dennis Ehase
W joined the U.S.
Navy in 1995, he
was following in the foot-
steps of his grandfathers’
footsteps. Growing up, he’d
heard their stories.
“My grandpa Jack Davis
was a prisoner of war in
Korea,” Ehase said. Davis
was a Marine. “He said there
were days when you’d wake
and pray you’d have food for
that day. You thought maybe
you’d get some rice and you’d
hope — you’d hope — there
were maggots in it just to
have some protein.”
Davis didn’t talk a lot about
his time as a POW, Ehase
said. Most soldiers don’t.
Ehase knows why: Soldiers
see things while serving their
country and keeping America
free, things that are hard to
think about, let alone talk to
others about.
You see, having served in
the Navy from 1995-2004, and
”
was stationed aboard the
USS Enterprise (CVN-65),
Ehase now has stories of his
own.
“I joined the Navy because
I knew I wasn’t ready for col-
lege,” he said. “It was a tight
race between the Air Force
and the Navy. I was 18. I
Nov. 10, 2010 Kokomo Perspective
D3
MEDALS AND AWARDS — Dennis Ehase receiving the
Navy Achievement Medal. He also received the Navy
Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal,
Armed Forced Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces
Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary
Medal Ribbon, Gold War on Terrorism Service Medal
Ribbon, Sea Service Ribbon and the NATO Medal.
asked, ‘Where can I party the couple of days,” Ehase said.
most and find the most beau- But it didn’t take long before
tiful girls?’ They said the he was used to it. In fact, he
Navy.” He laughed. “It wasn’t said, “I kinda miss the life on
the best logical decision.” a ship. I’ve been all over the
There was another reason eastern side of the world,
— the real reason — he pretty much.”
joined the Navy. While aboard the USS En-
“I figured if my grandpas terprise, Ehase worked on all
served to make sure I was the navigational equipment
safe then it was my turn to and all the communication
make sure they were safe devices, phones, GYRO com-
now that they’re older,” he passes.
said.
Sept. 11, 2001
And he doesn’t regret the
On Sept. 11, Ehase was on
decision at all.
the USS Enterprise. The ship
“I become an electrician by
was headed for South Africa.
being in the Navy. It taught
“I’ll never forget. We were
me discipline. It allowed me
watching the first Twin Tower
to get the basics for what I
building burn and then a
consider being successful in
plane hit the second tower.
life.”
It’s a video everyone remem-
Life aboard a ship is a
bers. Our captain said, ‘We’re
whole different life.
going back to the Gulf imme-
“It was a floating city,” he
diately before the U.S. Secre-
said. “That’s no joke. There
tary of Defense had to ask us
were more than 6,000 people
to go, we were on our way.
on the ship.”
First he had to get his “sea
legs.”
“I still got seasick the first SERVING–D4
 Kokomo Perspective
D4
SERVING
continued from page D3
We didn’t see land for a very
long time. We sat out there
and fought, fought, fought.
Airplanes load up with
bombs and took off all the
time. It was routine for us
after that. I used to go out
there on deck at nighttime
and it was black like you’ve
never seen it before.”
Danger was everywhere.
“The scariest time was
when we were in the Suez
Canal,” Ehase said.
The Suez Canal is an artifi-
cial sea-level waterway in
Egypt, connecting the
Mediterranean Sea and the
Red Sea. It’s narrow.
“You were right next to
land,” Ehase said. “And you’d
Nov. 20, 2010
kokomoperspective.com/salute to veterans
gave his life for theirs.”
Another time, Ehase
watched as one plane carry-
ing four came in for a landing
on the aircraft carrier, but an-
other plane carrying two was
in the way. The pilots in both
planes ejected. When the last
one out of the plane with four
ejected, she hit the wing of
the other plane and was de-
capitated instantly.
With all that they go
through, servicemen and
women bond.
“I know the thing I miss the
most about the Navy are the
people who stood beside you
no matter what,” Ehase said.
“I had two children born
while I was in the military. I
got divorced while I was in
the Navy. My military family
was right there, showing up
at my house and getting me
memories aboard the
USS Enterprise, too.
“One of the coolest
days when I was de-
ployed was when I got
an AMCross mes-
✮
sage,” Ehase said,
AMCross as in Ameri-
can Red Cross., “to
Get the
announce that was
baby girl was born.”
facts on
He smiled.
Another big mo-
ment in Ehase’s life
veterans
came thanks to the
captain. 23.2 million
The captain has the The number of
power to promote
military veterans in the
someone on the spot. United States in 2008. IT’S OFFICIAL — President Dwight D. Eisenhower sign-
“It’s a special
ing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
honor,” Ehase said. Perspective photo / Courtesy Veterans Administration
He was walking 1.8 million
across the quarter
deck after taking his
pregnant wife to a
The number of
female veterans History of Veterans Day
in 2008. orld War I World War I. But as of 1954,

look on the banks out there
and see your enemy sitting
there with guns. You’re think-
ing, ‘Are they going to open
fire? Do they have any chem-
ical agents?’ I was very fortu-
nate that I never saw combat
up close.”
The USS Enterprise is so
important to the U.S. Navy, he
said, that “you have ships
around you that are pretty
close and their job is to pro-
tect that ship.”
But he saw many a Navy
Seal and pilot take flight for
combat.
“I remember one time I
watched as Navy Seals in a
helicopter went into the
ocean right after takeoff,”
Ehase said. “Only one Seal
came up. He realized he was
alone. Seals don’t leave their
buddies behind. He dove
back under for his fellow
men. He got them down and
then went down for the two
pilots. But the helicopter
rolled over and he died. He
moved out. Being there for
me. To this day still I have
friends I can pick up and call
and if they were capable they
would be here. You don’t see
that in the civilian sector any-
more.”
And it bothers — even
angers — Ehase when those
who haven’t served make
negative comments about
veterans or wars.
He remembers once being
with a family member who
voiced disgust over the U.S.
military’s presence in the
Middle East.
“I went off,” Ehase said. “I
had just given up seven
months of life with my two
kids and he sat there and had
the nerve to say that? I hate it
when people complain to sol-
diers about different battles
we’re in or things we’ve done.
It’s not us doing it on our
own. We’re taking a direct
order. We haven’t talked
since.”
There were plenty of good
doctor’s appointment.
“They said, ‘You’re
out of uniform.’ I said,
‘What?’ They said
‘Come on board any-
way.’ Five hundred
were up for it, but I
was one of only three
to get E5. That’s why
they said I wasn’t in
uniform, I was Number of Vietnam-era vet-
dressed as an E4. It
was a very special
day.”
“The Navy is a dif-
ferent life. It’s a very
10.4 million
different life,” Ehase
Number of veterans 18 to 64
in the labor force in 2008.
said. “It was a nice ca-
reer. I’d probably go
back tomorrow if I
had to. It’s my frim be-
lief that every able- Number of veterans with any
bodied man should
give back to his com-
munity, whether
through the military
or as a police officer
or volunteer — some-
thing that gives back.”
W
— known at World War II had required
the time as the greatest mobilization of
9.2 million “The Great soldiers, sailors, Marines
The number of War” – offi- and airmen in the nation’s
cially ended when the Treaty history. After American
veterans 65 and
of Versailles was
older in 2008. signed on June 28,
Many people confuse
1919, in the
Palace of Ver- Memorial Day and
7.8 million sailles outside the Veterans Day. Memorial
town of Versailles, Day is for remembering
erans in 2008. France. However,
and honoring military
fighting ceased
personnel who died in the
seven months ear-
lier when an
armistice, or tem-
service of their country,
particularly those who
porary cessation
of hostilities, be-
died in battle or as a result
tween the Allied of wounds sustained in
5.5 million nations and Ger- battle. While those who
many went into died are also remembered
effect on the 11th
hour of the 11th on Nov. 11, Veterans Day
type of is the day set aside to
day of the 11th
disability in 2008.
month. For that thank and honor ALL
reason, Nov. 11, those who served
1918, is generally
honorably in the military
regarded as the
end of “the war to – in wartime or peace-
end all wars.” In time. Source: VA
November 1919,
P r e s i d e n t
Woodrow Wilson pro- forces had fought aggres-
claimed Nov. 11 as the first sion in Korea, the 83rd Con-
commemoration of gress, at the urging of the
Armistice Day. veterans’ service organiza-
An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. tions, amended the Act of
S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved 1938 by striking out the
May 13, 1938, made the 11th word “Armistice” and insert-
of November in each year a ing in its place the word
legal holiday — a day to be “Veterans.” With the ap-
dedicated to the cause of proval of this legislation
world peace and to be there- (Public Law 380) on June 1,
after celebrated and known 1954, Nov. 11 became a day
as Armistice Day. Armistice to honor American veterans
Day was primarily a day set of all wars.
aside to honor veterans of

dom, Big E once again took

SHIP
continued from page D3
agreed to dismantle nuclear
missiles and bases on Cuba,
concluding the Cuban Missile
Crisis, the closest the U.S.
and USSR have ever come to
nuclear war.
Enterprise aborted her
transit home from a long de-
ployment after the terrorist
attacks in New York City and
Washington. D.C., on Sept.
11, 2001, and steamed
overnight to the North Ara-
bian Sea. In direct support of
Operation Enduring Free-
her place in history by be-
coming one of the first units
to respond in a crisis with its
awesome striking power. En-
terprise expended more than
800,000 pounds of ordnance
during the operation. The
ship returned to home port at
Naval Station Norfolk on
Nov. 10, 2001.
Enterprise continues to be
a shining example to the
fleet. It is the first nuclear-
powered aircraft carrier, and
the fastest in the world.
Source: U.S. Navy