31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles C. Krulak
Speech delivered at the Beirut Memorial Remembrance Ceremony 9:00 AM October 23, 1998

 

"Each one of us here remembers that terrible day.... We remember the shock ... the disbelief ... and the final, cold acknowledgment.... We remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the first report ... and we remember the death toll growing with every passing hour.

And that is why we are gathered here today ... to remember ... to remember the Marines and sailors who fell ... husbands ... fathers ... sons ... brothers ... loved ones ... heroes, one and all ... the flower of America's youth. When we close our eyes ... when we listen with our hearts ... we can still see their faces ... and hear their voices ... and remember who they were ... and what they stood for....

Fifteen years have passed since we were shaken by that horrific blast and much has changed. Remarkably, the world has grown even more violent and unpredictable. The end of the Cold War heralded, not the hoped for era of peace ... but rather, a time of chaos ... an era in which America's Corps of Marines are called upon, ever more frequently, to defend our country's many interests abroad. We are called upon because of who we are and what we stand for. The situation that we encountered in war-torn Beirut during 1983 confounded us. We were thrust into a churning cauldron of strife ... a place where it was often impossible to distinguish friend from foe. It was an incredibly hostile environment for which the rules had not been written ... a somber precursor of today's archetypical urban battlefield. The painful lessons learned there ... purchased with great sacrifice ... have done much to prepare us for the asymmetrical threats of a world in which chaos is now routine.

In 1961, General David M. Shoup, our twenty-second Commandant, observed

"Neither money nor machines can serve as a substitute for our fighting men. We cannot buy justice and freedom. We cannot manufacture them. We have got to want them. And wanting them, we have got to be willing to fight for them -- without any selfish thoughts of our personal convenience. This is what we must ask, first of ourselves and then of our children. And ask it we must."

The Marines and sailors of the 24th MAU knew, in their souls, exactly what General Shoup was talking about ... they knew that we cannot buy or manufacture justice and freedom ... and they were willing to fight for them. And fight they did. They were willing to die for them. And die they did.

In 1986, on a day in October marked by a soaking rain, Marines and sailors ... families and friends ... solemnly gathered here to honor and commemorate their fallen comrades and loved ones and to dedicate this beautiful memorial.... The simple words carved upon its face are a powerful epitaph for the brave men who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their Country. They are words which I believe those fallen warriors might well have chosen for themselves ... for they eloquently describe their motive... After this ceremony, I want you to lay your hands on the cool granite of this memorial ... then step back and read the words engraved in the stone ... "They came in peace" ... "They came in peace." Let us remember that terse epitaph ... and let us always remember the men to whom it belongs ... Marines and sailors who did their duty ... honored their heritage ... and stood for those values that have long defined America's Naval Services -- honor, courage, and commitment. To them, Semper Fidelis -- Always Faithful -- was not just a motto ... it was a way of life.

God bless you and Semper Fidelis!"

 

31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles C. Krulak
Speech delivered at the Beirut Memorial Remembrance Ceremony
9:00 AM October 23, 1998