Presidents and the 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing
"This past Sunday, at 22 minutes after 6 Beirut time, with dawn just breaking, a truck, looking like a lot of other vehicles in the city, approached the airport on a busy, main road. There was nothing in its appearance to suggest it was any different than the trucks or cars that were normally seen on and around the airport. But this one was different. At the wheel was a young man on a suicide mission The truck carried some 2,000 pounds of explosives, but there was no way our marine guards could know this."
That was President Ronald Reagan -- addressing the nation -- October 1983.
What…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.