Thx so much Pastor Wheeler, Jack & Scott. As I watched this TH-cam interview the realization came to me that it has been 41 years in the making to hear an account from a BLT survivor that is so remarkably thorough, and one that filled the gap that helped me understand what was happening between my deployments to Beirut. I was 22nd MAU H&S Comm. We were relieved by pastor Wheelers MAU & 1/8. Then I deployed to Beirut again as Fleet Personnel a few months after Oct 23, 83. But about those months in between deployments - it was suggested for me to take time out of anything that I was doing to chat with BLT survivors that were making it back to Camp Geiger where we were training to possibly return to Beirut. Well I did, and I learned a lot about how things changed over there. When the conversation turned more towards them, it was always a brief Marine to Marine sentence or two, and they always clammed up. Then the day came that they needed replacements for some reason. I had to volunteer to override my LT or else I wasn’t going anywhere because he felt he had enough Marines to spare signing off a float each. I will never forget the Marines who survived the BLT explosion after escaping on their own or buried in the rubble returning back to Beirut with a job to do along with me. Then the Marines still there that I remembered from before, and those that never left. So thx again & I’ll keep saying what a VIP told me in a postcard years ago as the redact turned to undeniable facts. “Better late then never ”Semper Fi”
I met Danny in 1988 at Portsmouth Naval hospital. Great guy and great pastor.
Great interview.
Truly amazing interview, Gentlemen. Thank you so much for sharing Danny's stories with us. His memories and insights are deeply moving.
BZ to all.
Thx so much Pastor Wheeler, Jack & Scott. As I watched this TH-cam interview the realization came to me that it has been 41 years in the making to hear an account from a BLT survivor that is so remarkably thorough, and one that filled the gap that helped me understand what was happening between my deployments to Beirut. I was 22nd MAU H&S Comm. We were relieved by pastor Wheelers MAU & 1/8. Then I deployed to Beirut again as Fleet Personnel a few months after Oct 23, 83. But about those months in between deployments - it was suggested for me to take time out of anything that I was doing to chat with BLT survivors that were making it back to Camp Geiger where we were training to possibly return to Beirut. Well I did, and I learned a lot about how things changed over there. When the conversation turned more towards them, it was always a brief Marine to Marine sentence or two, and they always clammed up. Then the day came that they needed replacements for some reason. I had to volunteer to override my LT or else I wasn’t going anywhere because he felt he had enough Marines to spare signing off a float each. I will never forget the Marines who survived the BLT explosion after escaping on their own or buried in the rubble returning back to Beirut with a job to do along with me. Then the Marines still there that I remembered from before, and those that never left. So thx again & I’ll keep saying what a VIP told me in a postcard years ago as the redact turned to undeniable facts. “Better late then never ”Semper Fi”
WOW!
Jack why not interview the surviving members of the USS Liberty