Beirut Watch
Sergeant Arturo Alejandre,USMC
Acquisition Number: 2012.1151.9
Medium: Oil on Canvas

A Marine surveys the landscape outside Beirut International Airport’s perimeter in 1983. Any building could hide a sniper, and all unusual movement is reported to the Marine Amphibious Unit headquarters. On 23 October 1983, two trucks laden with explosives struck two buildings in Beirut that housed U.S. Marines and French service members, part of a multi-national peacekeeping force deployed to Lebanon during a violent civil war. The death toll was 307, including 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and 3 soldiers.