Remembering the 1983 Bombing of U.S. Embassy Beirut

DSS personnel were some of the first to respond to the terrorist attack on April 18, 1983, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. A suicide bomber parked a van with explosives at the front of the embassy building. The detonation killed 63 people and wounded 120, most of whom were embassy personnel. Seventeen Americans lost their lives in the bombing—among them U.S. Marine Security Guard Robert McMaugh. This was the deadliest attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission up to that time and is considered the beginning of attacks by extremist groups on U.S. targets. In this video, we hear from a retired DSS special agent as he remembers responding to the terrorist attack, and how it helped shape future DSS' crisis response plans. #todayinhistory #historyfacts #nationalsecurity #diplomaticservice