Second Battalion Marines Lebanon - Cruise Book

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Now Hear This . . . --away all boats --- away allboats. This com- mand was barked over ships' speakers at 1400, the afternoon of 15 July, as 1800 Marines suddenly shared their thoughts as one -- fear, anxiety, ap- prehension. What's on the beach? Who is it? Why are they there? Why are we here? These,then, are feelings peculiar only to Marines about to land, for reasons other than practice encounters. Our Lebanon landing story goes back to 14 May, when the battalion arrived in Gibraltar, ready to relieve the outgoing unit -- full of anticipation of glorious liberty days on the French Riviera, Spain, Naples, Rome, a glorified sightseeing tour with all expenses paid. But the scheduled four days in Gibraltar were cut to a few hours, as we refueledand immediately sped eastward through the Med. Something about trouble in Lebanon, so they said. The story of our cruise then became one of monotony and routine, long days at sea -- mostly in an area south of Cyprus off the Lebanese coast -- punctuated at infrequent intervals by two practice landings and three liberty ports. On 14 July, three days after our Suda Bay land- ing, word was received of Iraq's overthrown govern- ment -- and while ears were tuned to the hectic Mideast situation, our ships were speeding toward Lebanon . . . our landing was ordered . . . and our cruise was climaxed . . . We knew nothing more of the- beach than what could be seen from the ships Cbelowj. Our landing is history now -- and the following pages show a part of this history . . . and something of our experiences . . . 'EV--f'l21l' 1-il