The annual observance to mark the 35th anniversary of the October 23, 1983 Beirut Bomb Blast will be held at the Beirut Memorial on Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 10:30AM. The observance will honor the fallen service members and survivors who served in Lebanon from 1958 to 1984 and in Grenada.
The Observance is an annual event organized by the City of Jacksonville Beirut Memorial Advisory Board in cooperation with the City, Marine Corps Installations East and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
The 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert B. Neller is scheduled to deliver the annual Beirut Memorial Address.
The 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Al Gray, will also speak. Gray was the commander of the Second Marine Division at the time of the Beirut Bombing. A celebrated leader, Gray has maintained connections to the Beirut families and survivors and now serves on the Carolinas Museum of the Marine Board of Directors.
The Crystal Coast Choral Society led by Finley Woolston will perform a medley in tribute to the fallen and for the families and survivors before wreaths are laid in their memory.
The Memorial site was damaged during Florence, but military leaders and volunteers have worked to make the site presentable for the annual observance.
The general public is invited to attend. Parking for the event will be at the Veterans Cemetery across from the Lejeune Memorial Gardens on Montford Landing Road. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will take place in the Trinity United Methodist Church.