This week, the Virginia War Memorial Foundation, in partnership with Blue Ridge PBS, will premiere the documentary, One Week in October on Public Broadcasting Stations across the Commonwealth. The 26th in the Foundation’s award-winning documentary series, this film examines two significant military events that occurred the same week of October 1983 through personal recollections of Virginia Veterans.
Oct. 23 marked the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the US Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. 241 U.S. Military personnel were killed, including 220 Marines. The incident was the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima. That same week, citing danger to U.S. citizens in Grenada, then President Ronald Reagan ordered nearly 2,000 troops to launch a military intervention, occupation, and evacuation. Operation Urgent Fury launched at dawn on Oct. 25, 1983.
Within days, a terrorist attack and a perilous rescue attempt made headlines and history. 13 Virginians lost their lives during these events. Their names are carved on the wall of the Shrine of Memory – Global War on Terrorism at the Virginia War Memorial.
All Virginia Public Television stations will be carrying the documentary on Thursday, Oct. 26. BLUE RIDGE PBS in Central and Southwest Virginia at 8 and 9 p.m., PBS APPALACHIA in far Southwest Virginia at 8 and 9 p.m.
The film will also be available on vawarmemorial.org
