Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Marine Mike Zawacki of Webster said when Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on April 18, 1983, it was the start of a different kind of warfare.
“And then Sunday, Oct. 23, 1983, Hezbollah drove a truck bomb into the Marine barracks at 6:22 a.m.”
Zawacki said the bomb was some 12,000 pounds. On detonation, it took the four-story barracks and blew it "a story and half" in the air.
“And then it came down and pancaked with our Marines, sailors and soldiers in it — killing 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers," said Zawacki.
Zawacki's unit had deployed to Lebanon as peacekeepers. He said the flashbacks have taken him decades to learn to live with.
"When pieces of those Marines land on your body and on your uniform and your helmet and your flak jacket and your hands as you're aiding to the wounded and the dead, those images just never go away," he said.
The U.S. strikes on Iran nearly 43 years later have been "more than a long time coming," Zawacki said.
"Iranian-backed Hezbollah caused all that, and has caused numerous deaths to our people and even their own people over the last 43 years," he said.
Zawacki said President Donald Trump is the only leader to actually listen to the Iranian people. He feels Trump will be the only president to achieve what so many have tried, and failed, to do.
“We're finishing the global war on terrorism," Zawacki said. "And I believe within our lifetime, we're going to see real peace in the Middle East."
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