BEIRUT, Lebanon — On Oct. 23, 1983, a suicide bomber drove a truck under a four-story building in Beirut, Lebanon that housed U.S. Marine barracks.
Twelve-thousand pounds of TNT was detonated killing 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers, according to the U.S. State Department.
The Marines were sent in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan for a peacekeeping mission.
The attack was traced back to Hezbollah, a "militant and political group that originated in Lebanon in 1982," CNN reported.
Prior to the attack, on April 18, a suicide bomber also detonated a one-half-ton pickup truck filled with 2,000 pounds of TNT in front of the U.S. Embassy. Sixty-three people, including 17 Americans, were killed in that attack.
In December 1983, the U.S. Embassy was attacked in Kuwait City. No Americans were injured, but four local staff were killed.
According to the State Department, these attacks altered the way United States leaders "perceived and responded" to terrorist threats.
On the 35th anniversary of the attack, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo with the words "They came in peace" and wrote in a tweet, "We'll never forget these heroes who came in peace and gave their lives that awful day."
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