A Date For Infamy

Blackfive marks a somber anniversary. I'll note an anniversary too.

April 15th 1986 I was in line for lunch at a McDonalds in Denver Colorado, in uniform. A guy in line behind me strikes up conversation.

"Good work yesterday." He says, or something to that effect. "About time you guys let him have it."

The individual he was referencing was Muammar Qaddafi. The event was the bombing of Tripoli - 18 years ago today.

On April 5th of that year terrorists bombed a club in West Berlin. One GI and one civilian were killed and more than 200 people were injured, including 50 other U.S. servicemen. This was the straw that broke the camels back in a long series of Libyan-sponsored terrorist attacks.

Navy and Air Force aircraft hit Tripoli in a mission dubbed Operation El Dorado Canyon. The USAF birds launched from England. France refused to allow the F-111s to fly over French territory, which added 2,600 miles to the journey from England and back. One of the F-111's was lost during the raid, and much speculation has since risen over whether fatigue could have played a part in that loss. Likewise many believe the added stress may have contributed to the accidental bombing of the French embassy during the attack.

President Reagan: "When our citizens are abused or attacked anywhere in the world we will respond in self-defense. Today we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we shall do it again."

So the next day I found myself representing the US military to a guy in a lunchtime crowd in McDonalds, accepting his thanks, though I had done absolutely nothing in support of that mission. He'd caught me off guard at first; it took a second to realize why this guy was thanking me. Early in my career this was one of those moments where it started to sink in that I represented something to some people, for good or bad.

It may have been a bit of a turning point in public opinion too. Vietnam was still fresh, the military humiliations of the Carter years even more so. The invasion of Grenada was unimpressive to many, the abandonment of Beirut an embarrassment. But by the mid 80s the military was beginning to climb out of a public opinion hole, dug for us by an agenda-driven media. A few years later and we'd win more American hearts and minds (in spite of the media's best efforts) in the sands of Kuwait. Perhaps to be expected, as the public opinion of the military rose their esteem for the media fell.

I've long ago forgotten the source, or the exact quote for that matter, but someone somewhere said once that you don't win Pulitzers for reporting good things about the US Military.

But that long ago day in '86 I thanked the man who had thanked me, and said something to the effect of "Hopefully he'll get the message and maybe we won't have to do anything like that again." He agreed. Neither of us was confident. I paid for my lunch and left. It was payday, so I could afford it.

Other things that happened on this day in history:

Lincoln was shot.

The Titanic hit an Iceberg.

American aircraft engaged in air-to-air combat for the first time, dogfighting the Germans in WWI.

The Soviet Union agreed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

Draw your own conclusions. I hope your day is uneventful.

By the way, should you run into a young American GI at a lunch counter somewhere tomorrow don't just thank him or her. Buy their lunch.