On April 18, 1983, a terrorist, driving a van carrying a 2,000-pound load of explosives, tore through the front portion of the 7-story U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

The victims of this terrorist attack included 63 occupants of the building, 17 of whom were Americans. One Marine was killed, one journalist was killed, and the entire U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Middle East contingent were killed.

On October 23, 1983, a suicide bomber destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 240 Marines.

I am voting in honor of Petty Officer Robert D. Stethem, a diver and underwater steelworker in the Seabees. I served with him in the Navy. He was the slain hostage aboard TWA flight #847 highjacked to Beirut, Lebanon on June 14th, 1985. He was returning from an assignment in Nea Makri, Greece when terrorists seized the aircraft. Petty Officer Stethem was singled out from the passengers and killed when terrorist demands were not met. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. A Navy Aegis destroyer bears his name: USS Stethem (DDG 63).
Peter McKeown, Turner
Served in U.S. Navy, 1980-88

Reward Offered

"The Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State offered a reward of up to $5,000,000 to bring the murderers of Navy Diver Robert Stethem to justice. The money is available under a program to obtain information that helps punish those responsible for past international terrorist acts against U.S. persons or property and prevent future such acts."