PROVIDENCE – Two Apache helicopters flew over downtown Providence in September to honor nine United States Marines.
Come together for the commissioning ceremony by the river on Dyer Street for the Rhode Island IX State Memorial and Remembrance Park were military, state, and city officials, and family members of the honored Marines. The solemn group assembled to remember that 37 years ago, on October 23, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon, terrorists attacked. Among the slain were nine marines from Rhode Island.
“It was the single deadliest day for the Marines since Iwo Jima,” remarked U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 upon the 35th anniversary of that terrible day.
“The attack on the Marine barracks killed 241 U.S. Marines, Sailors and Soldiers who were deployed to Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping mission during the Lebanese Civil War,” the United States Navy recently reported.
Another Rhode Islander, Marine Michael Harris, survived the terrible attack.
“The Rhode Island Nine family members, friends, veterans and the general public can visit this location and reflect and honor the Rhode Island Nine for their sacrifice,” Harris said in an interview.
North Smithfield’s Jonathan DePault was the lead project manager for the monument.
When the state removes restrictions and large groups can again assemble, the popular Waterfire festivities will return downtown at the river. There, 10,000 people will walk by the Rhode Island IX State Memorial as brightly colored flames on the water will be seen through the the faces of the nine marines etched in glass, said DePault in an interview. The town resident is an official with the Rhode Island Department of Administration.
Speaking to the crowd gathered at the river, Harris said of those responsible for the shining new memorial: “You guys hit a home run. This is an amazing day. The first duty is to remember.”
Harris said he has, “some bright days, some dark days.” The veteran, who lived for years in Woonsocket then North Smithfield, recalls enlisting in the Marines. “Shortly after graduating high school at 17 I entered bootcamp; six months later I was preparing to be deployed to Beirut, Lebanon.”
“Landing in Beirut was an eye-opener. It was definitely a war zone,” said Harris.
The Marine also said that Sgt. Tim Giblin, befriended him because he was a fellow Rhode Islander and offered to be of service, astonishing the lower ranked PFC. Giblin was one of the slain Rhode Island Nine Marines.
His brother, William Giblin, said that days prior to the unveiling of the memorial, he and other family members of the Marines were provided a private night time viewing, and “as the lights turned on illuminating the faces in glass, one family member described it as if angels appeared.”
“Evil came to find the Marines,” the grieving brother said. “Nobody could save them. God sent his holy son for the 241. You are once again to called for duty to be forever more standing guard at Heaven’s door, and if you too pray you will will hear them say for we are standing tall to the day together we are all.”
“For the veterans of Beirut: let us pray that there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more guilt, and no more shame,” Giblin said. “To the Beirut vets on behalf of a proud nation – we welcome you home.”
“While today is an opportunity to reflect on the lives of those who were lost, it is also an opportunity to inspire new generations to understand the freedom they have been given,” Under Secretary of the Navy Gregory Slavonic told the group.
Another speaker, Col. Craig R. Wonson, professor at the U.S. Naval War College, said, “Written in granite of the Rhode Island Nine Memorial wall are the words: They came in peace.”
“They came in peace is a phrase often associated with Marines that served in the Lebanon crisis from 1982-1984.”
Rhode Island State Rep. Samuel Azzinaro, chairman of Rhode Island 9 Beirut Memorial Committee and Chairman of the RI House Veterans’ Affairs Committee said to the group at the riverfront ceremony, “The journey to pay tribute to these nine fallen marines has taken about four and a half years – from that day Rhode Island Bill 8283 was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives and the torch was passed on to me to carry out this mission.”
Harris credited DePault for the achievement – a man behind the scene of getting the dream of the memorial to manifest.
“Jonathan has been very modest during the design and developing process of the memorial,” said Harris. “I gave Jonathan the nickname ‘Jake from State Farm,’ during this journey. It was common for Jonathan to call me at 10 to 11 p.m. to ask a question or to say ‘What do you think?’”
Initially, the idea was the memorial was to be erected near the Garden of Heroes at the Rhode Island State House.
Depault, “was the one that located the memorial site, which is a beautiful riverfront location in downtown Providence,” said Harris.
But the modest DePault said that Marine Charlie Masterson and Michael Harris are the curators, and “the true heroes.”
Masterson, a memorial committee commission member, spoke to the crowd saying in part, “We got pushed off the State House lawn. This is a better spot.”
Making the memorial a reality took years, and during the past year, “COVID-19 really changed things.”
Masterson said the memorial was fellow veteran Harris’s, “ idea and concept.”
“If, after 37 years, Rhode Island did not forget her sons. maybe other states could champion their marines and erect a state tribute monument,” he said.
Depault said all he himself did was, “navigate the system, get the professional services needed.”
“The project management needs included the Run of the Show, which included gaining approvals for the event, acquiring local and national guest speakers with the coordination of the Apache Helicopter flyover,” DePault explained.
After four and a half years of work, the memorial in Providence is realized, where the names of the fallen soldiers are etched in glass for eternity, Slavonic said.
“But beyond every name there is a story – a decision to serve, a commitment to peace and freedom, and a family waiting so anxiously at home,” said Slavonic.
Harris is a survivor, helped ensure the Nine will be remembered every time someone stops at the river to reflect and gaze upon the testament to the Americans who served their country and never made it back home to the smallest state.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Sgt. Timothy Giblin’s rank. We apologize for the error.
