JACKSONVILLE, Nc. -- Forty years ago today, an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon would devastate a community in North Carolina.
The terrorist bombing of the Marine Corps barracks killed 241 members, with 220 of them being Marines from Camp LeJeune.
11 Virginians died that day, including Lance Corporal James Baynard of Richmond.
"There's never going to be a moment that I won't reflect on what happened on October 23," said Thomasine Baynard, whose husband was killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing.
Thousands gathered around the Beirut Memorial Monday morning, and one of those mourners was Baynard.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about my husband, not a day," Baynard said.
Lance Corporal James Baynard was one of the 220 Marines killed in the bombing. On the 40th anniversary, the Lance Corporal's sisters, nieces, and nephews witnessed a ceremony for the first time.
"I wanted them to come and experience the Marines and just the community of Jacksonville and how much they love their Marines," Baynard said.
For the survivors who return each year, Commandant of the Marine Corps General Eric Smith had something to say to them.
"The Marines that are here, these men dug into the rubble and rebar with their bare hands. They go in there looking for their friends," General Smith said. "They showed us what it was like to be a warrior, to leave no one behind."
The commandant also had a message for terrorists, who may want to target U.S. Marines.
"If you target them, someone else will raise your children," he said.
The Beirut Memorial was dedicated three years after the terrorist attack, and includes the name of every serviceman killed.
"They were indeed sent there as friends, not enemies," Secretary of the Navy Honorable Carlos del Toro said.
Del Toro reflected on all the lives lost that day.
"They may not be here with us today, but as I feel the warmth of this sun on us, I know that their spirit is shining down on us," he said.
For Thomasine Baynard, the ceremony each year is also a personal reminder to her.
"I'm not by myself. I'm not alone, I'm not the only one who remembers my husband and all the other men that sacrificed their lives for a mission, an honorable mission," Baynard said.
The Beirut Memorial simply states - that they came in peace. Now 40 years later, the families, a city, a county, the Marine Corps, and those who were there remain vigilant to always remember the names at Camp LeJeune and Jacksonville, North Carolina.
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