President Ronald Reagan, citing the threat posed to American nationals on the Caribbean nation of Grenada by that nation’s Marxist regime, orders the Marines to invade and secure their safety. There were nearly 1,000 Americans in Grenada at the time, many of them students at the island’s medical school. In little more than a week, Grenada’s government was overthrown.
The situation on Grenada had been of concern to American officials since 1979, when the leftist Maurice Bishop seized power and began to develop close relations with Cuba. In 1983, another Marxist, Bernard Coard, had Bishop assassinated and took control of the government. Protesters clashed with the new government and violence escalated.
Citing the danger to the U.S. citizens in Grenada, Reagan ordered nearly 2,000 U.S. troops into the island, where they soon found themselves facing opposition from Grenadan armed forces and groups of Cuban military engineers, in Grenada to repair and expand the island’s airport. Matters were not helped by the fact that U.S. forces had to rely on minimal intelligence about the situation. (The maps used by many of them were, in fact, old tourist maps of the island.)
Reagan ordered in more troops, and by the time the fighting was done, nearly 6,000 U.S. troops were in Grenada. Nearly 20 of these troops were killed and over a hundred wounded; over 60 Grenadan and Cuban troops were killed. Coard’s government collapsed and was replaced by one acceptable to the United States.
A number of Americans were skeptical of Reagan’s defense of the invasion, noting that it took place just days after a disastrous explosion in a U.S. military installation in Lebanon killed over 240 U.S. troops, calling into question the use of military force to achieve U.S. goals. Nevertheless, the Reagan administration claimed a great victory, calling it the first “rollback” of communist influence since the beginning of the Cold War.
1st!!!
That morning when we chuted up at Green Ramp they didn’t hand out reserves but they did pass out live grenades and claymores.
I was there.
One reason the US military began to seem a viable career option to a generation of young people reared during the disastrous post-Nixon years, which included the Carter years of military malaise.
Grenada was surely the turn of the tide from the perceived disaster Vietnam seemed in our young memories. It might be hard to grasp, but in those ancient times, one waited for the daily paper delivery to find out momentous news of yesterday. The radio was the best hope of “breaking news” and the television, when available, was usually focused on local news. So, the invasion of Grenada helped US military image at home and abroad greatly, I think.
Well that only makes the invasion and “victory” even worse.
“We have two companies of Marines running rampant all over the northern half of this island, and three Army regiments pinned down in the southwestern corner, doing nothing. What the hell is going on?” [Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., USA, Chairman of the the Joint Chiefs of Staff; during the assault on Grenada, 1983]
I remember that the army awarded more medals than troops in Grenada. Most went to people in the rear (stateside) with the gear and pentagon. Everyone wanted a ticket punch. It happens all the time. I saw a shipmate earn a Navy Commendation medal for offloading tomahawk missiles from his sub in order to support deployment of them to desert storm. He went from 1st class petty officer to limited duty officer after that.
Little known factual: — Clint Eastwood talked Reagan into invading Grenada just so he could make a movie.
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No, as it always works, some thug from the Deep State “convinced” Reagan that yet another war that would deliver yet more millions in profits to the Deep State cartel, would be in his “best interest” to engage in.