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Becky Ayers
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"To help inform people of what happened in the 1983 Beirut Bombing and to support our troops and vets."

Sault S Marie, MI, USA
female, age 50
married, 4 children
Joined Dec 31, 2005
What I Want to Do:
Causes: Beirut Veterans of America, Petition to reopen the 1983 Beirut Bombi, The Beirut Memorial Walk
Activities:


 
1983 Beirut Bombing
Being married for 25 years to a veteran has been an eye opening experience. Being married to a Beirut Veteran has been stressful. All veterans go through their own hell at some point, but the veterans of the Beirut Bombing have been made to endure a much greater stress than most.

25 years ago, I married a man that was loving, caring, emotional, laid back, funny, kind, and on top of that was my soulmate.

22 years ago, my husband went to Lebanon to sit off the coast of Beirut as the Marines they brought there sat unarmed in a building on a peace keeping mission. Nothing was supposed to happen. The marines and sailors that came to help were caught up in something that should have NEVER happened. They never knew what hit them, or at least the men that lost their lives never did. The ones that were left behind to pick up the pieces were the ones that saw the horrifying aftermath of the blast that shouldn't have taken place.

3 days of trying to find the remains of the men that were needlessly murdered in their sleep was the beginning of the end of the man I married.

241 servicemen were killed on October 23rd, 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon. 241. That's alot of lost lives. That's alot of families detroyed. Children left without fathers, wives without husbands, parents without sons.

For me, I was lucky in that my husband came home, but at the same time, he wasn't my husband. The man that came back from Beirut Lebanon was cold, complacent and angry. The man that came back to me wasn't the fun loving man I had married 3 years prior. He has lost his zest for life, his belief in all that was good, his dreams and aspirations.

My husband died in Beirut as well. Or at least the man I married. He no longer exists. The man I am married to now thinks of nothing but that dreadful day. It has consumed the man I married, and his dreams.

Life isn't and hasn't been the same since that day. We have fought with PTSD, Panic Disorder, Nightmares and sickness that stems from the PTSD. And I have changed as well.

I was a shy, quiet sort of person. Not strong at all. I looked to my husband for that strength. I never said much in anger to anyone and I had great dreams of our future.

October 23rd robbed me of who I was as I sat in my in-laws house watching the special news report and knowing my husband was there. I waited for what seemed forever to hear whether he was alive or dead. I was in a state of panic. What would I do if he was gone? He was my rock, I knew I couldn't live without him.

Finally I got word that he was safe. He hadn't been injured either, but little did I know about how he was changing as he searched for any men that may have still been alive in the rubble.

When he finally returned and walked off the ramp of the U.S.S. Portland, lovingly nicknamed "Sweet Pea", I could see it in his eyes. This man that looked like my husband, wasn't my husband.

My husband was left in Beirut along with 241 men that were in the barracks. His eyes were empty and he was gone.

It's been 22 years now and he is still gone, but the girl he married is too. We were both casualties of the Marine Barracks Bombing. I imagine all the families of the men that served over there are not the same. Whether their husband/fathers/sons were in the building at the moment of the blast, or whether they were simply there to clean up the aftermath, they're all changed from that day.

Beirut didn't just claim the lives of the 241 men you read about. It claimed the lives of everyone involved.

I know, I am one of them, and our children are others. Our life would have been different, but those dreams are gone and we are left with our nightmares of that fateful day.

Horrible things happen, I know this. I also know that life goes on regardless. I just wanted to set the record straight. The casualty count of October 23rd, 1983, Beirut Lebanon is incorrect.


My husband taking a brief break from the body search in 1983 Beirut, Lebanon


New Important News! 

Here is the letter written by Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan Donald Rumsfeld. He wrote the letter on my behalf asking Rumsfeld to Reopen the Investigation. If you agree with this please ask your Rep. to follow Stupak and maybe then we can start a tradition of Justice for Veterans.

This is in pdf form and may take up to 3 minutes to load depending on your connection.




Read the Pdf file here!
 
Personal Professional Contact Singles
Joined Dec 31, 2005
1° Network
Games
Activist Aspirations Casual 
Here for Meeting Friends, Support a Cause 
Group Host of
Beirut Veterans For Justice (8) Forgotten Patriots (13)
Groups "Military Heritage and Traditions", A Peace Think Tank, Acoustic Coffee House, America Supports You, Armed Forces, Beirut Veterans For Justice, Butterfly Group, DAILY INSPIRATION, For The Love of The Geek, Forgotten Patriots, Make A Difference - Smile..., NetSisters Of Care2, New Shrine, Out-Rage more »
Hometown  
Homepage http://www.myspace.com/1983beirutbombing  
Birthday June 23, 1959  
Languages  
About Me Caring and shy, but willing to put forth whatever it takes to see justice served in our country.
  Introduce yourself to Becky
  Lifestyle
Pets  
Activist Aspirations Casual
Political Leaning Moderate
Religions Christian - Baptist  
Eating Habits Chocolate - Lots of it  
Wild Fact About Me I'm a 6'1 Swede
My Philosophy Love heals all wounds
What Gives Me Hope People that are effective in what they do without being harsh.
If I were Mayor, I'd make the world a better place by
What/who changed my life and why Beirut Bombing
it changed the lives of many families, including my own. My husband came back a whole different person, cold a complacent. But now he has regained himself somewhat as he struggles to inform people of this country of what truly happened that day in 1983.
What Bugs Me  
Passions  
Inspirations  
What Scares Me being alone, drug addicts, ignorance, Violent people  
  Favorites
Role Models My husbands mother, my father and my husbands father (God re  
Quotation
Interests  
Books  
Music Hans Gustafsson, John Adorney, Yanni, Enya, Loreena McKennit, Bach, Beethoven  
Movies Fiddler on the Roof, Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments  
TV Shows Everybody Loves Raymond, Roseanne, Touched by an Angel  
Favorite Foods Chocolate, rare steak, broccoli, shrimp, lobster  
Favorite Places home  
Can't Live Without My husband, family, love, affection, truth  
  Introduce yourself to Becky
 
Friends of Becky

Michelle H.
Harold S.
Charles S.
Sushil K.
Douglas C.

View all: 45 friends
Becky's Sharebook
Photo - God Bless our troops and their families.
(Jul 21) ... more »
Photo - hey there i just want to say that the ARMY is a great place to be
(Jan 2) ... more »
Photo - I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE MY FRIENDS WHO ARE SOLDIERS, AND MY CUZ LOVE YA
(Aug 10) ... more »
More shares »
Becky's Photos

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Becky
15 photos, 1 album »
My Video    
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Kudos

kktu g. (90) 		Testimonial on Jan 5, 2006
Thank you for establishing a link, I am very happy to add you to my list of friends here on Care2! You seem like a very wonderful person and hopefully I will get to know you more as time goes on. Thank you, blessings to you luv-n-hugs, Renee :)
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Jun 17, 2008 12:48 AM

JAY A. (2059) 		 

Jun 30, 2007 3:06 AM

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Jun 23, 2007 2:58 AM

RC d. (418)
Jun 21, 2007 9:06 PM

Kristi K. (1936)

~Make A Wish~
Jun 21, 2007 1:32 AM

RC d. (418)
Jun 19, 2007 3:23 AM

RC d. (418)
Jun 18, 2007 2:15 AM

Anita L. (1121)
Jun 16, 2007 2:36 PM

liz s. (50)
 
 

Jun 16, 2007 1:15 PM

JAY A. (2059) 		 
  

Jun 16, 2007 12:46 PM

Ricky B. (61)

Good morning Sweet Becky...have a magic and special saturday!
http://www.cherrytap.com
Jun 16, 2007 12:23 PM

RC d. (418)
Jun 13, 2007 11:22 PM

RC d. (418)
Jun 12, 2007 2:24 AM

RC d. (418)
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RC d. (418)
May 26, 2007 1:01 AM

RC d. (418)
May 18, 2007 10:26 PM

liz s. (50) 		have a great weekend
please click on picturex x
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/179944481
May 1, 2007 4:10 PM

RC d. (418) 		beltane
Apr 27, 2007 10:17 PM

JAY A. (2059)
FRIENDS... SOUNDTRACK: [link]
      
 THANKS FOR ADDING ME

Dec 19, 2006 11:58 PM

Anita L. (1121)
MERRY CHRISTMAS
THANKS FOR BEING MY FRIEND!
Dec 18, 2006 2:41 PM

liz s. (50) 		Happy christmas
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