241 American service members — 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers — were killed when suicide bombers drove explosive-laden trucks into U.S. barracks in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983.
Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, in Beirut for a memorial service, survived because he stayed in a different building; he and Catholic chaplain George Pucciarelli then moved through the rubble comforting wounded troops and helping first responders.
5 hours after the blast, Protestant chaplain Danny Wheeler was pulled alive from the wreckage, while crews needed four days to recover the hundreds of bodies buried in the collapsed barracks.
That response also left a lasting symbol: after Resnicoff lost his kippah while treating the wounded, Pucciarelli fashioned a camouflage head covering that later helped Congress pass a religious-apparel amendment for service members.
Resnicoff said the bombing broadened his view of chaplaincy beyond formal religion, framing the attack's legacy around interfaith solidarity among troops under fire.