Fighting intensifies, and the Marines suffer their first combat casualties
For two hours, the mortars, shells and rockets crashed down on the lightly reinforced encampment around the runways at Beirut International Airport. Crouched in their bunkers, the 1,200 U.S. Marines who form part of a four-nation, 5,400-man peace-keeping force could do little more than keep their heads low and occasionally fire back. "We could hear bullets whizzing above us, and others were impacting on our sand bags," Sergeant Donald Williams, 28, later recalled. Whenever they saw a muzzle flash or some other indication...
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