Charlotte County is moving forward to begin construction of a tower memorializing the lives lost in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut.

Unfortunately, America is still distracted for not only we have forgotten about the 241 Americans service members who died in the Barracks bombing, as well as the other 32 Marines who gave their last full measure from 1982-84, but we have also forgotten about the survivors, survivors like Jeff.

Soon, construction will begin on the Beirut Peacekeepers Memorial Tower, in Port Charlotte, a town recently impacted by hurricane Ian, at a park named after one of the Marines who died in the Beirut explosion, Cpl. William R. Gaines, Jr. By Senator Connie Mack (Retired)

Ken Wint, from Gold Star Families, spoke of his brother Capt. Walter E. Wint Jr. — another Marine killed in Beirut. Capt. Wint was Gaines’ superior officer at the time of the bombing.