DOB/DOD: October 26, 1962 (Hartford, CT) – October 23, 1983; 20 years old MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried LOCAL ADDRESS: Pinney Street, Ellington ENLISTMENT: January 25, 1982 MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0351, Infantry Assaultman UNIT: 24th Marine Amphibious Unit
FAMILY: Born to Richard L. [Air Force veteran; 1951-1953] (1932-2022) and Barbara Smith Tingley. Three sisters, Linda A. Tingley Evans, Nancy L. Tingley Hurlburt, and Donna J. Tingley Plickys. One brother, Russell.
Graduated from Ellington High School, Class of 1980. Photos are from the 1979 yearbook.
From The Hartford Courant on October 27, 1983 By Jan Tarr | Courant Staff Writer
ELLINGTON — Wednesday was Stephen Tingley’s 21st birthday, but his family wasn’t celebrating. The U.S. Marines informed Richard and Barbara Tingley on Wednesday morning that their son is missing in Beirut. The family had anxiously awaited word about Tingley since the bombing of the Marine command post on Sunday, his mother said. That word came on Wednesday morning when Barbara Tingley was called out of her job as a paraprofessional at Ellington High School and told to go home to see her husband, who is head of athletics and physical education in the Vernon schools., “I immediately knew what it was for,” she said, crying a little during a telephone interview. Stephen Tingley is part of a reconnaissance group that has been in the war-torn country since May. He had been looking forward to coming home on November 17, Barbara Tingley said. Tingley said waiting for news from Beirut has been difficult. In wartime, families have been able to commiserate with one another because so many people were involved, she said. But now, “There are so few of us (Americans) in there. … We’ve been in it all alone, and it’s been very hard.” The Tingleys received a letter from Stephen Tingley on Wednesday, but his mother said she could not remember what it said. In previous letters, he had written that, “It was getting crazy over there,” Barbara Tingley said. Stephen Tingley has been in the Marines since January 1982 and has talked about reenlisting so he could learn to be a diesel mechanic, his mother said. Since his graduation in 1980 from Ellington High School, where he played soccer and baseball, he has been unsure about his plans for the future, Barbara Tingley said. His family has encouraged him to re-enlist. Tingley is one of four Connecticut Marines who are listed as missing in Beirut, said Captain Marcus E. Soul of the 1st Marine Corps District in Garden City, New York, on Wednesday. -article truncated-
From The Hartford Courant on November 10, 1998
3 FRIENDS HONOR A VETERAN
Ellington natives Jim Prichard, Richard Trzcinski, and Danny Fitzgerald recently restored the area surrounding a monument dedicated to their friend and former classmate, U.S. Marine Private First Class Stephen Tingley.
Tingley was among those who died on October 23, 1983, in a car bombing at the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
Tingley’s sisters, Donna Plickys and Nancy Hurlburt, both of Ellington, were among the nearly 30 people who recently gathered to rededicate the site.
“It’s 110 percent better,” Plickys said. “We are very, very grateful to them.”
Plickys said the three men took it upon themselves to restore the monument, which was previously surrounded by dead trees and weeds working their way through the stonework.
The monument is near the center field fence at Ellington High School’s baseball field. Plickys said that the site was originally chosen because her brother had been very active in sports, including soccer and baseball.
Other Tingley family members include their brother, Russell Tingley of Florida, a sister, Linda Parker of Arizona, and parents Richard and Barbara Tingley, also of Florida.
The Star True Value Hardware Store in Ellington donated all the landscaping items needed to restore the site.
Memorialized at the Ellington High School baseball field, 37 Maple Street, Ellington, Connecticut
Memorialized on the Ellington Veterans Memorial, 84 Main Street, Ellington, Connecticut. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
DOB/DOD: January 6, 1960 (Kingston, Jamaica) – October 23, 1983; 23 years old MARITAL STATUS: Married Gloria Dwarka on February 19, 1980, in Stamford, CT – divorced 1982; Married Doreen T. Williams on January 2, 1983, in Stamford, CT LOCAL ADDRESS: Cerretta Street and Myrtle Avenue, Stamford ENLISTMENT: March 28, 1980 MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0351, Assaultman UNIT: Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit
FAMILY: Born to David (1933-2018) and Elizabeth A. Nemar Sundar [future last names, Dorka and Volcy] (1935-1995). One sister, Bridget S. Sundar Dwarka (1976-).
OTHER: Devon Sundar came to the United States from Jamaica in 1976.
From The Standard-Star (New Rochelle, New York) on November 13, 1983
…
In Stamford, Sundar was buried in St. John’s Cemetery following a funeral Mass at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church that was attended by several hundred people.
In his sermon, Reverend Jerry Mason recalled his own thoughts when he went overseas to fight in World War II.
“Devon gave his life bravely,” Mason said. “I say bravely because there is no man who is in the service of our Lord who does not recognize the possibility of his own demise when he goes into battle.
Sundar, an immigrant from Jamaica, was honored in a brief memorial service following the Mass.
“Corporal Sundar joins the list of heroes who have died for our country,” said Mayor Louis A. Clapes.
At the graveside. Sundar’s widow, Doreen Sundar, 24, clutched her mother and said, “Ma, I don’t want him dead.” Sundar’s mother, Elizabeth, screamed in grief.
Three Marines fired a rifle salute, and a single trumpet played “Taps’ as Sundar was buried.
From The Hartford Courant on October 23, 1988
TIME DOES NOT ERASE PAIN FOR SOLDIERS’ KIN
When her husband died, Doreen Sundar found it hard to turn to people she didn’t know — relatives of other victims — for solace. She found comfort talking about her husband of only 10 months, Corporal Devon Sundar, with her family and close friends.
“Sitting down and creating him to someone else is hard for me,” said Sundar, 29, a district business administrator for Xerox Corporation in Stamford. “There was so much to him.”
Doreen Sundar used to keep pictures of her husband on the walls; he was 23 when he died. But after several years, she started taking them down.
“I figure he’s always around,” she said. “He doesn’t have to be up on the wall. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of Devon. I think about him all the time. It’s always pleasant thoughts.”
If she were not working today, Sundar said, she would visit the cemetery in Darien where her husband is buried. Like many times before, she will have a quiet conversation with her husband.
“You have to go on. He’d want me to,” she said with conviction. “It’s life.”
Honored on the Stamford Veterans Memorial, Atlantic Street, Stamford, Connecticut. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
DOB/DOD: November 17, 1961 (Waterbury, CT) – June 15, 1985; 23 years old MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried LOCAL ADDRESS: Unknown; moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Waldorf, Maryland, as a child ENLISTMENT: May 4, 1981 NAVY RATE: [Seabee] SW – Steelworker and DV – Second-Class Diver UNIT: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 62 (Gulfport, MS) and Underwater Construction Team One (UCT-1), Little Creek, Virginia
FAMILY: Born to Richard L. and Patricia L. Ashe Stethem (1936-2022) [both are Navy veterans]. Two brothers, Kenneth J. and Patrick L. [both are Navy veterans]. One sister, Sheryl J. Stethem Sierralta (1958-2018).
DECORATIONS: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Navy Good Conduct Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal
OTHER: Posthumously promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer. Named an honorary Master Chief Constructionman (CUCM) by order of the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. In 1995, the US Navy commissioned a destroyer, DDG-63, the USS Robert Dean Stethem, in his honor. Christened Stethem on July 16, 1994, by Patricia L. Stethem, the mother of the ship’s namesake, Steelworker Second Class (SW2) Robert Stethem. The vessel then transited the Panama Canal and was officially commissioned on October 21, 1995, in Port Hueneme, California. On February 15, 1996, the USS Stethem successfully completed her Post Delivery Test and Trials and was thus cleared for combat operations. She was assigned to her home port, San Diego.
CIRCUMSTANCES: On June 15, 1985, Hezbollah Shi’ites brutally beat, tortured, and then killed 23-year-old Robert Dean Stethem as he was being held hostage aboard TWA 847 commercial airliner. Robert was on his way home after a 2-week tour of duty with the US Navy in Greece. The terrorists had hijacked the plane with 153 passengers in Athens, Greece, forcing the pilot to fly twice to Algiers and twice to Beirut during the 17-day siege. When the plane was at the Beirut airport in Lebanon, Petty Officer Stethem was singled out because he was in the US military. After many hours of being cruelly beaten, tortured, and finally killed by the terrorists, they threw his body from the plane in a final, disgraceful, cowardly act. The wounds were so terrible that his body had to be identified by its fingerprints. Throughout the ordeal, Robert Stethem did not yield and instead encouraged his fellow passengers to endure by his example. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for heroism and bravery.
One of the hijackers, Mohammed Ali Hammadi, was arrested two years later in Frankfurt, Germany. He was tried and convicted of Stethem’s murder and sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 2005 after serving 19 years. Three others, Imad Mugniyah, Hassan Izz-Al-Din, and Ali Atwa, were eventually indicted for their involvement in the incident. In 2002, they were added to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list. On February 13, 2008, Mugniyah was killed in an explosion in Damascus, Syria. [multiple sources]
USS Stetham (DDG-63) Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
Photo from FindAGrave.com
Graduated from Thomas Stone High School (Waldorf, Maryland), Class of 1980.
Citation to accompany the award of the Bronze Star Medal
For heroic achievement on 14 June 1985 while assigned to Detachment NM-85 of Underwater Construction Team One, deployed to the Naval Communications Station Nea Makri, Greece. Petty Officer Stethem displayed exceptional valor and professional integrity while a hostage of militant Shiite hijackers of TWA Flight 847 at Athens International Airport, Algiers, Algeria, and at Beirut, Lebanon. Exhibiting physical, moral, and emotional courage beyond extraordinary limits, Petty Officer Stethem endured a senseless and brutal beating at the hands of his fanatical captors. He drew upon an unwavering inner strength and absorbed the punishment. The hijackers were infuriated by his refusal to succumb, a symbol to them of the strength of the United States of America, and in their cowardly desperation, shot him to death. Petty Officer Stethem’s courage, steadfast determination, and loyal devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Signed by John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy.
From The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) on June 18, 1985 By Jenny Abdo | Evening Sun Staff
SLAIN MAN REMEMBERED AS ‘TOUGH’ Family in Charles County Mourns Robert Stethem, Killed in Beirut
WALDORF — To his friends in this small Southern Maryland town, he was just “Rob,” popular with the girls, a linebacker on the high school football team, the one who didn’t get caught when he and some buddies scaled the big green municipal water tower.
To Shiite Muslim hijackers a world away in Lebanon, he was Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Dean Stethem, 23, who had a U.S. government passport. He was “an example of an American military man who was tough,” said his brother, Kenneth Stethem, 24.
That’s why, perhaps, he was singled out from among more than 30 hostages aboard a TWA jetliner, why he was beaten beyond recognition, shot in the head, and then dumped on the tarmac of the Beirut International airport.
Meanwhile, as the Reagan administration tried to quietly broker a deal for their release, about 40
Americans from the hijacked plane were reportedly being held in scattered locations throughout Beirut. Shiite leader Nabih Berri said the hostages would be safe as long as he was in control.
“He was tough. That’s what I’ll always remember about him,” Kenneth said yesterday, standing outside the family’s mauve brick home. “You try to make an example out of the toughest guy. “I think what happened, happened because it was probably clear he wanted to protect people aboard the plane. You can let people know these things by the way you look at them. Maybe they (the hijackers) knew this just by looking at him,” said Kenneth, who is also in the Navy.
Inside the Stethems’ split-level home in Charles County, where they have lived since 1977, friends and relatives bringing food and moral support packed the living room. The family had been warned by officials on Friday that an American serviceman who was killed aboard flight 747 could be Stethem.
The possibility was mentioned during a prayer service Sunday evening at the Word of Life Assembly of God Pentecostal church in Springfield, Virginia, where the family has been part of the congregation for a year and a half, said D. Wendel Cover, the pastor. “The church wept,” he said.
For three days, the family—Patricia and Richard, Stethem’s parents, Kenneth and Patrick, his brothers, and Sherry Sierralta, his sister —received conflicting reports from Pentagon officials. But yesterday afternoon, three Navy representatives visited their home and told them what they had hoped never to hear: Medical records confirmed that the man who was brutally murdered was Stethem.
The young man’s body was being flown home from the Middle East today and was scheduled to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base early this evening. He is scheduled to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
“We are very proud of our son. He enjoyed being in the Navy,” said Richard Stethem, 49, a 26-year Navy veteran. “I don’t know why he was singled out. He was a very good kid. He was an independent kid,” he said, trembling.
Standing at Richard Stethem’s side, his father said, “We thought he had a great future. We heard he was singled out because he was a military man. A lot of things go berserk in situations like this. People panic.”
Indeed, by all accounts, Stethem, described as a handsome, gregarious young man, was full of potential. Having completed a two-week assignment in Greece on Friday morning, he boarded the Boeing 727 in Athens on his way home. One reason that Stethem joined the Navy was that he was not interested in attending college, his father said.
Navy officials said that Stethem was a steelworker second-class who joined the service at the end of 1980 and had been assigned to assist on a sewer project at a naval communications station in Nea Makri, Greece, during the last two weeks. He was trained as a diver and had no involvement with the Navy SEALs, a trained team of Top Secret commandos, officials said.
Kenneth Stethem said Stethem was assigned to the Underwater Construction Team One and was returning to the Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was stationed.
Friends and relatives last visited with Stethem in Waldorf about two weeks ago, before he left for Greece. Patricia Collins, a teacher at Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf, where Stethem was a 1980 graduate, recalled a recent conversation with him. “He came to visit me before he went to Athens. I told him how much he would love Greece, the countryside, and all,” she said. “He told me something was wrong with the sewers in Athens, and divers were going there to fix the system.
“We talked about the danger of his work. He told me that when he dived before, he often had to fend off sharks. This is the ironic part. We talked about how important it was to understand people of other cultures,” she said.
Collins, who taught Stethem history while he was a student at Thomas Stone, remembered long conversations with him about world politics. He was ‘‘a good thinker who was interested in everyone’s point of view,” she said. Not only was Stethem a bright, B student, but he was also popular, said Collins and the school’s vice principal, Deborah Magie.
“He always had a girlfriend,” said Collins, who said the two remained close even after Stethem graduated. “He looked like a movie star, and he was so nice on top of that,” she said. “It’s a real heartbreak.”
As several of Stethem’s friends crowded the street in the 2100 block of Dennis Ave., many said they too considered joining the Navy and that Stethem’s death would not dissuade them. Many young men who attend Thomas Stone often join the Navy, said William Fisher, 19.
“The Navy crosses my mind every week,” said Fisher. If they called me today, I would go.”
From The Stars and Stripes on August 27, 2010 By Erik Slavin
NAVY PROMOTES SAILOR KILLED IN HIJACKING
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Decades after hijackers took his life, the namesake of the destroyer USS Stethem was promoted to master chief petty officer in a ceremony aboard the ship here Tuesday.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Dean Stethem was posthumously promoted 25 years after Lebanese hijackers aboard TWA Flight 847 singled him out because of his military status, killing him when their demands were not met.
Stethem’s brother, retired Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Stethem, accepted the honor on Robert’s behalf, according to a Navy news release.
Months ago, the USS Stethem commander, Cmdr. Hank Adams forwarded the promotion request to the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy after the ship’s chiefs’ mess recommended the honor, the news release said.
Robert Stethem, 23, a Navy Seabee diver, was returning from an assignment when his flight was hijacked by Shiite Muslim extremists of Hezbollah, or Party of God. He was shot in the head and thrown on the tarmac at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon.
The victim’s brother said he remembers the funeral at Arlington National Cemetery and can’t help but think about the flag-draped coffin. “Every time I look at the flag now and for the rest of my life,” said Kenneth Stethem, “the red will represent the blood he spilled, the blue the beating and bruises he endured, and the white the purity and integrity he demonstrated in sacrificing his life.” – Arlington National Cemetery Tribute to Robert Stethem “
I was one of the Navy Seabee Divers who had to endure the pain of hearing and seeing SW2 (DV) Robert Stethem go through the brutality of terrorism on June 14, 1985… As the gunman fired the fatal shot into my friend’s head, he cried out to God.
That is the example I will always remember and try to follow. Never give up, endure all that is pressed upon me, and cry out to God for strength when I have done all that is within my power. We as a nation can respond to evil in this same way.
The motto of the USS Stethem (DDG-63) is “Steadfast and Courageous”. This is very applicable to the way Bobby lived & died.” On October 21, 1995, one of the world’s most advanced warships, the USS Stethem, named after Petty Officer Robert Stethem, was commissioned by the United States Navy in honor of our fallen hero.
Namesake of the Robert D. Stethem Educational Center, 7775 Marshal Corner Road, Pomfret, Maryland
Namesake of Stethem Sports Complex, 4250 Piney Church Road, Waldorf, Maryland
DOB/DOD: September 3, 1958 (Meriden, CT) – October 23, 1983; 25 years old MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried LOCAL ADDRESS: Footit Drive, Middletown ENLISTMENT: December 23, 1975; discharged September 11, 1979; enlisted again on August 11, 1981 MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0321, Recon Marine; 151, Administrative Clerk UNIT: Charlie Company, Second Reconnaissance Battalion, Second Marine Division assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, Camp Lejeune, NC
FAMILY: Born to Joseph K. Jr. [Navy veteran, 1951-1954] (1933-2025) and Angela “Dolly” J. Maciejaszek Smith (1934-1998). One brother, Joseph K. III (1957-).
Xavier High School (Middletown, CT) Class of 1976, senior yearbook
SMITH. Staff Sgt. Thomas G. Smith, 25, of Footit Drive, Middletown, died October 23 in the terrorist bomb blast in Beirut, Lebanon. He was born in Meriden, son of Joseph and Angela (Maciejaszek) Smith Jr. of Middletown. A 1976 graduate of Xavier High School, Middletown, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps shortly after graduation. He was a member of the Charlie Company Second Reconnaissance Battalion, Second Marine Division. Besides his parents, he is survived by a brother, Joseph Smith III of Middletown, and his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Helen Smith of Pringle, Pennsylvania. A military funeral will be on Thursday, 10 a.m., in St.
Mary Church, Hubbard St., Middletown. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Middletown. Calling hours at the Biega Funeral Home, 3 Silver St., Middletown, are on Wednesday, 2-4 and 6-9 p.m. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Staff Sgt. Thomas G. Smith Scholarship Fund, Xavier High School, c/o Richard Feitel, Randolph Road, Middletown 06457.
From XavierHighSchool.org
Staff SERGEANT Thomas G. Smith Memorial Scholarship Almost 40 Years After His Death, 1976 Grad Still Touches Lives Of Many
“When I take my daily walks, I frequently do a loop at St. Mary’s cemetery and pass his gravesite. There is a picture of Tommy on the headstone in his Marine uniform. Never fails to bring back memories of what a great young man he was,” says Rich Feitel, the former Xavier teacher, coach, and director of alumni and development.
Staff Sergeant Thomas G. Smith, Xavier Class of 1976, died in service to our country on October 23, 1983. Lebanese terrorists drove a truck packed with explosives into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. Smith had reenlisted after already having served a tour of duty overseas for three years, including 18 months in Beirut.
For years at Xavier, students have been the recipients of the Staff Sergeant Thomas Smith ’76 Memorial Scholarship. It is one of many endowed scholarships at the school, this one, like some others, borne out of tragedy. The first scholarship was awarded in June 1985; it recognizes “a student entering his senior year who best exemplifies the spirit, values, and qualities” of Smith.
Smith was a member of the track and field team at Xavier.
“Tommy was a real nice kid,” Feitel remembers. “Very quiet and unassuming. He was a sprinter and usually ran the 220, 440, and relays. You could always count on him to give his best effort in any event in which he participated. That’s why Coach [Bob] Michalski and I trusted him so much to be part of the 4 x 220 and mile relay teams.
“I remember that after joining the Marines, he would come back to Xavier to visit when he was home. Always wore his uniform. He was so proud to be a Marine. Everyone at Xavier was devastated to hear that he was killed in the attack on the Marine headquarters in Beirut. One of the saddest days of my life.
“Shortly thereafter, his dad, mom, and brother Joe met with me to establish the scholarship fund. Many members of the Class of 1976 made initial contributions, as did many friends and family members. It was a wonderful tribute to Tommy, who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.”
Smith went to St. Mary School and played Little League baseball, Pop Warner football, and CYO basketball. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps after graduation from Xavier and was a member of Charlie Company, Second Reconnaissance Battalion, Second Marine Division.
In 1994, the Thomas G. Smith Park in the Westfield section of Middletown was dedicated. The park offers active and passive recreation, from a picnic pavilion to a playground for children, to nature trails and athletic fields.
Now, all these years later, so many students have benefited from the scholarship fund, and so many families and children have built memories from days at the park.
“I just can’t say it in words, how much love we feel for everyone involved,” Smith’s mother, Angela, said about the park dedication ceremony in a 1994 Hartford Courant story. “And to know that everybody’s going to remember Tommy, not just us … that’s the greatest feeling.”
After more than four years of work and almost $2 million, the Thomas G. Smith Memorial Park officially opened this weekend in the Westfield section of town.
When Mayor Thomas J. Serra dedicated the 80-acre park Saturday morning, he praised more than its open spaces and fine sugar maples. The important thing, he said, was to commemorate a Middletown resident who was killed in Beirut, Lebanon, more than a decade ago.
Serra dedicated the city’s newest and largest park by unveiling a memorial marker and planting a tree in memory of Thomas G. Smith, a young Marine sergeant from Westfield who was killed in a terrorist bombing of the U.S. command post in Beirut in 1983.
Among those at the ceremony were members of Smith’s family and his friends, parents of other soldiers killed in the 1983 attack, and several Marines.
“I just can’t say it in words, how much love we feel for everyone involved,” Smith’s mother, Angela, said about the ceremony. “And to know that everybody’s going to remember Tommy, not just us – that’s the greatest feeling.”
Described as competitive and determined, Smith was a dedicated athlete who joined the Marines in 1976 after graduating from Xavier High School. After several promotions and tours of duty in London and Beirut, he joined the 2nd Marine Reconnaissance Unit and returned to Lebanon in April 1983.
On October 23, 1983, he died in the bombing with 241 other Marines. He was 25.
On Saturday, local and state officials presented Angela Smith and her husband, John, with plaques and certificates commemorating their son’s achievements. Representatives from Thomas Smith’s Marine unit drove from North Carolina to present his parents with a special gift – a wooden boat paddle wrapped in parachute cord.
Pablo Arroyo, a close friend of Smith’s and a survivor of the Beirut bombing, said paddles are presented as going-away presents to Marines when they leave the reconnaissance unit “to paddle their way through civilian life.”
The true memorial, the Smiths said, is the park named after their son. The park’s combination of sports fields and nature trails, friends and family agreed, is a fitting tribute to an energetic young man who knew the area well.
“I knew Tommy well growing up,” said Father Stanley J. Szczapa, formerly of St. Mary Church. “I can hear his voice echoing through here, because these are the fields where he used to play.”
Proclamation
STATE OF CONNECTICUT
Senate Resolution No. 24 Page 1
Referred to Committee on NO COMMITTEE LCO No. 4866
Introduced by SEN. LARSON, 3rd DIST.; SEN. DIBELLA, 1st DIST. SEN. EADS, 30th DIST.; SEN. BALDUCCI, 9th DIST. SEN. MUSTONE, 13th DIST.
General Assembly February Session, A.D., 1994
RESOLUTION HONORING THE DEDICATION OF THE SSGT. THOMAS G. SMITH PARK IN MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT.
Resolved by the Senate:
WHEREAS, SSgt. Thomas G. Smith, a member of the United States Marine Corps, a life-long resident of Middletown, died on October 23, 1983; and
WHEREAS, SSgt. Smith died in the line of duty while serving his country, protecting the U.S. Marine Command Post in Beirut, Lebanon; and
WHEREAS, the City of Middletown dedicates a park on May 7, 1994, in his memory.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Senate expresses its sincere and heartfelt condolences on the loss of SSgt Thomas G. Smith, and is proud that the City of Middletown is dedicating a park in his name.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family of SSgt. Thomas G. Smith as an expression of pride for his service and honor to his country.
Smitty was a hard-charging, gung-ho Marine. We served together at the US embassy in London. He was my friend and brother. Every Memorial Day, I remember SSgt TG Smith. Semper Fi, devil dog.
DOB/DOD: July 29, 1947 (New Haven, CT) – October 23, 1983; 36 years old MARITAL STATUS: Married Jacquelyn Blackledge CHILDREN: One son, Samuel S. [USMC] LOCAL ADDRESS: 50 Bellevue Road, New Haven ENLISTMENT: November 16, 1973 MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 302, Infantry Officer UNIT: 1st Battalion, 8th Marines
FAMILY: Born to Frank [Army veteran; 1943-1946] (1914-2008) and Helene Dicerbo Scialabba (1916-1997). Peter was their only child.
Hillhouse High School (New Haven, Connecticut) Class of 1965
From The Hartford Courant on October 31, 1983 By Stephanie Della Cagna | Courant Staff Writer
TEARFUL, PROUD NEW HAVEN FAMILY REMEMBERS A SON LOST IN BEIRUT
“Things here are going well, in spite of the escalating attacks on Marines, but we’re holding our own. Please don’t worry about me, as we are taking all the necessary security measures to ensure our safety,” Captain Peter J. Scialabba wrote in his last letter, October 20, to his parents.
Sunday, sadness shrouded the New Haven home of Frank and Helene Scialabba. Their only child, whom they call Pete, was killed last week in Beirut.
His mother, a diminutive woman, talks incessantly about her son – always using the present tense. His father, who owns Comet Printing on Ferry Street in New Haven, doesn’t say much at all.
The couple had to wait nearly a week to find out if their son was dead or alive. Saturday, their daughter-in-law, Jacquelyn, who lives with their grandson, Scott, near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, called.
Now the couple is waiting for their son to come home to New Haven, where he will be buried.
Sorry it took so long to write. (It’s been) busy over the last few weeks. I missed selection for Major before I left,” their son wrote July 19.
His aunt, Connie, Concetta Panza, tries to console her younger sister as she covers the brocaded living room couch with letters and photographs of her son to show a visitor.
“I think he always wanted to be a Marine,” his mother says. “All his letters indicated we had every right to be there.”
The 36-year-old company commander was given a six-month assignment to Lebanon in June, ten years after he joined the Marines.
He grew up in New Haven, attended St. Brendan’s grammar school, and Hillhouse High School. He graduated in 1965. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he met his wife. Later, he went to The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, where he earned a master’s degree in military history.
“Words can’t express the job these young kids are doing over here,” their son wrote of the enlisted Marines in August. “I feel we’re serving a good purpose, and the people really need us. There is no stability here.”
As his mother takes out a Boy Scouts of America merit badge sash, she recalls the Marine’s youth. “Look here, he was just one badge shy of becoming a Life Scout,” she says with pride.
“I remember the time we went on vacation to Montreal. Pete was about 5 years old. He’d come down with measles. His temperature got to 104. I rubbed him with alcohol to keep the fever down,” she said.
Peter Scialabba’s ability was noticed by Colonel Donald A Hodgen, director of the Marine Amphibious Warfare School. “He is a dynamic, intensely aggressive officer. Meticulously accurate and well-organized. … He possesses a quick wit and uncompromising integrity. He is well-respected by his and seniors alike… I would actively seek the services of this officer under any condition,” the colonel wrote.
From Beirut-memorial.org By Diane D’Abruzzo | Daily News Staff
Jackie Scialabba keeps her husband’s wedding ring on a wooden shelf in her Jacksonville home.
Fingering the golden band, she shows a tiny black indentation where it was damaged in the Beirut bombing 15 years ago.
Jackie Scialabba retrieved the ring weeks after her husband, Pete, died in the October 23, 1983, explosion. She remembers the massive pile of jewelry—watches, chains, and rings—that was brought back from Beirut for the families of victims to claim.
The simple band matched the one on Jackie’s finger, and her heart told her it was the one—the one she had put on Pete’s finger on their wedding day in 1973.
“I knew it was his,” she said. “I just knew.” Ready to come home
Pete and Jackie met in Mississippi in the 1970s. She was working in her hometown. A native of New Haven, Connecticut, he was a student at the University of Mississippi on a law enforcement scholarship. They married in 1973.
“Pete was an extraordinary person,” Jackie remembered. “He just loved life and was one of the most positive people. Give him a steak and a baked potato, and he was happy.”
Pete entered the Marine Corps after graduation, and the family traveled from the deep South to Quantico, Virginia, to Camp Lejeune to Okinawa, Japan, to Charleston, S.C., to Quantico, and back to Camp Lejeune in 1982. There, Pete was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was a 36-year-old captain in the Marine Corps when he left Camp Lejeune on float to Beirut, Lebanon, in May 1983.
“Pete had been on float before, and it seemed like a normal thing,” Jackie said. “The only concern I had was when they started receiving sniper fire, and some people in his unit were killed. But in his letters, he’d write, ‘Gee, everything is OK, I’m ready to come home.’ I was not all that concerned.”
Jackie was visiting a friend in New Hampshire on October 23, 1983. It was a Sunday, and the two had gone to Catholic services that morning. They had plans to tour New England after church. “At the end of the Mass, the priest said, “Let us pray for the 72 soldiers killed in Lebanon.”
Not sure if the “soldiers” were Marines, Jackie told her friend that she wanted to stop off at her house and call home. Finding the TV set blaring with the news that the headquarters building for 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, in Beirut had been bombed, the fear started setting in.
Jackie’s teenage son, Scott, was home in Emerald Isle with a military friend. When Jackie called home, the friend told her, “It doesn’t look good.”
The next few days were numbing. Jackie couldn’t get a plane back to North Carolina until Tuesday and spent every minute watching the TV news and making phone calls, desperate for information on her husband.
“I really didn’t want to come back,” she said. “I knew it would get more real the closer I got to it.”
Once home, she remained glued to the TV and phone.
“The TV was scrolling the names of those who had been identified as killed in action,” she said. “I’d watch the TV, hoping to see him walking around, but also reading the names and wondering if his was going to be on the list.”
Name after name on the killed in action list was from Pete’s unit. Jackie personally knew 39 Marines who died in the blast.
On the following Wednesday, October 26, Jackie was greeted at her front door in Emerald Isle by a Casualty Assistance and Care Officer, who told her that Pete was missing in action.
Day after day, she held on to the hope.” I was holding out, hoping that, number one, he had survived but hadn’t been found yet, or that he had been injured and was in some hospital somewhere and not conscious.”
For the most part, those days of waiting are a blur to Jackie. She remembers that Scott went back to classes at White Oak Elementary, where he was in the eighth grade, but didn’t stay.
“He just couldn’t concentrate,” she said. ” How do you concentrate on your studies when you don’t know if your father is dead or alive?”
She remained at home, waiting for word. “There’s nothing worse than waiting. When you know, you can start dealing with grieving. But to wait and wait is extremely difficult. What emotion do I pick? Joy because he’s all right? Sadness?”
In the early-morning hours of October 29, that decision was made for her. It was still dark outside, probably around 6 a.m., when a car pulled into her driveway. Looking out her bedroom window, she saw the Casualty Assistance and Care officer and a Navy chaplain get out of the car and walk to her front door.
Absolute fear sets in.
After six grueling days of waiting, Jackie was told that Pete had been killed.
Later that same day, she received a call notifying her that Scott’s grandfather was killed in Grenada.
“I don’t remember anything after when we were told on Saturday,” she said. “It’s all a blank to me. I’m sure I made calls and received calls. I remember going to a lot of memorial services at Camp Lejeune—one for Pete and one for all of them.”
Peter J. Scialabba was buried in New Haven, Connecticut, on November 10, 1983—the day Scott turned 14 years old. It was the only day available, and it was either that or wait another three days.
“I need to have closure,” Jackie said.
A new normal
Being a military wife for 10 years, Jackie was used to Pete being gone for weeks or months at a time. And that made his death so much harder to absorb.
“They have been away for five months, and then someone tells you that you’re never going to see them again,” she said. “It was hard to deal that they’re gone and they’re going to stay gone and they are never going to come back.”
Once a strong, independent woman who took care of her family while Pete was away on float, Jackie began to crumble once his death set in. “Suddenly it was, ‘I can’t do all this.’ There was a strength I had in knowing it was a temporary situation, and when it became a permanent situation, it was paralyzing,” she said. ” It was very hard realizing that my life was never going to be the same.”
Every second of every minute was filled with grief. Letters continued to arrive from Pete, one postmarked Oct. 22, and they still resounded with phrases of “I’m OK” and “Hope to see you soon.” A care package she had sent prior to the explosion was returned.
Jackie yearned for nightfall because only through sleep was she relieved of the pain.
Unlike many of the grieving wives, Jackie wasn’t exposed to the sometimes-harassing national media because she lived in Emerald Isle. She does remember a TV crew filming Pete’s funeral service in New Haven.
And she also remembers the overwhelming national support — scholarship foundations set up to support the children: a Christmas tree decorated with 241 ornaments, each marked with a different name; the tree her son’s school planted in memory of Pete; a scholarship set up in New Haven in honor of Pete; and a number of letters from school children.
“I got letters from first- and third-grade classes from children who wrote in their cute little writing, ‘I’m sorry about your husband,’ or ‘I’m sorry about your son.’ Some of them got confused,” she said with a smile.
For a year after Pete’s death, Jackie tried to keep normalcy in her and Scott’s lives. But with time, she learned that the life she knew as “normal” was gone. “I had to find normal for my life,” she said. “And that’s not easy to do.”
She stayed in Emerald Isle for a year and a half after Pete’s death, then she and Scott moved to Charleston, South Carolina.
“I had two goals,” she said. “One was my son’s education, and one was a good career for me.” Jackie enrolled Scott in a private Catholic high school, and she began working in a hospital lab as a supervisor. After Scott graduated, he entered the Naval Academy, and Jackie’s career took her to Atlanta.
In 1996, following a career change, Jackie returned to Eastern North Carolina. She is a representative for USPA & IRA, an agency that helps military families become financially independent. She lives in a house in Jacksonville, minutes away from her office on Western Boulevard.
And Scott’s not far away, stationed at New River Air Station. “He’s a captain in the Marine Corps like his father, and he’s flying Cobras like his godfather.”
Fifteen years later, time has healed much of the pain. Jackie still thinks of Pete every day, almost every hour. But her thoughts don’t consume her; they don’t eat away at her. She keeps pictures of Pete on her mantel, his diplomas on the wall, and his wedding band on her shelf.
When she’s contemplating a decision, she’ll think, “What would Pete do?” Her faith has also gotten her through the hard times. Though she was raised a Southern Baptist, she was baptized Catholic in January 1983. After reading up on her husband’s faith, she decided to make the switch.
In May 1983, right after Pete left for Beirut, Jackie was confirmed. “That’s what ended up getting me through,” she said. “The strength and newness of my faith played an incredible role.”
Moving back to Jacksonville years later was also healing. Unlike anywhere else, Jacksonville remembers. It remembers the 241 servicemen who died. It pays tribute to them every day with the Beirut Memorial and the trees lining N.C. 24 and U.S. 17.
“No one remembers like Jacksonville remembers,” she said.
About Pete, she added, “I think my life is more enriched because I knew Pete. I think I am a better person. I think I have learned to prioritize better, and I know what is important and what really isn’t.
“I have good, solid memories of him. Some are painful and some are humorous, and I don’t know which ones are going to come out. Sometimes I can’t even get his name out, and sometimes I’m laughing so hard that tears are streaming down my face.
“He taught me how to appreciate life, how to hold on to good relationships, and appreciate the special people in my life,” she said. “And that is a very positive thing—because it’s a gift I’ve received from Pete.”
DOB/DOD: October 15, 1963 (Willimantic, CT) – October 23, 1983; 20 years old MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried ENLISTMENT: October 5, 1981 MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0352, Anti-Tank/Assault Guided Missileman UNIT: AT Tube-Launched Optically-Tracked Wire-Guided (TOW) Company, 2nd Tank Battalion
FAMILY: Born to Loreto “Laurence” A. [Navy veteran] (1938-1994) and Janet M. Rousseau Mattacchione Rice Childress [d. 1979]. Stepmother, Bernadette Pierce Mattacchione. Three brothers, Anthony L., Nicholas J., and Vincent D.. One sister, AnneMarie Mattacchione Matheny Ingalls.
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
1980 East Hartford High School yearbook (junior year)
1981 Windsor Locks High School yearbook (no picture)
Photo from TogetherWeServed.com
USS Austin (LPD-4) Navy Cruise book
From The Day (New London, CT) November 5, 1983 By Maria Miro Johnson | Day Staff Writer
MARINE EULOGIZED AS ‘PEACEMAKER’
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9-10
GROTON – Marine Private First Class Joseph John Mattacchione’s life was a high price to pay as a member of the Beirut peacekeeping force. Was it worth it?, asked Chaplain James M. Leone at today’s funeral services.
It is a question that will always be asked, the Reverend Leone told about 40 relatives and friends of the slain 20-year-old Marine, formerly of Windsor Locks.
“And the answer will probably always be yes,’ he concluded.
Mattacchione’s mother, Janet Rousseau Rice of Sanford, North Carolina, wept bitterly and gripped a framed portrait of her son as her sister read a biblical passage.
“Man’s days are like those of grass; like a flower of the field he blooms,” Mattacchione’s aunt read. “The wind sweeps over him and he is gone and his place knows him no more.”
Incense streamed upward into the church. Through windows behind the altar, amber leaves could be seen falling. Six Marines who served as pallbearers sat across the church aisle from the close group of mourners.
“The people saw and did not understand,” she said, her voice cracking as she read another passage.
Although Mattacchione was born in Willimantic and had lived in Windsor Locks, the funeral services took place at the non-denominational Shepherd of the Sea Navy chapel in Groton because the young Marine was very close to his uncle, Navy Senior Chief Ronald Mattachione.
The Reverend Leone told of his own experiences with a marine sergeant who never failed to point to young marines and, mindless of rank, said: “Chaplains, there goes a man serving his country,” the Chaplain said.
Joseph was a young man serving his country, and he paid a great price to serve his country. But not only Joseph paid a price. His family paid a price. Those who knew and loved him paid a price.
“The Marine Corps paid a price. The United States paid a price,” the Reverend Leone said. He quoted one of the beatitudes, a passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew, that refers to peacemakers as “children of God.” The mission in Lebanon was one of peace, he continued. Joseph, he said, “was a son of his church, but also a servant of peace.”
After the services, Mattacchione’s body was carried into a waiting hearse as the Marines stood at attention and saluted. Standing outside the church, Anita R. Cote of Montville, one of Mattacchione’s aunts, said her nephew was brave.
Also, she said, ‘he was a little mischievous. That was a part of him I loved. He had that glint in his eye. He was very precious to me. I’d say he was brave.
“He had a strength that very few people knew he had. I loved him very much. I really did,” she said.
Mattacchione will be buried at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Massachusetts.
Buried in Massachusetts National Cemetery, Connery Avenue, Bourne, Massachusetts; Section 2, Grave 39. Photo from FindAGrave.com by contributor Sue Silva.
DOB/DOD: July 22, 1961 (Camden, NJ) – October 23, 1983; 22 years old MARITAL STATUS: Married Joanne Hamilton on July 4, 1980, in Groton, Connecticut. CHILDREN: One son, William Jr. LOCAL ADDRESS:160 Midway Oval, Groton ENLISTMENT: August 27, 1981 MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 3381, Food Service Specialist UNIT: 24th Marine Amphibious Unit
FAMILY: Born to Frank D. (1919-2001) and Florine Green Hart (1931-1977). Four brothers, David (1954-1978), Eugene (1959-2009), Frankie, and Jerry. Three sisters, Constance Hart, Keturah Hart, and Diane Kirby.
Robert Fitch High School (Groton, Connecticut) Class of 1981. A 1979 yearbook photo is below. Does not appear in the 1980 or 1981 yearbooks.
Photo contributed by Matthew Brown, Principal of Fitch High School
From beirut-memorial.org
From The Day (New London, Connecticut) on November 3, 1983 By Jacky Flinn | Day Staff Writer
MARINE NOW MISSING
Marine Lance Corporal William Hart, son of Frank Hart of Midway Oval, Groton, was listed today as missing in action after the October 23 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.
A spokeswoman for the Marine Corps headquarters at the Department of Defense in Washington said this morning Hart’s name is now on the missing list, but further information is not available.
Until today, Hart was not officially on the lists of casualties, missing, or those safe, causing great concern to his family.
“My friends keep saying ‘Don’t give up, ’” said the father this morning. “We can only hope for the best.”
Hart said the Marines told his daughter-in-law, Joanne, who is in South Carolina at Parris Island, that more news might be forthcoming in a few days. He learned that his son is listed as missing in a telephone call from his Daughter-in-law.
His son said in his last letter home that he expected to return by November 15.
From The Hartford Courant on November 10, 1983 By Jeff Mill | Courant Correspondent
GROTON FAMILY FINALLY LEARNS MARINE DIED IN BEIRUT ATTACK
GROTON — After 16 days of waiting for news of Lance Corporal William Hart, a Marine assigned to Beirut, Lebanon — 16 days of watching every television news broadcast, 16 days during which the military could provide no information — Hart’s family has been told he is dead.
Hart’s family was informed in a telephone call from the Pentagon last night that the 22-year-old man has become the eighth Connecticut resident known to have died in the bombing of the Marine headquarters in Beirut on October 23. That explosion took the lives of more than 230 Marines.
The news that William had been killed ended anxious days of uncertainty for the Hart family.
“We’ve been on pins and needles since we heard the news of the terrorist attack in Beirut,” Frank Hart said. “We knew William was in Lebanon, but we didn’t know what had happened to him.”
For nearly two weeks after the bombing, the Marines were unable to provide any information on William’s status, his father said.
An electrical worker at the Electric Boat shipyard, Hart said his family members watched newscast after newscast in hopes of catching a glimpse of his son.
William Hart, the fifth of six children, had written his family in September to say he expected to leave Lebanon in time to spend Christmas at home.
Officials said the Marine’s body is expected to be flown from the Dover Air Force Base [Delaware] to Hartford this morning.
Tentative plans call for a funeral at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Lester Gee Funeral Home in New London, followed by burial in Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Hart’s widow, Joanne, and the couple’s 19-month-old child, William Jr., have left their home at Parris Island, S.C., and are returning to Groton. Joanne Hart is also a Groton native.
From The Day (New London, Connecticut) on November 10, 1983
MARINE’S BURIAL SET SATURDAY
GROTON — Funeral services will be conducted Saturday morning in New London for the last Marine from Connecticut to be declared dead after the October 23 terrorist bombing of the Marine headquarters in Beirut.
Lance Corporal William Hart, a 22-year-old Fitch Senior High School graduate, was the last of the 41 from this state to be accounted for, said Staff Sergeant Mark S. Gentile, public affairs officer for the Marine Corps in Connecticut and western Massachusetts.
Hart’s father, Frank Hart of 158-160 Midway Oval, learned late Tuesday night that his son had died in the explosion. The family had worried for more than two weeks without official word about the young Marine.
Hart was also among the last dozen Marines nationwide to be identified.
Seven Marines remain on the list of missing, said Jeanne Fallen, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps Headquarters at the Department of Defense in Washington.
She said defense officials believe all the bodies have been found, but some still are considered missing because the remains have not been identified. Dental records and fingerprints are being used to identify the last seven.
The older Hart said a Marine lieutenant told him, when he learned of his son’s death, that the Marine had been identified by dental records.
Of the 41 Marines from Connecticut who had been stationed in Lebanon at the time of the bombing, eight were killed in action, three were wounded, and the rest were safe.
Word was slow to trickle down, not only because of the identification problems, but also because some Marines were not aware they were listed as missing.
“Three of them on our MIA (missing in action) said they were working so hard on recovery details that they didn’t realize they were being looked for at musters,” explained Gentile.
Among the eight who were killed was Lance Cpl. Devon Sundar, 23, of Stamford, whose funeral service will be Saturday morning, and Staff Sergeant Thomas G. Smith, 25, of Middletown, whose service is today.
Funeral services for Hart will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Lester Gee Funeral Home, 108 Blinman Street, New London, followed by burial at Cedar Grove Cemetery with military honors.
Calling hours are from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday. Hart was born in Camden, New Jersey, on July 22, 1961. His mother was the late Florine Green Hart. The Marine spent most of his life in Groton, graduating in 1980 from Fitch Senior High School and working at the Gregory Package Store and the Universal Grocery Store before entering the service.
He married the former Joanne Hamilton on July 4, 1980, in Groton. Besides his wife and father, survivors include a son, William Hart Jr., at home; three brothers, Eugene and Jerry, both of Groton, and Frankie Hart of Queens, N.Y.; and three sisters, Keturah Hart of Groton, Constance Hart of New London, and Diane Kirby of New York City.
The Reemergence of Lance Corporal William Hart From the Ashes By Tom Callinan [USMC 1970-1971] and Life Member of TRD #1334 (used with permission)
There is a saying that no one is truly dead until he has been forgotten. If that’s the case, then Lance Corporal William Hart, a 1981 graduate of Robert E. Fitch High School in Groton, Connecticut, has become a phoenix of sorts. On October 23, 1983, Lance Corporal Hart was among the hundreds who were killed in the horrific terrorist bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. And after his burial in New London’s Cedar Hill Cemetery, he pretty much disappeared from public memory.
However, in 2018, Jennifer McNeil-Donnel, a Fitch H.S. classmate of William Hart’s, and who in adulthood had become the mother of two Marines herself, realized that William was not listed as being among the deceased Connecticut servicemen killed in the Beirut bombing. Jennifer took it upon herself to notify Fitch High School, which resulted in a plaque in honor of Lance Corporal Hart’s service and sacrifice being installed in their alma mater’s lobby.
A while later, she remembered that an old friend, Dave Kargul, a New London native and a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, was then serving as the Chaplain of the Thames River Detachment (TRD) #1334 of the Marine Corps League’s Department of Connecticut. She notified him about Lance Corporal Hart’s forgotten gravesite.
Representing New London County, CT, each year on the weekend of Memorial Day, it has become a tradition for the TRD to visit the graves of its deceased detachment members, to place new American and Marine Corps flags on their graves, to show that, despite the fact that they have departed from our physical presence, they have not been forgotten. Prior to 2023, the TRD was neither aware of Lance Corporal William Hart’s existence nor that he was interred in New London. But after learning about the burial site’s location, Marine Kargul passed the word, and each year since then, that long-forgotten grave has been decorated with new flags. The fact that Lance Corporal Hart’s death predated the founding of the TRD by 26 years didn’t matter. He was a New London County Marine, and the TRD had to honor our brother Marine.
In 2024, the TRD felt that was not enough, so the members decided to establish a $250 cash award in memory of Lance Corporal Hart, for a graduating senior from Fitch H.S., who plans on enlisting in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States. Since expressions of patriotism in the United States have been waning in recent years, it was hoped that this modest cash award would further honor Lance Corporal Hart’s service and sacrifice and might inspire others to follow in his footsteps, in service to our country.
For the initial year of their cash award (2025), TRD #1334 has provided the seed money and will administer it in future years, soliciting funds from donations, bequests, grants, Fitch H.S. alumni, and targeted fundraisers. Hopefully, the generosity of New London County citizens and businesses will enable the TRD to present annual cash awards indefinitely into the future. In that way, they will continue to remember the name and sacrifice of one of their own, while supporting Fitch High School graduates who choose to follow the path of military service.
The TRD’s application form is available from Ms. Jennifer Allanach, Fitch High School’s College and Career Counselor, and the first award was made on June 3rd of 2025, in this, the Semi-Quincentennial year of the Marine Corps’ founding in 1775 as The Continental Marines.
The recipient was Omkari R. Mehta of Groton, an outstanding student and a member of the Navy Junior ROTC at Fitch High School. In reading her application, and the endorsement of her Senior Naval Science Instructor, Terance J. Henkle, LCDR USN (Ret), who wrote, she will “succeed in any program or direction she chooses.” She will soon be entering the U.S. Air Force, with hopes of becoming an astronaut and one day working for NASA.
Marine Tom Callinan (Left Chairman of TRD’s LCpl Wm. Hart Memorial Cash Award Committee) and TRD #1334 Commandant Bill Barnes (Right) presented the award to Ms. Mehta, along with a Certificate of Commendation from U.S. 2nd District Congressman Joe Courtney. Her proud parents attended the award ceremony.
Marine Dave Kargul and Jennifer McNeil-Donnel were able to see their efforts to preserve the name and sacrifice of Lance Corporal William Hart come to fruition. Anyone wishing to donate to the Lance Corporal William Hart Memorial Fund should send their checks [made payable to the Thames River Detachment #1334, MCL with LCpl Wm. Hart Mem. Fund in the Memo line, to TRD #1334, P.O. Box 462, Uncasville, CT 06382.
DOB/DOD: May 16, 1959 (Madison, WI) – October 23, 1983; 24 years old MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried LOCAL ADDRESS: 1 Brookside Lane, Mansfield ENLISTMENT: April 20, 1982 MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0351, Assaultman UNIT: Headquarters & Service Company, 81MM/Dragon Platoon, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 24th Amphibious Unit
FAMILY: Born to Anthony T. and Rose Marie DiBenedetto. Two brothers, David V. and Stephen A.. Two sisters, Diane M. DiBenedetto Martin and Laura J. DiBenedetto Pinatti.
OTHER: Thomas was a graduate of the E. O. Smith High School in Storrs and attended Thames Valley State Technical College in Norwich before joining the Marine Corps in April 1982. He was sent to Beirut in June for what was to have been a six-month tour of duty.
Photo, contributed by sister, Laura.
Photo from Beirut-memorial.org. PFC Relvas, LCPL Boulos, LCPL Blankenship, and LCPL DiBenedetto were all killed.
Photo, contributed by sister, Laura.
Edwin O. Smith High School (Storrs, Connecticut) Class of 1977 or 78
No yearbook photos
From the Hartford Courant on November 6, 1983
From The Norwich Bulletin on February 20, 1986
UCONN GRANTED A NEW SCHOLARSHIP
STORRS — A new $500 scholarship has been established at the University of Connecticut’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources by the parents of Thomas DiBenedetto, who was killed in Lebanon more than two years ago.
DiBenedetto, a recent graduate of E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, was serving his first tour of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps at the time of his death.
His parents, Dr. Anthony T. DiBenedetto, vice-president for academic affairs at UConn, and Mrs. DiBenedetto, and their family felt it would be a fitting and lasting tribute to establish The Thomas A. DiBenedetto scholarship with the memorial contributions received from family, relatives, friends, and colleagues.
The DiBenedettos recall that their son had an appreciation for animals and the land.
The first scholarship recipient is Charles Labash of 121-D Smoke Valley Road, Stratford, a renewable natural resources major who expects to graduate from the university in May.
It was awarded to Labash on the basis of his academic achievements and his potential for future professional and academic accomplishments.
WEBMASTER NOTE: This scholarship is still active as of October 2025.
Testimonial contributed by Laura DiBenedetto Pinatti. Used with permission.
He loved the outdoors. He enjoyed being in the woods (our property bordered acres of state land) and probably knew enough to survive out there if he needed to. He once said he could use his long hair as a rope in an emergency.
He was a scuba diver. He had gone to Florida to scuba dive there and had a dream of doing the same in Australia.
He wanted to travel and took a train trip through Canada on his own. When he got back, he didn’t really know what to do next. He decided to enlist in the military as a way to travel and see the world.
There was a snowstorm the day he went out to talk to a recruiter. The only military office open that day was the Marines. He signed up. He went to boot camp and then to Beirut. It was his first and only tour of duty. He hadn’t even been a Marine for a full year. I don’t know what his job was while he was there, but he might have been a radio-guy… I don’t know if that is verifiable… I just remember hearing that he knew of the threats to their base. I’m pretty sure he was promoted to Lance Corporal upon his death. He was only 24. As you know, he is buried in Storrs, Connecticut.
He was smart and older than the typical recruit (24 years old) and was offered multiple opportunities to stay in the United States, Washington, I believe, but he wanted to travel. I think that he, at least, was able to visit Turkey while on leave. He was due to come home pretty soon.
So that’s who he was. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with himself and ended up a Marine. His death left a big hole in our family. We all miss him still
Testimonial from Sister Diane DiBenedetto Martin
He was very kind and selfless; he would help anyone unconditionally. He loved exploring the outdoors and wasn’t afraid to venture out on his own. He enjoyed camping, cooking, music, and was very independent. He was also quite handy and enjoyed fixing things, especially his motorcycle, which he rode yearlong. He had a unique approach to life, never taking the conventional route.
He graduated from EO Smith High School, and I believe he went on to Norwich Tech, but to be honest, I don’t really remember if he finished…my mother always said that he had an option to attend an officers course instead of going straight to basic training, so I assume he finished.
Photo contributed by Laura DiBenedetto Pinatti is of a tree planting ceremony that took place near the cemetery where Corporal DiBenedetto is buried in Mansfield, Connecticut.
DOB/DOD: September 20, 1947 (Bridgeport, CT) – September 25, 1982; 35 years old MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried LOCAL ADDRESS: 2715 Old Town Road, Bridgeport ENLISTMENT: Commissioned June 3, 1970 LAST MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 9668, Area Intelligence Officer; 48G, Mideast/North Africa (Foreign Area Officer) PRIOR MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTIES: 1204 – Armored Reconnaissance Unit Commander; 9604 – Cryptoanalytic Officer, Translations UNIT: United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, Beirut PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS: B Troop, 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (3rd ACR); French instructor, U.S. Military Academy at West Point
FAMILY: Born to Arthur T. (1909-1989) and Alice V. Hanson Carlson (1918-1979). One brother, Donald G. (1948-).
OTHER: Randall Carlson also earned a Master’s in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University. He returned to the United States Military Academy to teach French at the Academy. He had studied for two years in Paris and researched the French Resistance. He graduated with a second Master’s degree from Middlebury University and became an Assistant Professor in his second year.
CIRCUMSTANCES: On September 25, 1982, he was preparing to depart on leave to Egypt when his supervisor asked him to take a surveillance mission for another officer. He volunteered and was killed with three other United Nations officers when their vehicle ran over a mine. [Source: United States Military Academy Association of Graduates memorial.] Also killed in the incident: USAF Major Harley S. Warren of Baldese, North Carolina, an Irish Major, and a Finnish Captain.
From The Baltimore Sun on September 27, 1982 By Mark Matthews | Washington Bureau of the Sun
WASHINGTON — The note was written on a torn-off scrap of paper shortly before U.S. Marines first arrived in Lebanon last month: “It’s 2 o’clock in the morning. They just called. I don’t have time to write back now, I just got orders to go to Beirut.”
This message was the last that Army Capt Bruce Edwards received from Major Randall A. Carlson, his friend and former West Point teaching colleague.
Major Carlson, who turned 35 last Monday, was one of two U.S. military officers serving with the U.N. observer team in Lebanon who were killed Saturday when their vehicle hit a mine on the Beirut-Damascus highway about nine miles east of Beirut. The other American killed was Air Force Maj. Harley S. Warren, of Baldese, North Carolina.
Major Carlson, a career army officer, had become apprehensive about the dangers the 294-member U.N. observer team faced, according to his brother, Donald Carlson, of Derwood, Maryland.
He also was “appalled” by the destruction he witnessed, and the anxiety and tension that go with the role of peacekeeper in Lebanon were beginning to tell on his easy-going temperament.
He came into daily contact with Israeli and various Lebanese forces, all of whom seemed willing merely to tolerate the observers, his brother said.
“I’m picking up some of the persecution complex the Israelis have,” he wrote on September 8.
While he believed in the U.N. team’s mission, he looked forward to resuming a teaching career.
“He was a dedicated Army officer whose first love was teaching,” his brother said.
Raised in Trumbull, Connecticut, Major Carlson graduated from West Point in 1970 and served with the Army in Germany for about three years. In 1974, he was attached to a military intelligence unit at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and, at the same time, earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. In 1977, he went to France to earn a master’s degree in French through a program conducted by Middlebury College in Vermont.
He began teaching at West Point in 1979. According to Captain Edwards, he threw himself into the job with a passion, bringing to his work not only a love of France itself but also films and taped interviews from his continuing research into the French Resistance during World War II. He hoped ultimately to complete a book on the movement.
Fluent in French, he was also conversant in German and in Swedish, which he had learned so as to be able to communicate with relatives in Sweden.
Assigned to the U.N. force in May, he reported to its headquarters in Jerusalem. Later, he was part of an observer team sent into southern Lebanon.
Although he wrote of the massive destruction brought by the Lebanon conflict, he avoided assigning blame. “He was very matter of fact,” his brother said.
A bachelor, he doted on his 2½-year-old nephew, Eric, who was also his godson. Many of his letters were directly to [Eric], to be read to him,” his brother said. Major Carlson is also survived by his father, Arthur Carlson, of Silver Spring.
From The Daily Times (Salisbury, Maryland) on September 27, 1982 FAMILY FEARED FOR GI’S LIFE
DERWOOD, MD (AP) — Relatives of a 35-year-old Maryland soldier killed in a weekend explosion in Beirut say they feared for his life when he left for the Middle East to serve in the United Nations peacekeeping force.
Army Major Randall Carlson of Derwood died Saturday, along with another U.S. serviceman, when their jeep hit a mine east of Beirut.
Donald Carlson, a brother of the victim, said Sunday he remembered when Carlson left suburban Washington’s Dulles Airport in June to go to the Middle East.
“I felt like I would never see him again. It was a feeling of more apprehension than any of his assignments before,” he said.
Donald Carlson and his wife, Julia, both congressional aides, said they didn’t think Carlson realized the danger of his mission until he got to the war-torn area.
According to Julia Carlson, her brother-in-law indicated in recent letters that he wanted to come home.
Carlson, a graduate of West Point, wrote frequently to his 73-year-old father, Arthur, and his brother and sister-in-law and their son Eric.
In one of those letters, the family said, Carlson related an incident at a Christian militia checkpoint in southern Lebanon.
Carlson described the checkpoint as being manned by 17- and 18-year-olds with rifles. Donald Carlson said the situation made his brother nervous because “he looked into their eyes and saw a complete lack of reasoning and a complete lack of understanding.”
The Pentagon said in Washington that four Officers serving with the United Nations observer team in Beirut were killed when the jeep hit a mine.
The other American, besides Carlson, was identified as Air Force Major Harley S Warren. 34, of Baldese, North Carolina.
Officials said the incident near the Beirut-Damascus highway, about nine miles east of Beirut, would not affect U.S. plans to deploy Marines in the Lebanese capital.
From The Baltimore Sun on September 27, 1982 By Mark Matthews | Washington Bureau of The Sun
U.S. OFFICER KILLED IN BEIRUT HAD BEEN ‘APPALLED’ BY DESTRUCTION
WASHINGTON — The note was written on a torn-off scrap of paper shortly before U.S. Marines first arrived in Lebanon last month.
“It’s 2 o’clock in the morning. They just called. I don’t have time to write back now. I just got orders to go to Beirut.”
This message was the last that Army Capt-Bruce Edwards received from Major Randall A. Carlson, his friend and former West Point teaching colleague.
Major Carlson, who turned 35 last Monday, was one of two U.S. military officers serving with the U.N. observer team in Lebanon who were killed Saturday when their vehicle hit a mine on the Beirut-Damascus highway about nine miles east of Beirut. The other American killed was Air Force Major Harley S Warten, of Baldese, North Carolina.
Major Carlson, a career army officer, had become apprehensive about the dangers the 294-member U.N. observer team faced, according to his brother, Donald Carlson, of Derwood, Maryland.
He also was “appalled” by the destruction he witnessed, and the anxiety and tension that go with the role of peacekeeper in Lebanon were beginning to tell on his easy-going temperament.
He came into daily contact with Israeli and various Lebanese forces, all of whom seemed willing merely to tolerate the observers, his brother said.
“I’m picking up some of the persecution complex the Israelis have,” he wrote on September 8.
While he believed in the U.N. team’s mission, he looked forward to resuming a teaching career.
“He was a dedicated Army officer whose first love was teaching,” his brother said.
Raised in Trumbull, Connecticut, Major Carlson graduated from West Point in 1970 and served with the Army in Germany for about three years. In 1974, he was attached to a military intelligence unit at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and, at the same time, earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. In 1977, he went to France to earn a master’s degree in French through a program conducted by Middlebury College in Vermont.
He began teaching at West Point in 1979. According to Captain Edwards, he threw himself into the job with a passion, bringing to his work not only a love of France itself but also films and taped interviews from his continuing research into the French Resistance during World War II. He hoped ultimately to complete a book on the movement.
Fluent in French, he was also conversant in German and in Swedish, which he had learned so as to be able to communicate with relatives in Sweden.
Assigned to the U.N. force in May, he reported to its headquarters in Jerusalem. Later, he was part of an observer team sent into southern Lebanon.
Although he wrote of the massive destruction brought by the Lebanon conflict, he avoided assigning blame. “He was very matter of fact,” his brother said.
A bachelor, he doted on his 2½-year-old nephew, Eric, who was also his godson. “Many of his letters were directly to [Eric], to be read to him,” his brother said. Major Carlson is also survived by his father, Arthur Carlson, of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Testimonials from west-point.org
Posted by Thomas McQuary on September 26, 2011:
I could see Randy was a true leader the first day I met him – me, the plebe; he, the squad leader. He personified the motto Duty, Honor, Country. A one-of-a-kind Christian soldier, he is missed.
Posted by Paul F. Benoit on October 13, 2011:
Randy was my first Table Commandant during Reorgy Week for the brand new Company I-4. Sitting at attention at the end of the table among 9 strangers, I was unprepared to respond to his inquiry on how the Delaware football team was expected to perform that season. As I floundered about, the giggling classmate Dick Klett, seated to my immediate right, did not make things better for me. I soon became an informed, if not dedicated, follower of the Delaware squad’s fortunes. Over the next nine months, I learned what a goodhearted soul Randy was, and I remember with pleasure his spirited and skillful conducting of the cadet band in the mess hall. How fitting that he went on to serve in the United Nations peacekeeping forces. He has been an inspiration to me throughout my adult life.
Posted by Jim Sullivan on June 15, 2011:
Randy – I don’t think there was a better human being in the regiment. I never saw him utter an unjust word or depart in any way from the path of goodness and noble behavior, in all weathers. He died a hero’s death, and may God hold Randy in His Big Hand.
Sully
From Facebook.com and Michael Jones (used with Permission)
Another year gone. You have been heavy in my heart and thoughts today, Spoon. To my Brother, Major Randall A. Carlson, KIA in Lebanon on this date in 1982. For me today the good memories in our lives flood back, for the escargot you introduced us to, for the superb wines and beers we shared on several continents in the glow of our youth and idealism, for keeping my spirits up with your letters to me in VN especially after I lost my faith in God, for the only Christmas you ever spent away from your family in Germany 1972 when we surprised Irma with a brand new BRG MGB-GT with a huge red bow, and your example of Duty always so very well done. May 1982, the last time we were together on earth, Irma cooked your favorite Mexican dinner, and you broke bread with our family one last time. You said your goodbyes to Irma and our kids, then you and I walked down to the West Point cemetery. It was dusk, and you took me to the Anderson Fountain, walked me to an old copper beech tree, and told me, “Here’s where I want to be buried.” We reminisced about the quiet times we spent reading scriptures together as cadets in the cemetery and Old Cadet Chapel. I made light of your comment and said we’d both be department heads at our beloved Alma Mater and compete to become the oldest living West Point graduate decades hence. We held hands, bowed our heads, and one final time repeated the prayer we always concluded our visits to the cemetery with: The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. In darkness and silence, we walked back up the hill to your little Mercury Capri, shared a hug until the next year, and one final Beat Navy!, and then you were gone. Continue to grip hands with me from the shadows, Randy, until we share a pint at Fiddlers Green. I love you, Spoon. You are remembered always, and I will honor your sacrifice until you guide me home to the High Ground, my Brother. SWI and DHC. Go Army, Beat Navy always lead, even today by your beloved Cadet Spirit Band!”
From West-Point.org
Classmates, Brothers:
By now, many of you have seen Terry Young’s Facebook post about the 2d event of our Class 50 Year Affiliation Program, the Carlson Crucible Challenge, named for our fallen Classmate, Randy Carlson, which was held up at the Prep School last week. A total of seven Classmates participated:
Bill Arcuri, John Veenstra, Bill Richardson, Bill Trivette, TJ Young, Craig Rutler, and yours truly, Bruce Nolte
The Carlson Challenge began at 0600 on 06 August and continued all day. There were a total of six events, and the day concluded with an awards ceremony at 1830. Some candid shots of the day taken by Bill Arcuri are attached.
The Prep school Class of 2016, which will form the “Vanguard” of our 50 Year Affiliation Class of 2020, reported for duty back on 20 July, so by the date of the Carlson Challenge, most of them had only been in the Army for some 17 days. Unlike back in our day, most of the Cadet Candidates had no prior military service, as Basic Training is no longer required before coming to Prep School. Instead, a Cadet Detail of some 80 First & Second Class Cadets formed a training cadre, and put the new CC’s through an abbreviated basic training. And if what we saw last week is any indicator, these cadets did a great job. Not only in training these young men and women on basic soldier skills, but in creating cohesion, spirit, and acceptance of the Army Values. All of us Old Grads were proud of the Cadets and of the Cadet Candidates.
A couple of vignettes:
– You’ll all be glad to learn that the Marne Obstacle Course at Buckner is unchanged since our day, with the exception that they have managed to get the mud and water out of the Low Crawl event…
– One of the Cadet Candidates is a 305 lb football recruit. He ran the 2-mile run in 15:10 and then ran back to encourage CCs behind him. This guy “gets it,” and my bet is that he will be the football captain. A really impressive kid.
– The Cadet Cadre took the bio of Randy Carlson’s life, written by Mike Jones, and deconstructed it into a number of what I’ll call “Mini Sermons” about Army Values. They also took the photos of Randy from Snoopy’s Memorial to Randy and blew them up to 36×24. They then placed a photo and one of these Values Discussions at each of the six stops of the Carlson Challenge. As each squad of CC’s rotated through each event, a First Classman discussed each of these values with the CC’s and how these values were exemplified by MAJ Carlson. As us Old Grads rotated through the events ourselves, we were truly touched.
– The last event of the day was a climb up the ski slope. The Cadet Detail had taken a number of large 20-pound stones, painted them black, and painted on each a letter of Randy’s name in gold. Each squad had to carry one of these stones up the ski slope and on up to Redoubt 4 without it touching the ground. At the Awards Ceremony at the end of the day, these stones were placed on the stage to spell MAJ RANDALL ARTHUR CARLSON 1970. I’m telling you, this was a moving event.
– At the Awards Ceremony, the ’70 Contingent also presented “Carlson Crucible Challenge” coins to each member of the winning squad. These coins were procured and prepared on very short notice by Bill Arcuri, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. At the conclusion of the Ceremony, each ’70 participant shook hands with every Cadet and every member of the Cadet Detail.
As we rotated through the course, all of the ’70 participants got to mingle freely with both the CC’s and the Cadet Cadre. They are an impressive bunch. And the Prep School staff is really top-notch. The Vanguards of the USMA Class of 2020 are off to a good start.
DOB/DOD: May 27, 1920 (New Haven, CT) – July 14, 1996 (Riverside, CA); 76 years old MARITAL STATUS: Married to Eduardo Lopez CHILDREN: One son, Ricardo Antonio Lopez (1953-2016) LOCAL ADDRESS:9 Cleveland Road, New Haven ENLISTMENT: March 7, 1944, in Columbus, Ohio SERVICE NUMBER: A-507658 DISCHARGE: December 24, 1945
FAMILY: Born to Edward L. Burgess Sr. (1896-?) and Mabel Davis Burgess (1897-1972). Three brothers, Edward L. Jr. [U.S. Army veteran] (1917-1990), Carl (1918-), and Donald (1919-1967).
OTHER: Jun 1938: Name listed as MARGARET MAE BURGESS; Jan 1944: Name listed as MARGARET MAY POWELL; 20 Aug 1980: Name listed as MARGARET B NICHOLS; 16 Apr 1985: Name listed as MARGARET B LOPEZ; Name listed as MARGARET MAE POWELL; Name listed as PEGGY MAE LOPEZ.
