RONALD J. GARCIA was a Staff Sergeant (0251) serving with the 2nd ITT attached to BLT 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. He was Killed in Action in Beirut, Lebanon when at approximately 0622 on Sunday, October 23, 1983, the Battalion Landing Team headquarters building in the Marine Amphibious Unit compound at Beirut International Airport was destroyed by a terrorist bomber driving a stake-bed truck that had penetrated security to the building, where it exploded. The truck drove over barbed and concertina wire obstacle, flattened the Sergeant of the Guard’s sandbagged booth at the building’s entrance, penetrated the lobby of the building and detonated while the majority of the occupants slept. The force of the explosion [12,000 pounds] ripped the building from its foundation. The building then imploded killing 241 Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers.
Ronald J. Garcia is honored on the Beirut Memorial Wall at Camp Lejeune in Onslow County, North Carolina.