10/20/2026
The Beirut Memorial honors the 273 service members who lost their lives during the peacekeeping mission in Beirut, Lebanon and related action in Grenada on October 23, 1983, and in the days that followed. 241 were stationed at Camp Lejeune. The main part of the memorial was dedicated on October 23, 1986. Jacksonville-born sculptor, Abbe Godwin, who also created the statue for the Corpsmen Memorial, along with the NC Vietnam Veterans memorial in Raleigh, was then commissioned to create a statue to be added to the memorial wall. At 6 feet tall the statue of a lone Marine, The Peacekeeper, in a traditional pose of standing watch, is striking in its extraordinary detail and realism. It took nearly a year to complete and was installed at the memorial on October 22, 1988. These images were donated to the Museum by the Beirut Memorial Advisory Board.
An observance ceremony takes place each year on or about October 23rd. Lejeune Memorial Gardens is located at 109 Montford Landing Rd. For further information, click on the links in comments.
