Documenting the American South

Monument Name

Lebanon Peace Keeping Force, Mooresville

Type

Marker

Subjects

Other Wars

City

Mooresville

County

Iredell

Description

The Lebanon Peace Keeping Force monument is a large rectangular block of granite standing roughly seven feet tall. Near the top is a large bronze “Eagle, Globe and Anchor” emblem of the Marine Corps. Beneath this emblem is the inscription plaque. At the top of this plaque from left to right appear the Marine Corps emblem, crossed American Flags and the United States Navy emblem. The plaque is 30 inches wide by 18 inches high.

Images: Plaque

Inscription

“LEAST WE FORGET THAT PEACE HAS A PRICE” / IN MEMORIAL TO OUR MARINES AND SAILORS OF / THE MULTI-NATIONAL PEACE KEEPING FORCE / LEBANON – 1983 – 1984 / NORTH CAROLINA SEMPER FIDELIS /

[Left column] 1 ST SGT. D.L. BATTLE / HUBERT / SGT. RICHARD BLANKENSHIP / FAYETTEVILLE / LCPL. BOBBY BUCHANNAN / MIDWAY PARK / SGT. CHARLES COOK / ADVANCE / CPL. JOHNNY COPELAND / BURLINGTON / MAJ. ANDREW DAVIS / JACKSONVILLE / CPL. STEVEN FORRESTER / JACKSONVILLE / [Center column] SSGT. LELAND GANN / CAMP LEJEUNE / LCPL. DAVID GAY / JACKSONVILLE / SSGT. HAROLD GHUMN / JACKSONVILLE / LCPL. WILLIAM HART / JACKSONVILLE / GYSGT. MATILDE HERNANDEZ / MIDWAY PARK / CPL. STANLEY HESTER / RALEIGH / 2 ND LT. DONALD LOSEY / WINSTON SALEM /

[Right column] LCPL. TIMOTHY MCNEELY / MOORESVILLE / SGT. MICHAEL MERCER / VALE / LCPL. RONALD MEURER / JACKSONVILLE / CPL. HARRY MYERS / WHITTLER / CPL. RAY PAGE / ERWIN / IS-1 MICHAEL WAGNER / ZEBULON / CPL. JOHNNY WILLIAMSON / ASHEBORO

Custodian

City of Mooresville

Dedication Date

May 1985

Decade

1980s

Geographic Coordinates

35.582350 , -80.813160 View in Geobrowse

Supporting Sources

Skutnick, Melina. “Monument's Future Worries Soldier’s Family,” Leaterneck.com, http://www.leatherneck.com, (accessed July 28, 2016) Link

“Blowup In Beirut: U.S. Marines Peacekeeping Mission Turns Deadly,” Historynet, http://www.historynet.com, (accessed July 27, 2016) Link

“McNeely, Timothy, LCpl.,” TogetherWeServed.com, marines.togetherweserved.com, (accessed July 28, 2016) Link

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

Bronze, granite

Subject Notes

This memorial was placed in honor of Lance Corporal Timothy McNeely, a Mooresville native and one of 241 United States Marines and Seamen killed on October 23, 1983 when a terrorist truck bomb destroyed their four-story barracks building. This was the largest loss of life in a single action since the Vietnam War and the worst act of terrorism against Americans up to that time. The Marines were intended to be a buffer between factions in an ongoing civil war but became a target themselves. The peace-keeping mission lasted from August 1982 until August 1984 with a total loss of 268 dead and hundreds wounded.

Controversies

In 2008, plans to move the monument to the Mooresville War Memorial Center were reversed when the family of Lance Corporal McNeely objected to the move.

Location

The memorial is located in John Franklin Moore Park which is a long narrow, triangle patch between South Main and South Broad streets where they intersect with East and West Center Avenues at the historic train depot. A short distance from this memorial is a memorial plaque to John Franklin Moore for whom Mooresville was named.

Landscape

The memorial marker stands on the lawn, with bushes and seasonal greenery on the South Main street side and a rail track on the South Broad street side.