It was seven-story building that sat along the Mediterranean and looked out over the sea.

That was the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983. On April 18 of that year, it was targeted by a recently formed Iranian-backed terrorist group.

"Lebanese police and witnesses said the front of the embassy was blown out by 500 pounds of explosives packed into a vehicle witnesses described as a GMC pickup truck," the New York Daily News reported the next day.

"The massive blast killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, eight of whom were CIA officers, and wounded more than 100 others," the CIA would later state.

Six months later -- on Oct. 23, 1983 -- another terrorist attack killed Americans in Beruit.

"A truck full of explosives crashed through the gates and into the Marine battalion headquarters building," Marine spokesman Maj. Robert Jordan was quoted as saying by the Daily News that day.

"The explosion struck a building housing the 1,200-member Battalion Landing Team of the Marines amphibious unit stationed at Beirut International Airport," the Daily News reported.

"The attack killed 241 and injured 60 military personnel, mostly U.S. Marines," the Defense Intelligence Agency would later state.

So, who perpetrated these evil attacks on Americans who were serving their country?

The National........

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