That horrible day from almost 43 years ago has suddenly become relevant in helping to explain today’s current events.
The Thorstad family has never forgotten Oct. 23, 1983, and has made it a practice every Memorial Day to gather in Chesterton to remember their fallen brother, U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Thomas P. Thorstad.
A Hezbollah suicide terrorist drove a bomb-laden truck into the U.S. Marines’ barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 U.S. servicemen. It was the deadliest mass attack on Americans in the years between the Vietnam War and Sept. 11, 2001.
The Hezbollah terrorists were supported by Iran, but America didn’t strike back. American and Israeli forces launched a military attack on Feb. 28 against Iran, as there is a ceasefire now with the two sides trying to negotiate an end to the conflict.
“They Came in Peace” is the prominent title on the Beirut Memorial Monument that’s adjacent to the Vietnam Memorial for Indiana soldiers off Ind. 49 and Porter Road in Chesterton. The names of Thorstad and five other servicemen from Indiana who died on Oct. 23. 1983, including Marine Lance Cpl. Danny Estes from Gary, are engraved on that stone.
Jim Thorstad, 70, was a year older than his brother Tom. They were so close growing up together in a family of eight children that they were referred to as “Irish twins.”
Reticent to wade into politics, Thorstad notes that Iran has been an adversary of the United States since hostages were taken at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, an ordeal that lasted 444 days.
President Ronald Reagan chose not to directly retaliate after the Oct. 23, 1983, bombing. President Donald Trump is the first to take direct military action against Iran, Thorstad said.
While Thorstad might have his issues with Iran’s leadership, he does have sympathy for the people having to live under the present regime.
Thorstad has a unique perspective because he personally knows what Iran was once like. In high school, he was an exchange student in 1972 for four months, living in an Iranian town by the Caspian Sea.
It was a different world then as Iran leaned toward a more western-oriented culture, with the youth wearing blue jeans and listening to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Thorstad said.
“My perspective is that they are the most beautiful and welcoming people that you could imagine,” Thorstad said.
Thorstad believes the present reality of people in Iran is comparable to the situation with Cuba under Fidel Castro’s rule.
When the Iranian revolution occurred in 1978, the goal was to overthrow the Shah of Iran because people thought they would then have a better life. Thorstad said that from his talks with those from Iran, they didn’t want an “oppressive regime,” which, like Cuba, is what they unexpectedly got.
“The Iranian people have surely spoken in the streets, at their peril,” Thorstad said. “The whole world is praying for peace.”
Memorial Day is for remembering the sacrifice that Tom Thorstad made in trying to bring peace.
The Thorstad clan grew up on Wake Robin Drive in the Graham Woods area of Westchester Township outside of Chesterton.
Tom Thorstad made friends with the neighborhood kids, who proudly called themselves the “Weasels.” They loved to go fishing or to play hockey when a neighborhood pond froze over.
“He was a funny guy who made us laugh,” said Patty Thorstad Zosso, a younger sister, who remembers epic pillow fights. “He would do anything for anybody.”
At Chesterton High School, Tom Thorstad was a wrestler and decided after his graduation in 1974 to join the U.S. Marines. Jim Thorstad also served in the Marine Corps for four years after he graduated from Indiana University.
Tom Thorstad rose to the rank of staff sergeant and was working counter-intelligence in Lebanon, where the Marines were serving as peacemakers in the civil war between Muslim and Christian factions.
During the 1980s, the ABC network’s Nightline with Ted Koppel was a popular late-night news show. Jim Thorstad’s father and mother liked to watch and happened to see Tom in video footage from Lebanon, standing on the roof at the airport in Beirut.
Jim Thorstad said his brother was due to leave Lebanon within a month. Eventually, Tom Thorstad hoped to go on to a career in law enforcement, either with the Indiana State Police or the Chicago Police Department.
But then Jim Thorstad remembers that 5 a.m. phone call from his parents, who relayed reports about the explosion at the U.S. Marines barracks. It took 10 agonizing days to confirm that Tom Thorstad was among the dead.
“It was horrific. It took a long time to get his body back,” Thorstad said.
There was a “fantastic outpouring” from the Chesterton community as the Veterans Day, Nov. 11, funeral was one of the largest that the town has ever seen. Tom Thorstad, who was only 27, was survived by his wife and two young sons, along with his huge extended family.
Tom Thorstad’s grave in the Chesterton Cemetery lies in a prominent place, next to where the American Legion Post 170 holds its annual Memorial Day program.
Jim Thorstad led the American Legion Post’s honor guard in the 21-gun salute at the close of Monday’s ceremony.
The last stop for the day was the Vietnam Memorial and Beirut Memorial, just down Porter Avenue. The Thorstad family dedicated the Beirut Memorial Monument in 2019.
There was a moment of silence for Tom Thorstad. Luke Mueller of the Boy Scout Post 998 read a short account of the Beirut bombing that closed with the words, “Our first duty is to remember.”
Thorstad family members gathered around the Beirut Memorial Monument after the close of the service.
They have a family gathering to share the many positive memories about Tom’s life, Thorstad Zosso said.
Jan Thorstad Edquist, the oldest surviving sister, was with her young granddaughter by the Beirut Memorial Monument. When war broke out in Iran, Edquist said she thought of her brother.
“The memories came flooding back,” Edquist said.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
