TARGETED BEIRUT SURVIVOR: RANDY GADDO

The Jack Carr Channel

Jack Carr

Society & Culture

4.9 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2024

⏱️ 119 minutes

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Summary

Randy Gaddo’s life was forever changed on October 23, 1983, when a truck bomb destroyed the barracks where he would have been working had he not stopped for a cup of coffee. The blast claimed the lives of 241 U.S. servicemen in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. Today, Randy joins us to share his powerful story in the first of a limited series: Beirut Survivors. Randy is a retired U.S. Marine Chief Warrant Officer-4 who served from 1976 to 1996. As a Marine, he spent nearly ten years as a combat correspondent before transitioning to a public affairs and media officer role for the remainder of his 20-year career. Randy is a seasoned journalist, photojournalist, editor, and media relations expert. After his military service, he served as the Director of Leisure Services for Peachtree City, GA, for nearly 15 years, overseeing parks, recreation, and special events. Today, Randy runs his own business, RGCommunications©, offering freelance writing services and performing music as Boomerang Music. SPONSORS TARGETED: BEIRUT – The first in Jack’s new non-fiction series https://www.officialjackcarr.com/books/targeted-beirut/ Bravo Company Manufacturing: Visit us on the web at http://jackcarr.co/bcm and on Instagram @BravoCompanyUSA.com SIG: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the legendary SIG SAUER P226. Learn more here - https://jackcarr.co/SIG40thP226 Jack Carr Gear: Explore the gear here - https://jackcarr.co/gear

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Danger Close Podcast.
0:04.0	Thank you for tuning. Welcome to the Danger Close Podcast.
0:13.0	Thank you for tuning in to this special series on the 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks
0:18.6	bombing to compliment my first work of non-fiction, titled Targeted Beirut, the 1983 Marine Barracks bombing,
0:26.1	and the untold origin story of the War on Terror, written with Military Historian and Pulitzer
0:31.1	Prize finalist James Scott.
0:33.7	It hits shells on September 24th and is available for pre-order now in hardcover, e-book and
0:39.4	audiobook narrated by Ray Porter. James Scott joins me to co-host this podcast series.
0:45.0	Our guest today is Randy Gatto.
0:47.0	Randy is a retired Marine Chief Foreign Officer
0:50.0	who served from 1976 to 1996.
0:53.7	He was a combat correspondent as an enlisted marine
0:56.2	for nearly 10 years,
0:57.6	then a public affairs and media officer
0:59.7	for the remainder of his time in uniform.
1:02.4	On the morning of October 23, 1983, then Staff Sergeant Gatto was hit full force, danger close,
1:09.6	by the blast wave from a truck bomb that demolished the four-story reinforced concrete
1:14.7	building being used as a barracks for nearly 400 US servicemen serving in
1:19.6	Beirut. He was one of the first people to respond to one of the largest non-nuclear
1:24.9	explosions in history that resulted in the greatest single day loss of life
1:28.8	of the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Ewejima in World War II. The attack claimed the lives of
1:35.0	220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers. Had it not been for a cup of coffee, Randy
	...

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