From the Front Page: Beirut Bombings on Oct. 23, 1983 New York Times (Online) The Learning Network On This Day spotlights a historic New York Times front-page article. 1983 By Thomas L. Friedman Special to The New York Times Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 23 — A suicide terrorist driving a truck loaded with TNT blew up an American Marine headquarters at the Beirut airport today, killing at least 161 marines and sailors and wounding 75. In an almost simultaneous attack, another bomb-laden truck slammed into a French paratroop barracks two miles away. According to Lebanese Civil Defense authorities, at least 27 French paratroopers were killed, 12 were wounded and 53 were reported missing and believed buried in rubble. Official Defense Ministry figures issued in Paris listed 12 French soldiers dead, 13 wounded and 48 missing. It was the highest number of American military personnel killed in a single attack since the Vietnam War. The identity of the attackers still had not been determined tonight. This event occurred on Oct. 23, but appeared in the Oct. 24 issue of The New York Times. Read the entire article or explore this issue in full in TimesMachine . Read the article excerpt and then make a connection: How does this news event relate to what's happening today in the world, in your community or in your own life? Post a comment. If time allows, use the following prompts to dive deeper into today's featured front page: Look at the print front page or explore it in Times Machine . What do you notice? What do you wonder? Read the entire featured article. What did you learn? What questions do you have about the event, the reporting, the language used at the time, or anything else?