5 APR--This Day in US Military History

2015-04-05T20:16:35-04:00

1986 – A Berlin nightclub was bombed and 2 US soldiers and a woman were killed and 230 injured.

La Belle discothèque was was commonly frequented by United States soldiers, and two of the dead and 79 of the injured were American servicemen.
A bomb placed under a table near the disk jockey's booth exploded at 1:45 am CET killing instantly Nermin Hannay, a Turkish woman, and U.S. sergeant Kenneth T. Ford. A second American sergeant, James E. Goins, died from his injuries two months later. Some of the victims were left permanently disabled.
Libya was held responsible for the bombing by the US government, and US President Ronald Reagan ordered retaliatory strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya ten days later. The strikes reportedly killed at least 15 people, including Colonel Qaddafi's adopted daughter.
Palestinian Yasser Shraydi (Chraidi) was suspected of playing a lead role in the bombing of the La Belle discotheque. In 1996 he was extradited from Lebanon to face charges in Germany. In 1996 Andrea Hasler was arrested in Greece and extradited to Germany. Also a woman named Verena Chanaa, suspected of planting the bomb, and her former husband named Ali Chanaa were arrested in Berlin. In 1997 Musbah Abulghasen Eter was arrested by Italian police in Rome in connection with the bombing. In 2001 V. Chanaa was sentenced to 14 years, A. Chanaa and Eter were sentenced to 12 years, and Chraidi was sentenced to 14 years. Libya was implicated and in 2004 agreed to pay $35 million in compensation.

https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/april-5/

April 5

5 April 1614 - American Indian princess Pocahontas (d.1617) married English Jamestown colonist John Rolfe in Virginia. Their marriage brought a temporary peace between the English settlers and the ...

Response by SP5 Michael Rathbun made Apr 5 at 2015 9:04 PM

2015-04-05T21:04:54-04:00

Much less horrific, this was, in 1970, the shortest day of my life. The calendars for 1970 and 2015 coincide, so my entire Easter lasted about an hour as my travel to Cam Ranh AB took me across the Date Line at about 11 pm on 4 Apr.