In 1983, the tiny 110,000-citizen nation of Grenada witnessed a severe confrontation between
Western democracies and Communism.
The small island, located within the Grenadines archipelago in the West Indies between Cuba
and Puerto Rico, was of great interest to the Cuban government, which knew its value
and sought to establish a major airport and use the former British colony as a holding
place for Soviet-made weapons.
American officials took notice and viewed it as an opportunity to restore the country’s
name after several failed conflicts.
In October of 1983, a controversial operation to rescue American medical students from Grenada
was put into motion.
President Ronald Reagan also sought to restore democracy in the war-torn nation and avoid
further influence from Cuba and the Soviet Union.
An invasion masquerading as a rescue mission then ensued...
Grenada
Grenada achieved independence in 1974 after 300 years of colonial rule from the United
Kingdom.
Its first prime minister, Eric Gairy, ruled for five years.
In March of 1979, Maurice Bishop, head of the Marxist New Joint Endeavor for Welfare,
Education, and Liberation Movement, staged an armed coup d'etat while the Prime Minister
was giving a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Most Grenadians welcomed the overthrow of the government.
Still, the new regime under the People's Revolutionary Government, or PRG, proved to be just as corrupt.
In an attempt to ensure his own safety and ask for help due to the country's precarious
financial conditions, Bishop proposed an alliance with his personal friend Fidel Castro.
The Cuban Prime Minister sent a military team armed with Soviet-made weapons to train the
new People's Revolutionary Army and the People's Revolutionary Militia.
The nation also sent construction workers and equipment to build an international airport
at Grenada's southwest tip.
During these years, the PRG party began to fracture due to internal corruption and political
misconduct.
By late 1983, an opposition group led by Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard determined that
greed influenced Bishop's intentions, and they began scheming a takeover.
Although Bishop was supported by a large group of Grenadians, Coard had the loyalty of the
military.
The Coup
On October 14, 1983, Coard had Bishop and several top politicians placed under house
arrest.
Five days later, a crowd of Bishop supporters gathered outside his residence to demand his
release.
Despite heavily armored military men guarding the building, the mob managed to free Bishop
and many others.
They were then taken to Fort Rupert, an army building a mile away.
As Bishop’s car drove past Deputy Prime Minister Coard's house, the official crouched
in shame, expecting immediate retribution.
However, Coard received no punishment, and he was able to regroup, a mistake Bishop would
later regret.
As Bishop and his advisers gathered at Fort Rupert to discuss their next steps, Coard
and members of the People's Revolutionary Army stormed the building and plowed through
the multitude waiting to hear Bishop speak.
Within minutes, the insurgents captured Bishop and his men, and Coard gave the order to end
their lives.
Coard then sought help from Cuba to restore order, but Castro refused due to his personal
relationship with Bishop.
The Soviet Union also declined to get involved, citing that intervention so close to the United
States posed a significant risk.
The deputy prime minister panicked and resigned from his position.
The People's Revolutionary Army was now in power and immediately imposed a 24-hour curfew
with violent punishment, as well as a new revolutionary motto [QUOTE]: "Forward Ever,
Backward Never."
An Excuse
Around the days of the Grenadian Revolution, the United States was also in a state of distress,
with the embarrassing withdrawal from the Vietnam war, the failure of the 1975 Mayaguez
incident, and, most importantly, the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis.
The American Armed Forces and Reagan's administration could greatly benefit from a successful foreign
operation.
The United States already had its sights on the Cuba-Nicaragua-Grenada trifecta, as half
of their wartime reinforcements to NATO needed to pass through them.
But when the Soviet Union began constructing an airfield on Grenada's airport, rumors about
Cubans and Soviets joining forces to create a satellite so close to these vital shipping
lanes put the United States on high alert.
The US military viewed the chaos in Grenada as an opportunity to both halt the Soviet’s
influence on the region and to bolster their dwindling reputation.
By 1983, Grenada's Saint George's University School of Medicine housed 650 Americans.
Although there was no direct threat to the students, the US government could not risk
going through another eventual hostage crisis.
President Reagan and his cabinet used it as an excuse and quickly sent troops to retrieve
the students.
This operation would be referred to as a rescue mission, never officially an invasion.
Operation Urgent Fury
On October 19, the State Department's ambassador in Barbados, Milan Bish, sent a message to
Washington that an emergency evacuation of American citizens in Grenada was pressing.
Operation Urgent Fury was born.
Besides the safe rescue of over 600 Americans, the operation called to restore democracy
and prevent further Communist intervention in Grenada.
Within a few days, the plan’s final outline was sent for presidential approval.
President Reagan then approved a full-scale invasion conducted along with other Eastern
Caribbean nations.
US Navy Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf III headed the operation.
His task force included men from all military services, and Jamaican military forces and
troops from the Regional Security System would also join them.
The newly formed Joint Task Force had less than a week to prepare, practice, and launch
an operation with insufficient military maps or any sort of on-site intelligence.
The operation was finally set to launch at 2am on October 25.
The plan was for Task Force 123 to take Grenada's southern tip, with the Rangers parachuting
down and securing the Point Salines airport, then move on through the Calivigny barracks
and enter the medical school.
The Delta and SEALs troops would take over the area around St. George's University, while
the Marines would land through the North and secure another airfield.
The invasion was expected to be completed within four hours of the initial attack.
The 82nd would then land at the Port Salines airport and finally restore law and order.
If the events went as expected, the Americans would hand governmental duties to a Caribbean
entity and leave the country.
Call to Action
Operation Urgent Fury began on October 25, at the behest of the Barbados and Dominica
countries, and Governor-General of Grenada Sir Paul Scoon.
Army Rangers flew in and seized the Point Salines airfield before dawn, where they met
more resistance than expected.
Cuban forces had blocked the main runway with vehicles and several obstructions, rendering
it impossible to land an aircraft.
The Rangers had no choice but to jump into the attack.
Meanwhile, the Marines met only slight resistance when staging a helicopter assault at the other
airfield in Pearls.
Over a dozen United States Navy warships stationed around Grenada waited for directions, and
several Lockheed MC-130s and Lockheed C-130 Hercules fighters were in a holding pattern
offshore.
The order was finally given to approach, and the MC-130s flew into Grenada in tandem teams
of two.
Lieutenant Colonel James Hobson was the commander of the first aircraft squadron that flew over
the drop zone.
As Hobson and his team approached the area, their aircraft was illuminated by a ground
spotlight that allowed the Americans to notice several anti-aircraft guns and 23-millimeter
tracers in the nearby hills.
Despite being 400 feet into the air, Lieutenant Hobson ordered his men to jump at once.
Concurrently, paratroopers from the task force moved northeast from the Point Salines airport
and came upon a cluster of warehouses guarded by Cuban soldiers.
The soldiers attempted to ambush the incoming Americans, but eventually fled.
A later inspection would reveal that the warehouses contained enough Cuban and Soviet military
weapons and material to arm six infantry battalions, or about 6,000 soldiers.
Seven hours after the operation began, a group of Rangers arrived at the True Blue campus
in St. George's University to rescue the medical students.
However, they were surprised to find only 140.
They soon learned that more students were two and a half miles away in another university
facility at Grand Anse beach.
US intelligence had not shown this location.
It took a few days to collect all the medical students, but eventually all 564 were successfully
evacuated to the United States.
The operation lasted for four more days.
The campaign's last military action occurred on November 1, when two companies from the
22nd Marine Amphibious Unit executed a sea and helicopter landing on Carriacou island,
17 miles northeast of Grenada.
The 20 Grenadian soldiers the Americans encountered surrendered with no resistance.
Aftermath
After the American troops parted from Grenada in December of 1983, Nicholas Brathwaite,
of the National Democratic Congress, was appointed interim Prime Minister.
In 1984, the first democratic elections in 14 years were held, and Herbert Blaize, from
the Grenada National Party, served his country until he passed away in 1989.
Despite several mistakes and 19 total casualties, Operation Urgent Fury was considered a success.
It was also the first American military victory since the war in Southeast Asia, restoring
the pride lost during the Vietnam, Cambodia, Iran, and Lebanon conflicts.
However, the attack was also met with strong opposition around the globe, as many officials
and civilians questioned the legality of the attack.
An anti-war march attended by Mayor Bernie Sanders was held in Washington, D.C. and gathered
over 50,000 people, while the United Nations General Assembly voted 108 to 9 in condemning
the armed intervention.
Still, on January 24, 1984, Admiral Wesley L. McDonald summed up Operation Urgent Fury's
success in an address before the House Armed Services Committee [QUOTE]:
"In summary, history should reflect that the operation was a complete success.
All phases of the assigned mission were accomplished.
U.S. citizens were protected and evacuated.
The opposing forces were neutralized.
The situation stabilized with no additional Cuban intervention.
U.S. students have returned to resume their studies at the medical school and tourism
is steadily increasing.
And, most importantly, a lawful, democratic government has been restored."