 On 18 April 1983 a van carrying a 2 @,@ 000 pound load of explosives , slammed into the U.S. embassy in West Beirut , killing 63 . In August 1983 , Israel withdrew its Defense Forces from the Chouf District ( southeast of Beirut ) , thus removing the buffer between the Druze and the Christian militias and triggering another round of brutal fighting . In August 1983 militiamen began to bombard United States Marines positions near Beirut International Airport with mortar and rocket fire as the Lebanese Army fought Druze and Shia forces in the southern suburbs of Beirut . On 29 August 1983 , two Marines were killed and fourteen wounded , and in the ensuing months the Marines came under almost daily attack from artillery , mortar , rocket , and small @-@ arms fire . After this attack the Marines began returning fire . The Reagan Administration decided to dispatch New Jersey , a decision the Marines cheered . 
