The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

invade the island, using airborne troops, special
forces, and Marines diverted from an expeditionary
force that had been headed for Lebanon.

The United States Invades On October 25, 1983,
U.S. forces invaded Grenada in the largest U.S. mili-
tary operation since the end of the Vietnam War.
Code-named Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion
was under the overall command of Admiral Wesley
L. McDonald, commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
Approximately seven thousand U.S. troops, along
with three hundred OECS soldiers, began to land
on the island under the cover of darkness. Army
Rangers and Special Forces arrived first to seize key
positions and protect U.S. citizens. Paratroopers
from the Eighty-second Airborne Division landed at
Point Salinas to seize the airport, while elements of
the Second Battalion, Eighth Marines landed by he-
licopter on the east side of the island from amphibi-
ous warships offshore. These initial troops were rein-

forced by two battalions of soldiers airlifted from the

United States and by additional Marines from the

Twenty-second Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU).

U.S. forces could receive combat support from Ma-

rine helicopters, naval gunfire from several destroy-

ers and frigates, and air support from the aircraft

carrier U.S.S.Independence. Facing the U.S. forces

were approximately fifteen hundred Grenadian

troops and six hundred Cubans. The Cubans were

mostly engineers, but they did arrive on the island

armed with standard infantry equipment and some

heavy weapons. The Grenadian forces amounted to

little more than a disorganized, but heavily armed,

militia.

Grenadian and Cuban resistance was sporadic in

some places and stiff in others. Marines landing by

helicopter faced opposition, losing two Cobra at-

tack helicopters, while the Army Rangers tasked with

taking the Point Salinas airport found the runway

blocked and Cuban forces prepared for a landing. In

The Eighties in America Grenada invasion
431

Members of the Eighty-second Airborne fire artillery during the U.S. invasion of Grenada.(U.S. Department of Defense)