It is strange to realize that events one has lived through are part now of the tapestry of history. So it is for me with Operation Urgent Fury, the US invasion of Grenada, which is now 41 years in the past. Arising out of a murderous factional dispute in the New Jewel Movement, which had ruled Grenada since 1979, that led to the murder of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and some of his cabinet on October 19, 1983, the invasion was a symbol that the US had recovered from its post Vietnam malaise, and was willing to use military force. The Grenadian army imposed martial law and placed Governor-General Paul Scoon under arrest. The Organization of East Caribbean States and Barbados and Jamaica appealed for assistance.
The Reagan administration was happy to oblige, eager for the excuse to root out Cuban influence from Grenada, Cuba and the New Jewel Movement being firm allies. The invasion began on October 25. Initial resistance was fierce from Cubans, but the massive superiority in troops and firepower of the 7,300 US and allied invasion force swiftly defeated all opposition. Fidel Castro when interviewed about the invasion was asked what he would do, and admitted there was nothing the Cubans could do.
Cubans captured on Grenada were repatriated to Cuba. US forces withdrew from Grenada by December 15, 1983. The date of the invasion, October 25, is celebrated as a national holiday in Grenada, which has been a democratic nation since that time.
The invasion revealed weaknesses in US coordination of forces between the armed services, not terribly surprising considering how swiftly the invasion was thrown together, and led to the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Department Reorganization Act of 1986, which increased the powers of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to establish a unified top command for the services.
Go here for a free computer game on the invasion of Grenada.
How wonderful that the “happy few” in Granada have their victorious holiday “upon St Crispin’s Day”!
I hate to say it, but I recall this being the butt of jokes when I was in school and college. In pop culture as well as school. Even in college I remember professors making fun of it, or using it to stir up the old ‘Reagan and the Right are the warmongers’ trope. I can’t remember it being brought up that it wasn’t to dig Reagan or simply to mock and make fun of.
The Left was always laughing at Reagan as he delivered two landslides, restored American prosperity, restored our military strength and won the Cold War. Reagan the Great, the finest President of my lifetime. The Left also failed to notice that when it came to use of military force Reagan was always quite cautious. No forever wars for him. In the movie Bedtime for Bonzo Reagan played a Professor whose father had been a career criminal who had the nickname of “Professor”. As one of his criminal associates noted the “Professor” succeeded by using angles, rather than relying on strong arm tactics. Reagan’s foes, both domestic and foreign, always underestimated his intelligence, to Reagan’s great advantage.
Not to detract from what Reagan and the US military accomplished in Grenada, but I distinctly recall my dad — who earned two Bronze Stars for his WWII service — being somewhat miffed to discover that thousands of Bronze Stars were awarded to participants in this invasion. He thought that this cheapened the honor in some way because the Grenada invasion was a walk in the park compared to D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, which he had survived.
A lot of bad medal inflation since WWII Elaine, often awarded to armchair commandoes whose main risk was being run over by a shopping cart during a PX sale.
Unfortunately, as their actions at Butler proved, the communications lesson of Granada hasn’t yet made its way to the Secret Service. Too bad no one in local law enforcement thought of using a pay phone. If one could be found.