Diary Entry - 11/07/1983
Key Facts
President Reagan orders the 82nd Airborne to Grenada to repair war damage and provide medical care for the citizens of Grenada.
President Reagan participates in a ceremony welcoming home 400 students from the St. Georges University School of Medicine in Grenada.
Usual Staff & N.S.C. meetings. We’re putting 82nd Airborne engineers into Grenada to repair & rebuild war damage. We also have Mil. medical teams inoculating the children & providing medical care for others. The most wonderful So. Lawn ceremony we’ve ever had. About 400 of the medical students we rescued on Grenada came here plus 40 mil. all of whom had been on Grenada—4 branches of the service. Ten yrs. ago kids of the students age hated anyone in a uniform—remember Kent State? It was heartwarming indeed thrilling to see these young people clasp these men in uniform to their hearts. Went inside & taped T.V. interviews with Nobutaka Shakunai of Japan & Jung-suk Lee of Korea. They’ll be played there before my arrival. A long luncheon meeting re contingency plans in event Iran tries to close Straits of Hormuz. All agree we can not let the Straits be closed. Then we touched on a touchy one. We believe we have a fix on a headquarters of the radical Iranian Shiites who blew up our Marines. We can take out the target with an air strike & no risk to civilians. We’ll meet 7 A.M. tomorrow as to whether we order the strike now or while I’m away. Long briefing on trip—my mind cant hold all they are trying to pour into it. In Roosevelt Room met with a group on the Phil. Urban Ed. Foundation project. An insurance co. in Phil. has given to black U’s. Lincoln & ____________ it’s H.Q.s bldgs. valued at $40 mil. Did some tapings then finished day upstairs packing etc.
