Williams County Cold War Memorial

Williams County Cold War Memorial. . , The Cold War was a period of heightened tension between the former Allies of World War II, primarily the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia, spanning from 1947 to 1991. With the liberation of former countries once occupied by Nazi Germany, by the United State, Great Britain and France in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in Western Europe a divided continent developed. The Soviet Union formed an alliance of nations called the Warsaw Pact and the United States formed an alliance of nations called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An unsteady peace descended upon the European continent. During this period, the Korean War and the Vietnam War was fought to contain the expansion of the Soviet Union and communism. Both the Soviet Union and the United States possessed tens of thousands of Nuclear Weapons pointed at each other's nations and allies, which is credited with preventing war by holding each other's populations hostage through the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction or MAD. It ended with the financial collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolvement of the Warsaw Pact., On 25 August 1982, United States Marines deployed to Lebanon as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force to oversee the evacuation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) guerrillas, following a confrontation between Israeli forces and the Palestine Liberation Organization. On October 23. 1983, The United States Marine barracks at Beirut International Airport was attacked by a Suicide truck bombing resulting in the deaths of 241 U.S. military personnel. A group called Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombings and said that the aim was to force the multi-national peacekeeping force out of Lebanon. The attack eventually led to the withdrawal of the international peacekeeping force., On 25 October 1983, the United States led a coalition of Caribbean nations in an invasion of the island nation of Grenada. Operation Urgent Fury The People's Revolutionary Government arrested and executed the previous leader and second Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop, and established the Revolutionary Military Council. Cuba, at the invitation of The Revolutionary Military Council, sent troops to Grenada to assist in the construction of a runway that was believed could be used by Cuba and the Soviet Union to transport weapons and equipment to communist insurgents int Central America. Following appeals by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and Grenada's Governor-General and due to concerns over 600 U.S. medical students on the island, the invasion began. The invading force consisted of the Army's rapid deployment force, Marines and Special Forces totaling 7,600 troops. American forces sustained 19 killed and 116 wounded., On Dec 20, 1989, the United States invaded Panama to Safeguard the lives of U.S. citizens in Panama, defend democracy and human rights, combat drug trafficking and protect the neutrality of the Panama Canal. Relations with Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega deteriorated after he began working with drug cartels to launder money through Panama. Noriega also began aligning Panama with the Soviet bloc, soliciting and receiving military aid from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Libya. He was captured and returned to the United States to face racketeering and drug trafficking charges. 23 U.S. service members were killed and 325 were wounded.