Invasion of Grenada 1983

Invasion of Grenada 1983. Hillsborough County Veterans Memorial Park. The invasion of Grenada, codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, was a 1983 United States invasion of Grenada, a Caribbean island nation with a population of about 93,000 located 123 miles (150 km) north of Venezuela, that resulted in a U.S. victory within a matter of weeks. Triggered by a bloody military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion resulted in a restoration of constitutional government. It was controversial due to charges of American imperialism. Cold War politics, the intervention of Cuba, the unstable state of the Grenadian government, the illegality under constitutional law and Grenada's status as a Commonwealth realm. Media outside the U.S. viewed the invasion in a negative outlook despite the OAS request for intervention (on the request of the U.S. government), Soviet and Cuban presence on the island and the holding of American medical students at the True Blue Medical Facility. , , On October 25, Grenada was invaded by the combined forces of the United States and the Regional Security System (RSS) based in Barbados in an operation codenamed Operation Urgent Fury. The U.S. stated this was done at the request of Barbados through the OAS, Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica. While the Governor-General, Sir Paul Scoon, later stated that he had also requested the invasion, it was also approved by the governments of Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom. The United Nations General Assembly condemned it as “a flagrant violation of international law” by a vote of 108 in favour to 9, with 27 abstentions. The United Nations Security Council considered a similar resolution which failed to pass when vetoed by the United States. , , According to journalist Bob Woodward in his book, Veil, the supposed captured “military advisors” from the aforementioned countries were actually accredited diplomats and included their dependents. None took any actual part in the fighting. Some of the "construction workers" were actually a detachment of Cuban Military Forces and combat engineers. , , Official U.S. sources state that some of the defenders were well-prepared, well-positioned and put up stubborn resistance, to the extent that the U.S. called in two battalions of reinforcements on the evening of 26 October. The total naval and air superiority of the coalition forces - including helicopter gunships and naval gunfire support - overwhelmed the local forces. , Nearly eight thousand soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines had participated in Operation Urgent Fury along with 353 Caribbean allies of the Caribbean Peace Forces (CPF). U.S. Forces sustained 19 killed and 116 wounded; Cuban forces sustained 25 killed, 59 wounded and 638 combatants captured. Grenadian forces casualties were 45 killed and 358 wounded; at least 24 civilians were killed, several of whom were killed in the accidental bombing of a Grenadian mental hospital. , , Caption: , Three U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters prepare to touch down next to the Point Salines airport runway during “Operation Urgent Fury” on 25 October 1983.