A college friend vet was sent to Grenada. He arrived 4 days after the action was over. He said he just sat around and played cards the whole time. And when he got back stateside, he got 3 medals. He joked that the most dangerous thing that happened was when he got chewed out by the corner shop lady when he forgot to return his recyclable coke bottles one time.
well, that AND invading a British protectorate. I see that America has one rule for ITs territories and a very different rule for its so-called allies territories. We should have broken off diplomatic relations until America apologised and compensated the UK and Grenada - which we know would NEVER happen, America isn't good at admitting it's in the wrong.
@@occamraiserGrenada wasn't British sovereign territory at the time, the Falklands were. Simple difference but very crucial one. Beyond being a sport about it, the US really didn't have to inform the United Kingdom.
My math teacher served in Grenada. He’s a great guy, probably the best teacher I ever had. He doesn’t allow plastic water bottles because the crinkling reminds him of crunching leaves I think. He would also blast music right before class to get people pumped up. I learnt much more than just math in his class. Robert Vottero, West Point class of ‘77
I am a Barbadian and finally someone does the backstory. The murder of a Prime Minister ( even one who took control in a coup) was unheard of in the Caribbean. Some members of the OECS had no military and sent police to the freedom force. Montserrat also sent police soon after without consulting Britain and as a member of the OECS was aware of what was happening. and joined in the request for help to the US Montserrat was, and still is, a British Overseas Territory. However the police are a internal force that are under the control of the local government.
At the end, Simon asks the viewer if the US invaded to save the students, save democracy, and answer a call for help; or did it do so simply to flex at the Soviet Union. My answer: all of the above. Saving the day and flexing at the USSR are not mutually exclusive concepts, and I am sure both motives were considered equally valid reasons at the time.
I agree. the students were mostly an excuse but the invasion did massive amounts of help to the locals and was a pretty good FU to the Soviets. ultimately it accomplished multiple goals at little cost to the US and the locals benefitted the most.
I'm from the Tobago half of Trinidad and Tobago. I was 9 years old at the time and therefore was too young to fully grasp what was happening just miles away next door in Grenada at the time. I have read about the invasion and visited the island many times as an adult but still never got a clear picture about the issue until this video. Thanks Simon!!! Keep up the good work!!
"We have two companies of Marines running rampant all over the northern half of this island, and three Army regiments pinned down in the southwestern corner, doing nothing. What the hell is going on? ” ~Gen. John Vessey Jr
Grenada was nothing but a live fire exercise by the US so they could hand out medals. I served with Grenada veterans in Germany shortly after who barely or never fired their weapons but were still awarded the CIB.
That's exactly what they say about Vietnam, then most recently Iraq and Afghanistan. They never learn though and will continue to lose because the US military is just a money making scheme.
19 KIA, 24 civilian deaths, and a pile of vehicles in an operation this size is not cheap. To say nothing of the consequences to our global relations. And these lessons should have been learned in Vietnam. Where we learned lessons we should have learned in Korea... Sure seems like a pattern.
@@TOBORtheMighty those statistics are reasonably small compared to a war of a much larger scale. And why the hell would the US care about the international relations when all of the free world relied on the US to protect them from a communist invasion and keeping their economy alive through trade? You know what would have happened to the world in 1981 if the US was cut off from the rest of the world? The communists invade everyone, while the free nations economies died. The democracies of the world relied on the US, especially at this time more than ever.
@@williammatthews3149 Why would we care about international relations? Umm... Because we (rightly) try to be the world's good guys, and we need people to like us so they don't resent us for it. Regardless of the situation at that exact moment, these things have major knock-on effects for decades to come.
Thank you for covering this! My family is Grenadian and I’ve heard many personal accounts of the invasion but this was incredible and educational! Always very exciting to see our history covered, especially in such depth 🤝🇬🇩 Quick respectful note on pronunciation, we pronounce it “Gree-NAY-da” rather than “Gra-NAH-da” so if anyone ever runs into one of us or especially if you visit the isle of spice this would be better received!
This is interesting. My parents were from two of the invading islands but they may have both been in the states by then. That’s my first time hearing(seeing) the correct pronunciation. He also pronounced Dominica a little weird😅
I have an interesting back story. I was a copilot on a C141 and over several days we carried supplies into Grenada landing on the Cuban built runway. The first day in the airport ramp was covered in construction equipment so we would land, do a 180 on the runway and download our cargo with the engines still running. Once the download was quickly completed we would takeoff. If memory serves me correctly we landed downloaded our cargo in 20 minutes. So a C-141 landed and took off every 30 minutes. The interesting part of this story would on our second trip to the island. We were just touching down, i.e., committed to land when 3/4 down the runway an Army duce and a half decided he needed to be on the other side of the runway and the best way was a straight line. He gets halfway across the runway and then see us approaching, so he deer in the headlight trick and he stops, I guess to put the truck in reverse. By the time we reached the truck we were probably going 30 to 40 knots. He just missed our right wingtip. We were carrying 30,000 pounds of ammunition. When we got back to Charleston AFB we submitted an after action report at the command post. Our next flight to the island, they had laid concertina wire the full length on the runway, on both sides.
An episode on the Baltic fleet/battle of Tsushima would be awesome. It’s a ridiculous tale of massive military incompetence, accidental drug use and dangerous animals
My father and 5 of my uncles were in the US-led invasion of Grenada. They were in the Jamaican military and were deployed in the summer. I remember I didn't see them for almost a year, then they came home and piece by piece we started migrating to the US.
I served with the 82d Airborne Division and was a sergeant that deployed in Operatipn Urgent Fury. An interesting period of time to be sure. I do appreciate the overview to provide perspective. Often times events happen and soldiers on the ground don't always understand immediate context. Keep in mind we were also dealing with the Beruit bombing that had just happened as well. I doubt most of us on the ground had a full grasp of all the politics involved with why we went. I learned much from the Grenadians there as time went on as I was there for a month.
20:00 The fact one conflict was wrapped up in a few days with minimal casualties instead of ongoing on for years with thousands of casualties probably did help.
From my understanding what actually saved the seals trapped rescuing the governor was an AC-130. They were trapped and out numbered when armored vehicles arrived. The air support bought them the time to last till the marines arrived. So I really think this episode should be much longer. I really want a modern in depth documentary I think it’s about time!!!
@@christianhaupt2637 unneeded and illegal. It was under the false pretence of ‘saving the students’. Grenada was doing immensely well under ‘communism’ then it was invaded and a US friendly puppet gov put in
@@khalil1653 Didn’t ask you since your not from Grenada and I don’t think Socialism has ever once lead to happiness, people prospering, and freedom. Not saying the US is all super great but definitely better than communism.
So basically the last legitimate member of the Grenada government asked for help with an illegal military coup, the Caribbean nations,not having much of a military force called upon it's largest member, the U.S. to provide the bulk of the force.
One note - The Rangers started off rigged for a planned parachute assault but got word in midair that the runways were clear and they would be doing an air landing instead, so they "derigged" (took off their parachutes and reconfigured their combat equipment. Then, almost on target they got word that the runways were blocked and had to do in-flight rigging in a hurry. Bevause the Rangers *knew* the airfield was likely blocked with construction equipment, they brought along two brand new privates (who had finished training, including jump school, so recently they hadnt ever been on exercise or a jump with their home unit) from an airborne engineer unit on Fort Bragg, as none of the Rangers were qualified to drive all the various types pf heavy construction equipment that were expected to be present (not that this stopped them later when one company commander - the future 4 star General Abizaid - ordered his troops to hotwire one of the bulldozers and use it for rolling cover for an assault into Cuban forces). Thus, these two privates got their "Cherry Blast" (your 6th jump, and the first one after graduating jump school - usually an occaision of mild ritualistic hazing by your unit) and a "mustard stain" (a gold star on the jump wings to indicate a combat jump - on the camouflage version of the wings, it looks like a blob of brown mustard) at the same time. This caused at least one accusation of Stolen Valor when they got back to their home unit (where they were basically unknown except as "those two brand new privates straight from Basic & jump school"), as the last time an "official" combat jump had happened was 1967, in Vietnam (and "everyone knew" that "only the Rangers jumped into Grenada - the rest of the Airborne landed with the planes after the Rangers took the airport"). The Ranger's jump was conducted at such a low altitude - 500 feet - that reserve parachutes were optional (not enough time to realistically deploy it), and most jumpers chose to not take one.
That bulldozer scene was recreated in the movie Heartbreak Ridge. While the movie portrayed a Marine Recon Unit during the invasion it was meant to portray the Rangers but the Rangers pulled their support due to Clin Eastwood's character. So the Marines in the movie ended up doing a lot of stuff the Rangers did.
From where I was at, the whole thing was a cluster f*ck of the first order. It seemed to me that we were lower than 500ft. Considering hang time, my canopy opened at probably 350-375ft. Making it a jump tower height because once deployed, I wasn't in the air for maybe 7-8 seconds. Close. A PLF never happened it was pure PFL. It was real lucky we weren't massacred, but the construction troops weren't that good and the others weren't either. It was kinda hairy for about 6 hours, after that it was another hot walk in the sun.
As a Grenadian. I really enjoyed the video. My only comments are the pronunciation of Grenada as your saying the place in Spain not the country. The video was well researched but if you ever want a history lesson with more details you missed I'm always free to help.😁🇬🇩
Thanks for setting Simon straight on the pronunciation. I was an Air Force Reconnaissance officer flying over head (RC135) during the invasion. The correct pronunciation and coordinates were important to us. Fidel Castro was infuriated by this invasion. I know. I was one of the ‘Yanqui imperialistas’ listening to him as we rounded up his troops for repatriation to Cuba.
I remember training for the invasion with my crack platoon of recon marines, I just wanna thank gunnery sergeant Highway for helping us get through it.
An interesting event in the most dangerous year in the, 1983. Allegedly the soviets thought this was a practice run for WWIII (during that year there were several large scale military exercises that added fuel to this idea). The messages between the Iron Lady and Regan, which were coded, added fear to the Soviet Union. While the messages were Britain being upset with the US invasion (that were done privately), the Soviets viewed this large and sudden increase of coded messages as a prelude to an attack. Add to it the Able Archer ‘83 exercise, and they were scared.
@@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 Falklands was in 1982. Sri Lanka would not have an effect on the start of a nuclear war as other events did. Grenada, Flight 007 shoot down, massive military exercises in the North Pacific (with 3 carriers in the exercises), Able Archer ‘83 which included a simulated nuclear launch, and a Soviet spy satellite erroneously thinking the glare off a high altitude cloud as a US preemptive first strike. The last thing there had a computer telling a Lt Col in the Soviet Union to launch a counter strike. This one Lt Col despite what he was being told stuck to his belief that the system was malfunctioning and refused to send out orders for a counter strike saving the world in the process.
@@CheekClapper879 that's how MAD works. Keep in mind that the US government is so paranoid that it spies on every citizen all the time. The CIA is so evil that even citizens are useful pawns to sacrifice. There's only one country on the planet that has nuked civilians, and it's the US. The US has used citizens as biological warfare guinea pigs, and sold drugs to citizens to buy guns for terrorists. The US government uses a considerable amount of it's budget pushing propaganda in TV, movie and video games. So maybe chill out on the "Merica Good" mentality. They literally brainwashed you, remember saying the pledge of allegiance every morning in school, that's indoctrination.
I remember that invasion and also remember that there was a press blackout, and the only information was from directly the Reagan administration and US government. Probably from the freedom the press received during the Vietnam war greatly influencing the growing anti-war movement against that war.
Minor point of pronunciation I know but ‘Granada’is located in Spain. ‘Grenada’ is in the Caribbean. I was a USAF reconnaissance officer (RC135) flying above Grenada (Grenayda) the morning the invasion was kicked off.
My niece married a man from Grenada. He is now holds an MBA and is an executive in an American corporation. His sister is a pediatrician in Florida, after going to med school in the U.S. I have not spoken to a great many Grenadians, but those I have spoken with view the military intervention as a blessing for the island.
I was a paratrooper who took part in Urgent Fury and have studied the invasion and all the events leading up to it in the decades since. I would give this video a grade of 95% accuracy and the quibbles I have are minor facts that don't detract from the over all video factualness. Well done.
1/75th..did the jump , personally think guy is off enough he should not have done youtube, got lucky or unlucky, all about perspective, dozer, BTR's, spooky in all its glory, cobras from marine side....history and data are a funny thing. PS had the private from 82nd with 5 jumps, his 6th jump was a 500 ft combat jump, [rounds are coming through bird], he was in front of me, did explain to him he was going out door, good times
I was sitting in 8h grade science class when our teacher, Mr. Sullivan, announced the invasion. It's good to hear a more thorough and honest depiction of the event than the press provided.
My dad only spoke of Grenada in detail once. He told a... not so fun story about realizing what his 20 year old self had signed up for. But after that therapy encouraging trip down memory lane, he changed the mood by telling me how they moved in the dark from building to building. He said no one knew where the hell they were or what was going on. They ended up in some building (he presumed it was a shed) and found it completely dark. Someone in his squad mentioned something about "moving walls". Long story short, the guy ended up unloading a clip on said wall. Turned out to be a swarm of "the biggest damned cockroaches you have ever seen." So yeah, I can believe the military found it to be a ****show.
you best believe it was a clusterfck. I was a Lt in the Jamaica Defense Force at the time and when the great american army turned up we were like WTF is this? HUNDREDS of soldiers turned up in a tropical country wearing WINTER GEAR because it was winter in America. Then the maps. Petrol store maps that were at least 40 or 50 years out of date. Two Green Beret Blackhawk helicopters actually tried to land in the same space at the same time. more than FIFTEEN dead. The navy actually shelled a marine position because they used different types of radios and couldn't talk to each other. We got into a firefight with a detachment of marine who wanted to inspect an ammo dump we were guarding because they had the wrong entry code and wouldn't accept that they were wrong Three marines killed. American soldiers fainting from dehydration and getting dysentery from drinking the local water. And at least 4 soldier committed suicide as far as i know. A shtshow it most surely was. And all for what? Bad intell and American arrogance I could go on and on but I couldn't agree more. And because that wasn't enough they then decided to invade Panama.......
@conceitedfication that's not my story to tell. It was something my father told me 10+ years ago that we never repeat in my family. It was a near death experience that shook an otherwise tough/rigid guy and influenced him to become sober. That's as much as I'm comfortable telling on his behalf.
Grenada is so interesting to me because it feels somewhat out of place. More akin to early US military adventurism into Latin America and the Caribbean almost a century earlier than the Cold War conflicts
Possibly one of the most even-handed commentaries I've seen on this. What most outsiders miss, is that Grenada is a really small country (population 100,000 approx) So when Bishop and his cabinet were executed almost the entire island either knew or was related to someone who died in the massacre at the Fort that day. To this day the man who was the machine gunner on the Armored Car that carried out the massacre (who was convicted and served 21 years in jail) lives on the same street of the family of several victims. But Simon you really did butcher the pronunciations here. Grenada = Gren-nay-da. Coard -Cord (like Hoard) Carriacou = Carry-A-Coo, Nevis= Nee-vis. Other than that, well done.
The US government has done a bunch of regrettable military interventions, I’d argue this one was not one of them. Seems like we were able to restore democracy and to this day the government remains pretty stable in Grenada and as mentioned, the most important part, the people of Grenada believe it was good for them
I had a friend who was in the 82nd Airborne at the time and fought Cubans at the barracks on the second and third day. They had been doing exercises in Florida to acclimate the week before. He had know Idea where they were going, but they were given a combat ammunition loadout and told they were going in hot
Excellent video, Simon and team! I was a young Corporal then with A Co. 1st Bn. 75th Inf. and I'm glad you did the back story. As a trooper, ones point of view is really limited and I'm grateful to get the whole thing sorted out. All's I knew was Ronnie hated communism and communists. Thanks again. Cheers.
My Family being from the Caribbean I can tell you their biggest enemies was the Cia. You don't decrease unemployment over 30 percent and increase education and then a rival faction all of sudden gets disgruntled.
Exactly! Plus the Maurice Bishop international airport was just completed and was going to allow the Grenadian economy to exponentially improve by maximizing export capacity and increasing tourism. I don't think it's a coincidence that the invasion happened right after the airport was constructed. The US feared that Grenada's highly successful economy and rapid development would inspire neighboring countries to adopt similar policies.
As a husband of a student who arrived almost immediately after the invasion and after spending three years on the island, I can tell you that the way you pronounce it is a place in Spain. Everybody on the island pronounces it Gren aY' da (long a). I never heard any native person pronouncing it Gren ah' da.
Love your work Simon, informative and well researched as always but as a Caribbean native myself (Barbados) I'm offering a lesson in the pronunciation of the island names free of charge! 😂 jokes aside, this happened about 12 years before I was born and I'd heard about it growing up but never asked my parents too much about it for some reason. Loved learning about this!
As an operation it was a “coming out” for the US after the Vietnam era ended. It was the re-engagement of US military power in the world. Internally it was a huge operation and uncovered dozens of areas where systems and procedures were lacking between the US forces. That period of time in the US military was a rebirth (under RR and the Vietnam vets now in leadership positions) and transition from the military of Vietnam to the modern military the US has today. Regardless of the politics it was a major stepping stone for the US.
Can't believe you missed the incident of the famous hard-line phone call from a pay phone using a credit card by either an officer or a soldier to Fort Bragg to request air support.
@@ErikPT the marines that landed at Grenville/perals airport were only on the island a couple of days. They stopped in route to Beruit. The credit card call was by an 82nd trooper from the field artillery unit.
I was there on the USS FT Snelling and our Marines captured Cuban troops disguised as construction workers and also there were soviet military advisers as well. And the people were so grateful they made the day of our invasion Oct 25 1983 a holiday as thanksgiving day.
Buddy this is the worst thing to say about the permanent and negative change imposed on one of the smallest countries that have little chance to fight back alone. Grenadians alive RIGHT NOW had to watch this in real time and a lot were traumatized. Please have some sense. Do not be an a-hole.
I was on the carrier USS Independence CV62 during Operation Urgent Fury. I couldn't imagine the cost of deploying just the Indy never mind what else was used in the invasion. We did fly all kinds of sorties against targets on the island. Definitely wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end.
I remember this and it was because commies,East Germany and Libya were setting up bases there. I have a T-shirt from Grenada that says “Thank You America for Liberating Grenada.” I actually saw the same shirt on another video about the subject.
This operation and the invasion of Panama later in the 80's made our SOF troops look like rookies compared to their collective performances of the last two decades.
@@kevinobrien1897 since you clearly don't know shit about how the US military or our government works, let me help. The military doesn't make policy, that's what idiots like Biden are relied on to do. Our troops follow orders based on policy decisions made (mostly) from civilians. Get it now?
0:47 Early & colonial history 3:07 After independence under Eric Gairy & Mongoose Gang 5:53 Grenada under Maurice Bishop 9:24 After Bishop's death 10:23 *Operation Urgent Fury* 19:50 Aftermath & consequences
I know two people who were there at the time. And after living in Grenada for 2 years I can safely say that despite everything that happened, Grenadians actually like Americans. there is a house with "Thank You Ronald Regan and Thank You America" painted on the side from the person who lives there. Richmond Hill Prison is now a tourist overlook and a spot for parties. The downtown fort, where Maurice Bishop was executed, is a memorial and tourist location. That fort is also directly next to the main hospital in Grenada. The "military" airport is now the international airport (near the main medical school campus). The second campus is not far away. The mental hospital is still a mental hospital and is a teaching place for medical students. As for the two stories: the first comes from a medical student (at the time) who was there until being rescued. The medical students knew the guards around the university and the guards made exceptions for the medical students as they knew they were not going to be involved in the revolution. He, the person, was more annoyed his studies were interrupted. He does maintain that he did not feel in danger. The second story comes from someone who got two jump wings. He is the guy who gave covering fire in the video of the bulldozer at the airport. He said that that was the easier of his two combat jumps.
Economic aid from US disappeared? No. He persistently asked for aid from Reagan and Reagan ignored him. Let’s tell the total truth. Love the video, but the reason why Bishop got closer to Cuba and Soviet Union was because of a lack of financial/economic aid from the US (to build the airport in particular).
Minor point: Hudson Austin didn't push Coard out of the way following the events of October 19th, 1983. He was working hand-in-glove with Coard and, if anything, was closer to a puppet of Coard than an opponent.
2/325 abn inf… first 82nd unit on the ground.you’re wrong about the regional influence. We found warehouses of weapons, far too many for just the Grenadian and Cuban forces there
My doctor was a student at the university at the time of the invasion. He and his colleagues would go out to the landing strip that was under construction at the time to pick up sea shells on the strip, the military guards were lenient with them, even letting them take pictures. He had a friend in naval intelligence that asked him questions about details regarding the airstrip including the empty oil barrels along the length of the airstrip, all this was used during the invasion , including the altitude the planes would fly so that the barrels would not fly up and damage aircraft. .
First time I heard of this invasion was through the Wolf of Wall Street when his case is compared to the invasion of Granada and told it is unwinnable at the end of the movie. This lead me here to find out more!
One of the troubles with this report is that the narrator mispronounced most of the names of the islands and some of the people involved. Which could mean that everything reported came from written sources, not from interviews or discussions with people who were involved. It seems fairly comprehensive, even more than what I personally remember, but I can’t help but think that it’s just one side of the story of what happened there.
I remember this. I was listening to my Short Wave radio. [ in St.Louis Missouri USA]. I actually listened to BBC World Service, a live broadcast of the entire invasion. A little while later, a friend came over and we watched TV. It was about an hour later , they broke in on the TV with “BREAKING NEWS “. This was LONG after it had happened. As a teenager, I knew about it long before anyone else did. 📻🙂
First, the combat footage is from Vietnam not Granada. Second, you failed to point out that also on the island, were Cuban soldiers. I said, soldiers, not workers. Do you really believe the US would leave 600 of her citizens under the auspices of the Cuban military? Finally, the US military field tested the following pieces of new equipment: Kevlar helmets, BDU uniforms, Bradly armored personnel carrier, the SAW (squad automatic weapon), the MRE and more equipment that I can't remember. Your research was sloppy at best.
I suppose one question is whether there were any mutual defense treaties in place, and especially ones that involved the US. It could be that such a treaty left no choice, but there are so many open questions that's just one speculation.
You neglected to mention that at the same time a bunch of US Marines were killed in their barracks in Beirut. Tip ONeill said that Reagan was talking about it during the planned mission to Grenada. Many people thought Reagan invaded Grenada as a diversion for the death toll in Beirut. I always thought it possible
Perhaps Simon would do an episode of the Beirut Barracks Bombings in Into the Shadows. The Lebanese Civil War is a long conflict, an hour-episode is certainly not enough for him to tackle in Warographics. I've been following the Lebanese Civil War in the RUclips channel "Casual Historian". He has already done two episodes, 35 minutes each. I've been anticipating his next episodes
Yeah Operation Urgent Fury. I was there with U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron VF-32 part of Carrier Air Wing 6 onboard the USS INDEPENDENCE CV-62. My first military action from 1982 to 2007. Grenada was what made be a Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW). Yeah US Navy attack Squadron’s VA-15, VA-87 ( A-7E Corsairs) and VA-176 (A-6E) did a fine landscape job with 500, 1,000 & 2,000 lbs Mk-82 bombs
Maybe there was too much eagerness to fight because of the mistakes made in Vietnam, and any kind of win - mistakes, cakewalk, or otherwise - would make many americans cheerful? I guess the three US generals who drew up the plans were named Moe, Larry & Curly.
Usually I do not have much to add with these types of videos, but this time I do. Of note is that while the Task Force for Operation Urgent Fury was given overall command to a Navy 4-star Admiral, at the time Major General H. Norman Schwartzkopff of Desert Storm fame was the ranking officer to the Army’s arm of operations in theater (with the exception of the Rangers operating under SOCOM’s purview).
I liked the segment about the US military seeing the effort as a series of blunders and miscommunications. Its pragmatic to forensically study what has occurred and to identify the flaws in the plan,, the missteps in the execution, and how those might be eliminated....next time. I'm no fan of the American military/industrial complex but I'll give them this much, they do make effort to learn from their mistakes. Which is at least a benefit to the individual fighting in whatever action his or her political masters send them against. Hey.....be honest...doesn't seem our "near peer" Russia learned at least that lesson, does it? ;)
Ahhh! The early 80's... Interesting but turbulent time in world politics. Both the US and Soviet Union were flexing muscles. The Soviets were pushing their agendas in Latin America, Angola, Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan. It's interesting to see how the US countered and just kept raising the stakes till the Soviet Union collapsed. Grenada was just another stepping stone. The Soviets used their proxies the Cubans for a lot of these actions. I'm surprised that the US got directly involved at the time seeing that the Iranian Hostage Crises debacle just concluded at that time. Informative video BTW!
I remember my drill sergeant at ft leanardwood summer of 84 was not happy his 82 airborne unit went to Grenada without him . Because he went to drill Sgt school. His name Sgt C Friedeck
The great siege of 1565 is a must, especially for the fact that a bunch of Maltese and the knights of st john held off the turkish armada many times their size and superior at its zenith under suleiman the magnificent.
I’m not sure the EC region as a whole were ‘grateful’. Some look at it as an overstepping by the US which was unwarranted, and push back against a Caribbean island seeing development with the support of Cuba (a fellow Caribbean territory) who the US was at odds with.
It’s pretty funny that Britain complained but we don’t hear they were doing anything to help the situation. American citizens were at risk and the US wasn’t obligated to respect the illegitimate banana republic that Britain was allowing to have happen.
As Burwellian says below, yeah the problem was never really that *Britain* wasn’t informed about the invasion, so much that the US didnt inform the Queen, who was Grenada’s head of state
A college friend vet was sent to Grenada. He arrived 4 days after the action was over. He said he just sat around and played cards the whole time. And when he got back stateside, he got 3 medals. He joked that the most dangerous thing that happened was when he got chewed out by the corner shop lady when he forgot to return his recyclable coke bottles one time.
Poor fellah she had to give him a good washing 😂😂😂
I like this, but I don't wanna change the number of em you have at the moment 👍
well, that AND invading a British protectorate. I see that America has one rule for ITs territories and a very different rule for its so-called allies territories. We should have broken off diplomatic relations until America apologised and compensated the UK and Grenada - which we know would NEVER happen, America isn't good at admitting it's in the wrong.
@@occamraiserGrenada wasn't British sovereign territory at the time, the Falklands were. Simple difference but very crucial one.
Beyond being a sport about it, the US really didn't have to inform the United Kingdom.
hahaha
My math teacher served in Grenada. He’s a great guy, probably the best teacher I ever had. He doesn’t allow plastic water bottles because the crinkling reminds him of crunching leaves I think. He would also blast music right before class to get people pumped up.
I learnt much more than just math in his class. Robert Vottero, West Point class of ‘77
Damn U went to pen state too?
@@mike04574 nahhh he was a high school math teacher when I was being taught by him
I am a Barbadian and finally someone does the backstory. The murder of a Prime Minister ( even one who took control in a coup) was unheard of in the Caribbean. Some members of the OECS had no military and sent police to the freedom force. Montserrat also sent police soon after without consulting Britain and as a member of the OECS was aware of what was happening. and joined in the request for help to the US Montserrat was, and still is, a British Overseas Territory. However the police are a internal force that are under the control of the local government.
Thanks for posting. Interesting back story.
I'm Bajan as well and had only heard bits and pieces of the story but never thought to ask my parents more about it. Thanks for sharing!
Cool story bro
Am I the only one who initially read "I am a Barbarian..."?
@@TecraX2 Clearly @Adam West also read it.
At the end, Simon asks the viewer if the US invaded to save the students, save democracy, and answer a call for help; or did it do so simply to flex at the Soviet Union. My answer: all of the above. Saving the day and flexing at the USSR are not mutually exclusive concepts, and I am sure both motives were considered equally valid reasons at the time.
I wholeheartedly agree with your comments!!!🙏👍🤔
I agree too, most of the wars fought during the Cold War were flexing by one side or the other.
Well-said! That is as hilarious as Simon's commentary!
I agree. the students were mostly an excuse but the invasion did massive amounts of help to the locals and was a pretty good FU to the Soviets. ultimately it accomplished multiple goals at little cost to the US and the locals benefitted the most.
"save democracy" lmao
I'm from the Tobago half of Trinidad and Tobago. I was 9 years old at the time and therefore was too young to fully grasp what was happening just miles away next door in Grenada at the time. I have read about the invasion and visited the island many times as an adult but still never got a clear picture about the issue until this video. Thanks Simon!!! Keep up the good work!!
"We have two companies of Marines running rampant all over the northern half of this island, and three Army regiments pinned down in the southwestern corner, doing nothing. What the hell is going on? ” ~Gen. John Vessey Jr
And still much more professional and effective than the whole Russian army 🤣🤣
Sounds like our BC talking about our company and CO in Helmand. He wasn’t pleased though.
So how was Monica?
Nothing the U.S. Army can't handle.
Grenada was nothing but a live fire exercise by the US so they could hand out medals. I served with Grenada veterans in Germany shortly after who barely or never fired their weapons but were still awarded the CIB.
0:50 - Chapter 1 - The isle of spice
5:55 - Chapter 2 - Tropical storm
10:25 - Chapter 3 - The invasion
19:55 - Chapter 4 - The aftermath & consequences
This man never sleeps lol
He got a shout out recently for being an absolute G by Simon and a writer over in decoding the unknown dudes got 13 channels.
This invasion was a reasonably inexpensive way to find out a lot of things that were being done wrong. And to not do them that way again
That's exactly what they say about Vietnam, then most recently Iraq and Afghanistan. They never learn though and will continue to lose because the US military is just a money making scheme.
And Grenada got the freedom treatment xD
19 KIA, 24 civilian deaths, and a pile of vehicles in an operation this size is not cheap. To say nothing of the consequences to our global relations.
And these lessons should have been learned in Vietnam.
Where we learned lessons we should have learned in Korea...
Sure seems like a pattern.
@@TOBORtheMighty those statistics are reasonably small compared to a war of a much larger scale. And why the hell would the US care about the international relations when all of the free world relied on the US to protect them from a communist invasion and keeping their economy alive through trade? You know what would have happened to the world in 1981 if the US was cut off from the rest of the world? The communists invade everyone, while the free nations economies died. The democracies of the world relied on the US, especially at this time more than ever.
@@williammatthews3149 Why would we care about international relations? Umm... Because we (rightly) try to be the world's good guys, and we need people to like us so they don't resent us for it. Regardless of the situation at that exact moment, these things have major knock-on effects for decades to come.
Thank you for covering this! My family is Grenadian and I’ve heard many personal accounts of the invasion but this was incredible and educational! Always very exciting to see our history covered, especially in such depth 🤝🇬🇩
Quick respectful note on pronunciation, we pronounce it “Gree-NAY-da” rather than “Gra-NAH-da” so if anyone ever runs into one of us or especially if you visit the isle of spice this would be better received!
Thanks I thought he was talking about a whole different island at one point.
Also Carriacou = Carry-Ah-coo
Most people will pronounced it like grenade.
Were y'all happy with the invasion???
This is interesting. My parents were from two of the invading islands but they may have both been in the states by then. That’s my first time hearing(seeing) the correct pronunciation. He also pronounced Dominica a little weird😅
I have an interesting back story. I was a copilot on a C141 and over several days we carried supplies into Grenada landing on the Cuban built runway. The first day in the airport ramp was covered in construction equipment so we would land, do a 180 on the runway and download our cargo with the engines still running. Once the download was quickly completed we would takeoff. If memory serves me correctly we landed downloaded our cargo in 20 minutes. So a C-141 landed and took off every 30 minutes.
The interesting part of this story would on our second trip to the island. We were just touching down, i.e., committed to land when 3/4 down the runway an Army duce and a half decided he needed to be on the other side of the runway and the best way was a straight line. He gets halfway across the runway and then see us approaching, so he deer in the headlight trick and he stops, I guess to put the truck in reverse. By the time we reached the truck we were probably going 30 to 40 knots. He just missed our right wingtip. We were carrying 30,000 pounds of ammunition.
When we got back to Charleston AFB we submitted an after action report at the command post. Our next flight to the island, they had laid concertina wire the full length on the runway, on both sides.
For the uninitiated, what is a c141 please?
@@neddyladdy A plane. ✈️
@@neddyladdy Hi, a C-141 was a large 4 jet engine Air Force transport aircraft. I flew it from 1982-1986. Hope that helps.
@@arcticfalcon30 Yes, that does help, thank you.
Always follow the law of gross tonnage.
An episode on the Baltic fleet/battle of Tsushima would be awesome. It’s a ridiculous tale of massive military incompetence, accidental drug use and dangerous animals
I forgot about the accidental drug use. And many, many, many binoculars smashed to pieces.
Don't forget firing on fishing vessels and taking dangerous wildlife aboard. The channel called Blue Jay does a hilarious telling of this tale.
@@SentientDMT I'll have to check out that take. I'm more familiar with Drachinfel's dry-humored take on the voyage of the damned.
@@prussianhill Yeah it's plenty humorous. I think you're gonna like it. Come back after you watch it and let me know.
There is RUclipsr called blue jay that made a vid on this very subject and talks about all the binoculars being smashed and everything 🤣
My father and 5 of my uncles were in the US-led invasion of Grenada. They were in the Jamaican military and were deployed in the summer. I remember I didn't see them for almost a year, then they came home and piece by piece we started migrating to the US.
Your pronunciation of Grenada is the way the Spanish say it. The English pronunciation is like the weapon grenade-a.
I’ve never heard it pronounced that way, always how Simon pronounced it. Interesting.
@GraniteStateofMind as a person of Grenadian descent, that's how it's pronounced: GRENADE-AH
And he can't pronounce Carriacou either: Kar-ri-a-cou.
“Was it to restore freedom and democracy or to flip of the soviet union?”
“Yes.”
Porque no los dos?
I served with the 82d Airborne Division and was a sergeant that deployed in Operatipn Urgent Fury. An interesting period of time to be sure. I do appreciate the overview to provide perspective. Often times events happen and soldiers on the ground don't always understand immediate context. Keep in mind we were also dealing with the Beruit bombing that had just happened as well. I doubt most of us on the ground had a full grasp of all the politics involved with why we went. I learned much from the Grenadians there as time went on as I was there for a month.
Thank you for your service
@@thehealthychefri well probably not considering I served my country for 34 years.
I was there with C/307th Engr.
My dad was in the 82nd he was a ssgt
20:00 The fact one conflict was wrapped up in a few days with minimal casualties instead of ongoing on for years with thousands of casualties probably did help.
After this video it would be great to see a next one about the Invasion of Panama in 1989.
Tank Encyclopedia did a two part on "Operation: Just Cause" aka Invasion of Panama. ruclips.net/video/R-7RvWMSgd8/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/R-7RvWMSgd8/видео.html
From my understanding what actually saved the seals trapped rescuing the governor was an AC-130.
They were trapped and out numbered when armored vehicles arrived.
The air support bought them the time to last till the marines arrived.
So I really think this episode should be much longer. I really want a modern in depth documentary I think it’s about time!!!
This show is usually wrong so I'm not surprised
Watching from Grenada here, thanks for the coverage.
What’s your personal opinion on the invasion?
Are you a rich country now?
@@christianhaupt2637 unneeded and illegal. It was under the false pretence of ‘saving the students’. Grenada was doing immensely well under ‘communism’ then it was invaded and a US friendly puppet gov put in
@@khalil1653 Didn’t ask you since your not from Grenada and I don’t think Socialism has ever once lead to happiness, people prospering, and freedom. Not saying the US is all super great but definitely better than communism.
@@christianhaupt2637 except it did the people of grenada great. Keep swallowing the propaganda of ur overlords
This is probably my favorite out of Simon's serious channels
Agreed, these episodes are fascinating!
So basically the last legitimate member of the Grenada government asked for help with an illegal military coup, the Caribbean nations,not having much of a military force called upon it's largest member, the U.S. to provide the bulk of the force.
Correct. Pretty cool if I do say so myself.
Yep, nothing else. Nothing else whatsoever.
@@Vague05 cope.
@@Vague05 found the angry Serb
@@robertortiz-wilson1588 whats your opinion on US support for Ukraine and illegal coup in 2014 Ukraine government?
One note - The Rangers started off rigged for a planned parachute assault but got word in midair that the runways were clear and they would be doing an air landing instead, so they "derigged" (took off their parachutes and reconfigured their combat equipment. Then, almost on target they got word that the runways were blocked and had to do in-flight rigging in a hurry.
Bevause the Rangers *knew* the airfield was likely blocked with construction equipment, they brought along two brand new privates (who had finished training, including jump school, so recently they hadnt ever been on exercise or a jump with their home unit) from an airborne engineer unit on Fort Bragg, as none of the Rangers were qualified to drive all the various types pf heavy construction equipment that were expected to be present (not that this stopped them later when one company commander - the future 4 star General Abizaid - ordered his troops to hotwire one of the bulldozers and use it for rolling cover for an assault into Cuban forces). Thus, these two privates got their "Cherry Blast" (your 6th jump, and the first one after graduating jump school - usually an occaision of mild ritualistic hazing by your unit) and a "mustard stain" (a gold star on the jump wings to indicate a combat jump - on the camouflage version of the wings, it looks like a blob of brown mustard) at the same time. This caused at least one accusation of Stolen Valor when they got back to their home unit (where they were basically unknown except as "those two brand new privates straight from Basic & jump school"), as the last time an "official" combat jump had happened was 1967, in Vietnam (and "everyone knew" that "only the Rangers jumped into Grenada - the rest of the Airborne landed with the planes after the Rangers took the airport").
The Ranger's jump was conducted at such a low altitude - 500 feet - that reserve parachutes were optional (not enough time to realistically deploy it), and most jumpers chose to not take one.
That bulldozer scene was recreated in the movie Heartbreak Ridge. While the movie portrayed a Marine Recon Unit during the invasion it was meant to portray the Rangers but the Rangers pulled their support due to Clin Eastwood's character. So the Marines in the movie ended up doing a lot of stuff the Rangers did.
Crazy bastards, love the Rangers.
From where I was at, the whole thing was a cluster f*ck of the first order. It seemed to me that we were lower than 500ft. Considering hang time, my canopy opened at probably 350-375ft. Making it a jump tower height because once deployed, I wasn't in the air for maybe 7-8 seconds. Close. A PLF never happened it was pure PFL. It was real lucky we weren't massacred, but the construction troops weren't that good and the others weren't either. It was kinda hairy for about 6 hours, after that it was another hot walk in the sun.
@@paulceglinski3087 Do you feel our military is being used for nothing good? Just used like stupid pawns?
@@hughsmith7668 Nope. Only stupid people that ask asinine questions are good for nothing.
As a Grenadian. I really enjoyed the video. My only comments are the pronunciation of Grenada as your saying the place in Spain not the country. The video was well researched but if you ever want a history lesson with more details you missed I'm always free to help.😁🇬🇩
Thanks for setting Simon straight on the pronunciation. I was an Air Force Reconnaissance officer flying over head (RC135) during the invasion. The correct pronunciation and coordinates were important to us. Fidel Castro was infuriated by this invasion. I know. I was one of the ‘Yanqui imperialistas’ listening to him as we rounded up his troops for repatriation to Cuba.
I remember training for the invasion with my crack platoon of recon marines, I just wanna thank gunnery sergeant Highway for helping us get through it.
That you Swede?
@@Motofiend Swede! Swede! Swede!
"Recon platoon kicks butt...ow!"
Being part of the invasion of Grenada and knowing some who died, you are childish fools.
LOL !
An interesting event in the most dangerous year in the, 1983. Allegedly the soviets thought this was a practice run for WWIII (during that year there were several large scale military exercises that added fuel to this idea). The messages between the Iron Lady and Regan, which were coded, added fear to the Soviet Union. While the messages were Britain being upset with the US invasion (that were done privately), the Soviets viewed this large and sudden increase of coded messages as a prelude to an attack. Add to it the Able Archer ‘83 exercise, and they were scared.
Weren’t that Falklands that year previous? And I’m pretty sure the Sri Lanka civil war stayed in 83
@@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 Falklands was in 1982. Sri Lanka would not have an effect on the start of a nuclear war as other events did. Grenada, Flight 007 shoot down, massive military exercises in the North Pacific (with 3 carriers in the exercises), Able Archer ‘83 which included a simulated nuclear launch, and a Soviet spy satellite erroneously thinking the glare off a high altitude cloud as a US preemptive first strike. The last thing there had a computer telling a Lt Col in the Soviet Union to launch a counter strike. This one Lt Col despite what he was being told stuck to his belief that the system was malfunctioning and refused to send out orders for a counter strike saving the world in the process.
@@KNETTWERX God bless a steady hand an good vodka
Well played sir
They were scared, paranoid and holding a loaded gun that could end the world.
@@CheekClapper879 that's how MAD works. Keep in mind that the US government is so paranoid that it spies on every citizen all the time.
The CIA is so evil that even citizens are useful pawns to sacrifice.
There's only one country on the planet that has nuked civilians, and it's the US.
The US has used citizens as biological warfare guinea pigs, and sold drugs to citizens to buy guns for terrorists.
The US government uses a considerable amount of it's budget pushing propaganda in TV, movie and video games.
So maybe chill out on the "Merica Good" mentality. They literally brainwashed you, remember saying the pledge of allegiance every morning in school, that's indoctrination.
I remember that invasion and also remember that there was a press blackout, and the only information was from directly the Reagan administration and US government. Probably from the freedom the press received during the Vietnam war greatly influencing the growing anti-war movement against that war.
Minor point of pronunciation I know but ‘Granada’is located in Spain. ‘Grenada’ is in the Caribbean. I was a USAF reconnaissance officer (RC135) flying above Grenada (Grenayda) the morning the invasion was kicked off.
Grenada (Grenayda)
As someone from Barbados I'm glad you shed light on this
My niece married a man from Grenada. He is now holds an MBA and is an executive in an American corporation. His sister is a pediatrician in Florida, after going to med school in the U.S. I have not spoken to a great many Grenadians, but those I have spoken with view the military intervention as a blessing for the island.
There's mix feelings on the island,
I was a paratrooper who took part in Urgent Fury and have studied the invasion and all the events leading up to it in the decades since. I would give this video a grade of 95% accuracy and the quibbles I have are minor facts that don't detract from the over all video factualness. Well done.
1/75th..did the jump , personally think guy is off enough he should not have done youtube, got lucky or unlucky, all about perspective, dozer, BTR's, spooky in all its glory, cobras from marine side....history and data are a funny thing. PS had the private from 82nd with 5 jumps, his 6th jump was a 500 ft combat jump, [rounds are coming through bird], he was in front of me, did explain to him he was going out door, good times
At the very least this war was very short and didn't result in a widespread destruction of territory and livelihoods.
Most Americans knowledge of the Invasion of Grenada starts and ends with the movie Heartbreak Ridge with Clint Eastwood.
I was sitting in 8h grade science class when our teacher, Mr. Sullivan, announced the invasion. It's good to hear a more thorough and honest depiction of the event than the press provided.
My dad only spoke of Grenada in detail once. He told a... not so fun story about realizing what his 20 year old self had signed up for.
But after that therapy encouraging trip down memory lane, he changed the mood by telling me how they moved in the dark from building to building. He said no one knew where the hell they were or what was going on. They ended up in some building (he presumed it was a shed) and found it completely dark. Someone in his squad mentioned something about "moving walls". Long story short, the guy ended up unloading a clip on said wall. Turned out to be a swarm of "the biggest damned cockroaches you have ever seen."
So yeah, I can believe the military found it to be a ****show.
Wat was the story he told you
you best believe it was a clusterfck. I was a Lt in the Jamaica Defense Force at the time and when the great american army turned up we were like WTF is this?
HUNDREDS of soldiers turned up in a tropical country wearing WINTER GEAR because it was winter in America. Then the maps. Petrol store maps that were at least 40 or 50 years out of date.
Two Green Beret Blackhawk helicopters actually tried to land in the same space at the same time. more than FIFTEEN dead.
The navy actually shelled a marine position because they used different types of radios and couldn't talk to each other.
We got into a firefight with a detachment of marine who wanted to inspect an ammo dump we were guarding because they had the wrong entry code and wouldn't accept that they were wrong Three marines killed.
American soldiers fainting from dehydration and getting dysentery from drinking the local water. And at least 4 soldier committed suicide as far as i know.
A shtshow it most surely was.
And all for what? Bad intell and American arrogance
I could go on and on but I couldn't agree more.
And because that wasn't enough they then decided to invade Panama.......
@conceitedfication that's not my story to tell. It was something my father told me 10+ years ago that we never repeat in my family. It was a near death experience that shook an otherwise tough/rigid guy and influenced him to become sober. That's as much as I'm comfortable telling on his behalf.
Grenada is so interesting to me because it feels somewhat out of place. More akin to early US military adventurism into Latin America and the Caribbean almost a century earlier than the Cold War conflicts
I remember when it happened. Also my Drill Sargent (in91) would not shut up about his experience in it.
Possibly one of the most even-handed commentaries I've seen on this. What most outsiders miss, is that Grenada is a really small country (population 100,000 approx) So when Bishop and his cabinet were executed almost the entire island either knew or was related to someone who died in the massacre at the Fort that day. To this day the man who was the machine gunner on the Armored Car that carried out the massacre (who was convicted and served 21 years in jail) lives on the same street of the family of several victims.
But Simon you really did butcher the pronunciations here. Grenada = Gren-nay-da. Coard -Cord (like Hoard) Carriacou = Carry-A-Coo, Nevis= Nee-vis.
Other than that, well done.
The Airport was eventually named the Maurice Bishop International Airport. Interesting and possibly ironic.
Yes n the islanders didn't have a problem with it. Bishop brought it to the people an are greatful
The US government has done a bunch of regrettable military interventions, I’d argue this one was not one of them. Seems like we were able to restore democracy and to this day the government remains pretty stable in Grenada and as mentioned, the most important part, the people of Grenada believe it was good for them
Im sure most grenadians were upset unemployment dropped from 50% to 14% and were glad when a U.S. backed coup got that sham govt out of there
I had a friend who was in the 82nd Airborne at the time and fought Cubans at the barracks on the second and third day. They had been doing exercises in Florida to acclimate the week before. He had know Idea where they were going, but they were given a combat ammunition loadout and told they were going in hot
He is full of it… it didn’t happen that way…
Doubtful. The Cubans killed in Grenada were in a hospital bombed from a far. The resg of them, mostly construction workers surrendered.
Excellent video, Simon and team! I was a young Corporal then with A Co. 1st Bn. 75th Inf. and I'm glad you did the back story. As a trooper, ones point of view is really limited and I'm grateful to get the whole thing sorted out. All's I knew was Ronnie hated communism and communists. Thanks again. Cheers.
Who needs commies?
@@1984-m2i There is that too.
Was an excuse to invade like many others.
@@cjthebeesknees More than likely.
@@paulceglinski3087
Evaluating past behaviors is a good indicator to future ones. Many of my fellow countrymen seem to not realize this.
My Family being from the Caribbean I can tell you their biggest enemies was the Cia. You don't decrease unemployment over 30 percent and increase education and then a rival faction all of sudden gets disgruntled.
Exactly! Plus the Maurice Bishop international airport was just completed and was going to allow the Grenadian economy to exponentially improve by maximizing export capacity and increasing tourism. I don't think it's a coincidence that the invasion happened right after the airport was constructed. The US feared that Grenada's highly successful economy and rapid development would inspire neighboring countries to adopt similar policies.
The CIA’s involvement in Jamaica in the 70s also served to destabilise things there also didn’t it?
Anybody remember that Clint Eastwood movie Heartbreak Ridge? Gunny Highway
The movie took longer to make than the invasion itself😁
As a husband of a student who arrived almost immediately after the invasion and after spending three years on the island, I can tell you that the way you pronounce it is a place in Spain. Everybody on the island pronounces it Gren aY' da (long a). I never heard any native person pronouncing it Gren ah' da.
Every time I hear about Granada I think about Bill Hader on SNL's Puppet Class skit having flashbacks through his puppet.
Love your work Simon, informative and well researched as always but as a Caribbean native myself (Barbados) I'm offering a lesson in the pronunciation of the island names free of charge! 😂 jokes aside, this happened about 12 years before I was born and I'd heard about it growing up but never asked my parents too much about it for some reason. Loved learning about this!
Depressed guy in the mental hospital: "Life can't get any worse!"
Airstrike hits the hospital.
As an operation it was a “coming out” for the US after the Vietnam era ended. It was the re-engagement of US military power in the world. Internally it was a huge operation and uncovered dozens of areas where systems and procedures were lacking between the US forces. That period of time in the US military was a rebirth (under RR and the Vietnam vets now in leadership positions) and transition from the military of Vietnam to the modern military the US has today. Regardless of the politics it was a major stepping stone for the US.
Can't believe you missed the incident of the famous hard-line phone call from a pay phone using a credit card by either an officer or a soldier to Fort Bragg to request air support.
True story, I was there with C/307th Engr.
@@grayharker6271 Woah that is interesting was it Marine who made the call?
@@ErikPT the marines that landed at Grenville/perals airport were only on the island a couple of days. They stopped in route to Beruit. The credit card call was by an 82nd trooper from the field artillery unit.
@grayharker6271 are you sure my dad was there 82nd paratrooper he was a ssgt he always told me it was a ranger who did that
I was there on the USS FT Snelling and our Marines captured Cuban troops disguised as construction workers and also there were soviet military advisers as well. And the people were so grateful they made the day of our invasion Oct 25 1983 a holiday as thanksgiving day.
You are Nazis who invaded a sovereign country
"Gerry fights the mongoose gang" sounds like the title of some absurd experimental hip hop concept album from 2010.
Grenada gave us the Clint Eastwood classic "Heartbreak Ridge," so in the end I think it was all more that worth it.
As a Grenadian we are not happy about the invasion so I beg to differ
Buddy this is the worst thing to say about the permanent and negative change imposed on one of the smallest countries that have little chance to fight back alone. Grenadians alive RIGHT NOW had to watch this in real time and a lot were traumatized. Please have some sense. Do not be an a-hole.
@@Keijiishi Just as you are free to choose autism, I am free to choose a-hole
I was on the carrier USS Independence CV62 during Operation Urgent Fury. I couldn't imagine the cost of deploying just the Indy never mind what else was used in the invasion. We did fly all kinds of sorties against targets on the island. Definitely wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end.
I remember this happening when I was in high school. Everyone wondered why we bothered with an invasion.
Its the stupidest war we ever waged lol
So we didn't get another Cuba...it also made the Marxists cry like little bitches.
@@waltonsmith7210 Sorry you didn't get another Commie Country Karl? Boo Hoo
I've talked to a Vietnam War veteran and he calls this invasion "dumb!" It calls to mind a then-senator Obama calling the Iraq War, "dumb war"
I remember this and it was because commies,East Germany and Libya were setting up bases there. I have a T-shirt from Grenada that says “Thank You America for Liberating Grenada.” I actually saw the same shirt on another video about the subject.
Good job, can you please please cover the destabilisation of Jamaica during the cold war that led to Jamaica's involvement in Greneda?
You mean destabilisation by the United States and in particular, the CIA?
This operation and the invasion of Panama later in the 80's made our SOF troops look like rookies compared to their collective performances of the last two decades.
You mean like our withdrawal from Afghanistan?
@@kevinobrien1897 since you clearly don't know shit about how the US military or our government works, let me help. The military doesn't make policy, that's what idiots like Biden are relied on to do. Our troops follow orders based on policy decisions made (mostly) from civilians. Get it now?
More caribbean/African histories please 😉
I think he did an episode about Toussaint Louvreture on Biographics.
Nothing about Gunny Highway leading recon platoon to take rhe lighthouse? RIP Profile 🤣
Oh yeah I remember that movie.
0:47 Early & colonial history
3:07 After independence under Eric Gairy & Mongoose Gang
5:53 Grenada under Maurice Bishop
9:24 After Bishop's death
10:23 *Operation Urgent Fury*
19:50 Aftermath & consequences
I know two people who were there at the time. And after living in Grenada for 2 years I can safely say that despite everything that happened, Grenadians actually like Americans. there is a house with "Thank You Ronald Regan and Thank You America" painted on the side from the person who lives there. Richmond Hill Prison is now a tourist overlook and a spot for parties. The downtown fort, where Maurice Bishop was executed, is a memorial and tourist location. That fort is also directly next to the main hospital in Grenada. The "military" airport is now the international airport (near the main medical school campus). The second campus is not far away. The mental hospital is still a mental hospital and is a teaching place for medical students.
As for the two stories: the first comes from a medical student (at the time) who was there until being rescued. The medical students knew the guards around the university and the guards made exceptions for the medical students as they knew they were not going to be involved in the revolution. He, the person, was more annoyed his studies were interrupted. He does maintain that he did not feel in danger.
The second story comes from someone who got two jump wings. He is the guy who gave covering fire in the video of the bulldozer at the airport. He said that that was the easier of his two combat jumps.
Economic aid from US disappeared? No. He persistently asked for aid from Reagan and Reagan ignored him. Let’s tell the total truth. Love the video, but the reason why Bishop got closer to Cuba and Soviet Union was because of a lack of financial/economic aid from the US (to build the airport in particular).
And then the US turned around and invaded their country to get back at Cuba.
This channel is on fire!!! Thank you for the awesome content.
Too bad it's often inaccurate
Good job Simon I was part of this invasion I was with HHC 1/39
Minor point: Hudson Austin didn't push Coard out of the way following the events of October 19th, 1983. He was working hand-in-glove with Coard and, if anything, was closer to a puppet of Coard than an opponent.
The United Nations General Assembly condemned the invasion as "a flagrant violation of international law" on 2 November 1983 by a vote of 108 to 9.
2/325 abn inf… first 82nd unit on the ground.you’re wrong about the regional influence. We found warehouses of weapons, far too many for just the Grenadian and Cuban forces there
I walked through them, your right, and since when does „local constabulary“ need BTR‘s?
Simon, can you cover the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, please?
My doctor was a student at the university at the time of the invasion. He and his colleagues would go out to the landing strip that was under construction at the time to pick up sea shells on the strip, the military guards were lenient with them, even letting them take pictures. He had a friend in naval intelligence that asked him questions about details regarding the airstrip including the empty oil barrels along the length of the airstrip, all this was used during the invasion
, including the altitude the planes would fly so that the barrels would not fly up and damage aircraft.
.
First time I heard of this invasion was through the Wolf of Wall Street when his case is compared to the invasion of Granada and told it is unwinnable at the end of the movie. This lead me here to find out more!
As a Grenadian who was there, That was painful to listen to….the names of people and places 🤦🏾♀️
Am loving this channel.. very interesting and thorough videos. Great job Simon and team 👏 💯🔥 😊
They are often very wrong so please don't use these videos for school
Suddenly have overwhelming desire to play Tropico.
One of the troubles with this report is that the narrator mispronounced most of the names of the islands and some of the people involved. Which could mean that everything reported came from written sources, not from interviews or discussions with people who were involved. It seems fairly comprehensive, even more than what I personally remember, but I can’t help but think that it’s just one side of the story of what happened there.
The tales are often told from the ‘history’ of the victors.
I remember this.
I was listening to my Short Wave radio.
[ in St.Louis Missouri USA].
I actually listened to BBC World Service, a live broadcast of the entire invasion.
A little while later, a friend came over and we watched TV.
It was about an hour later , they broke in on the TV with
“BREAKING NEWS “.
This was LONG after it had happened.
As a teenager, I knew about it long before anyone else did.
📻🙂
First, the combat footage is from Vietnam not Granada. Second, you failed to point out that also on the island, were Cuban soldiers. I said, soldiers, not workers. Do you really believe the US would leave 600 of her citizens under the auspices of the Cuban military?
Finally, the US military field tested the following pieces of new equipment: Kevlar helmets, BDU uniforms, Bradly armored personnel carrier, the SAW (squad automatic weapon), the MRE and more equipment that I can't remember. Your research was sloppy at best.
Anytime is see this guy I stop and find another video
I suppose one question is whether there were any mutual defense treaties in place, and especially ones that involved the US. It could be that such a treaty left no choice, but there are so many open questions that's just one speculation.
As a member to the Commonwealth, they have a defense treaty with Britain.
I dident really know much about Granada until watching this and I wasent expecting names like Gary, Hudson and Bishop
First off, another great effort by your team and yourself. Also, as an American I feel 100% safe saying that was a flex😉
And as an American, I have no problem with that. It was the military version of a "slump-breaker". 😁
As a Grenadian I can say wtf
Lol, another channel? Nice to see you AGAIN Simon.
You neglected to mention that at the same time a bunch of US Marines were killed in their barracks in Beirut. Tip ONeill said that Reagan was talking about it during the planned mission to Grenada. Many people thought Reagan invaded Grenada as a diversion for the death toll in Beirut. I always thought it possible
Perhaps Simon would do an episode of the Beirut Barracks Bombings in Into the Shadows. The Lebanese Civil War is a long conflict, an hour-episode is certainly not enough for him to tackle in Warographics. I've been following the Lebanese Civil War in the RUclips channel "Casual Historian". He has already done two episodes, 35 minutes each. I've been anticipating his next episodes
Nope we were prepping for the invasion when we got word about the BLT attack in Beirut.
Jamaica did come close to meeting Granada’s fate.
The answer to both of his closing questions is yes. Nothing wrong with achieving two good things with one action.
Yeah Operation Urgent Fury. I was there with U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron VF-32 part of Carrier Air Wing 6 onboard the USS INDEPENDENCE CV-62. My first military action from 1982 to 2007. Grenada was what made be a Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW). Yeah US Navy attack Squadron’s VA-15, VA-87 ( A-7E Corsairs) and VA-176 (A-6E) did a fine landscape job with 500, 1,000 & 2,000 lbs Mk-82 bombs
Maybe there was too much eagerness to fight because of the mistakes made in Vietnam, and any kind of win - mistakes, cakewalk, or otherwise - would make many americans cheerful?
I guess the three US generals who drew up the plans were named Moe, Larry & Curly.
All I know is that the reforms after Grenada made the stunning success of Desert Storm possible.
Please may you do the Crimean war at some point.
Yes! Perhaps the first “modern” war. A lot of the technology there was later used in the US Civil War.
@@xyzpdq1122 Telegraph and photos are the most notable invention first widely used in the Crimean War
Usually I do not have much to add with these types of videos, but this time I do.
Of note is that while the Task Force for Operation Urgent Fury was given overall command to a Navy 4-star Admiral, at the time Major General H. Norman Schwartzkopff of Desert Storm fame was the ranking officer to the Army’s arm of operations in theater (with the exception of the Rangers operating under SOCOM’s purview).
My uncle my mom's youngest brother took part in this invasion with the 82nd Airborne.
Lesson learned, when sanctions don't work, expect US to send nuclear subs and declare a liberation.
Grenada is pronounced "Gree - nay - dah"
Coard is pronounced "cord"
Everyone thinks it cute to denigrate Pinochet but no one talks about the opposition who were just as ruthless.
I liked the segment about the US military seeing the effort as a series of blunders and miscommunications. Its pragmatic to forensically study what has occurred and to identify the flaws in the plan,, the missteps in the execution, and how those might be eliminated....next time. I'm no fan of the American military/industrial complex but I'll give them this much, they do make effort to learn from their mistakes. Which is at least a benefit to the individual fighting in whatever action his or her political masters send them against. Hey.....be honest...doesn't seem our "near peer" Russia learned at least that lesson, does it? ;)
Ahhh! The early 80's... Interesting but turbulent time in world politics. Both the US and Soviet Union were flexing muscles. The Soviets were pushing their agendas in Latin America, Angola, Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan. It's interesting to see how the US countered and just kept raising the stakes till the Soviet Union collapsed. Grenada was just another stepping stone. The Soviets used their proxies the Cubans for a lot of these actions. I'm surprised that the US got directly involved at the time seeing that the Iranian Hostage Crises debacle just concluded at that time.
Informative video BTW!
The United States showed up to the 'party'. That says it all about the USA foreign policy.
Excellent episode Warographics team. Thankyou.
I remember my drill sergeant at ft leanardwood summer of 84 was not happy his 82 airborne unit went to Grenada without him . Because he went to drill Sgt school. His name Sgt C Friedeck
Springfield MO 👋👋👋
The great siege of 1565 is a must, especially for the fact that a bunch of Maltese and the knights of st john held off the turkish armada many times their size and superior at its zenith under suleiman the magnificent.
Spent a fair amount of time in Eastern Caribbean including Grrnada. Personal experience is that Grrnada and the rest of the E C are also grateful.
As a Grenadian we are not
@@Kizzyi From my experience you are a group of one. Will you explain why you feel as you do?
I’m not sure the EC region as a whole were ‘grateful’. Some look at it as an overstepping by the US which was unwarranted, and push back against a Caribbean island seeing development with the support of Cuba (a fellow Caribbean territory) who the US was at odds with.
It’s pretty funny that Britain complained but we don’t hear they were doing anything to help the situation. American citizens were at risk and the US wasn’t obligated to respect the illegitimate banana republic that Britain was allowing to have happen.
Think it's more as Grenada's Head of State was/is Queen Elizabeth II, so the courtesy of a heads up would have been nice...
As Burwellian says below, yeah the problem was never really that *Britain* wasn’t informed about the invasion, so much that the US didnt inform the Queen, who was Grenada’s head of state
As a ten year old back in 1984, I learned about this invasion from the song The Real Roxanne.