[60], Medical students in Grenada speaking to Ted Koppel on 25 October 1983 edition of his newscast Nightline stated that they were safe and did not feel that their lives were in danger. These changes in timing contributed greatly to the less-than-total success the special operations forces enjoyed in achieving their first-day objectives. Air support was more effective and, as the helicopters took off from Point Salines, the men could see plumes of smoke from the burning buildings of the barracks in the distance. With planners still unsure whether the invasion would be by parachute assault or airlanding (keeping troops on airplanes and landing them on already secured airfields), Colonel Hamilton began preparing his men for the more complicated of the two operations: a parachute assault. Grenadian forces suffered 45 killed and 358 wounded; at least 24 civilians were also killed, 18 of whom died in the accidental bombing of a Grenadian mental hospital. On the fifteenth, General Farris disestablished his command and turned over all responsibility for military forces on the island to the Caribbean Peacekeeping Force. The first two planes with the lead assault company had to abort their drops because of failures in their inertial navigation system and radar. "An edited extract of the forthcoming account of U.S. Army operations on Grenada: The Rucksack War: U.S. Army Operational Logistics in Grenada." Some users may encounter difficulties opening these files from the server. [20], In March 1983, President Reagan began issuing warnings about the threat posed to the United States and the Caribbean by the Soviet-Cuban militarization of the Caribbean, evident from the excessively long airplane runway being built and intelligence indicating increased Soviet interest in the island. Airborne troopers spent most of the day continuing the search for any fugitive Cubans and trying to locate Hudson Austin, Bernard Coard, and other members of the revolutionary govern- ment still in hiding. US Army Medal Statistics by Conflict, Operation or Incident Since 1988 Email The American War Library| Home US Army Medal Statistics by Conflict, Operation or Incident 1700 - 1800 ERA Award MOH Cert of Mert Badge of Mili Merit Totals REV.