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Navy Rabbi Says Sabbath Choice Saved Him in Beirut Bombing

By Drooid · Oct 23, 2026, 5:11 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

U.S. Navy Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff survived the Oct. 23, 1983 Beirut suicide bombing that killed 241 American service members.
He arrived Oct. 21 to hold a Jewish Marine memorial and refused to leave on the Sabbath.
Resnicoff stayed with chaplain George Pucciarelli rather than Protestant minister Danny Wheeler.
He says that choice saved his life.
His report contributed to the Religious Apparel Amendment, later noted by Vice President George H. W. Bush and President Ronald Reagan.

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Story summary

U.S. Navy Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff survived the Oct. 23, 1983 Beirut suicide bombing that killed 241 American service members.
He arrived Oct. 21 to hold a Jewish Marine memorial and refused to leave on the Sabbath.
Resnicoff stayed with chaplain George Pucciarelli rather than Protestant minister Danny Wheeler.
He says that choice saved his life.
His report contributed to the Religious Apparel Amendment, later noted by Vice President George H. W. Bush and President Ronald Reagan.