1983 October 25 - Americans prepared for impromptu invasions of foreign nations: Granada invaded by U.S. In his memoir "Man of the House," former Speaker Tip O'Neil described his response to being informed about the 1983 Granada invasion: "The invasion was already under way, so even if we opposed it, there was nothing any of us could do. I had some serious reservations, and I'm sure my Democratic colleagues did as well, but I'd be damned if I was going to voice any criticism while our boys were out there." O'Neil thought the invasion nothing more that a cover for the Reagan Administration's blunder in Lebanon, where a few days before a suicide bomber had killed 248 US Marines who were on a "peacekeeping mission" in Beirut. "Over a hundred American troops were killed or wounded in [the Granada invasion] ... And as far as I can see, it was all because the White House wanted the country to forget about the tragedy in Beirut.