Looking Back in History: Weapons Used in 1980 Assassination Attempt Against a U.S. Ambassador Were Made in America
John Gunther Dean survived the Nazi Holocaust as a child by immigrating to the United States in 1939. He became a naturalized citizen and went on to serve the country as ambassador to five countries: India, Thailand, Lebanon, Denmark, and the Khmer Republic.
In the late 70s and early 80s when serving in Lebanon, the Lebanese were asking the United States to stop sending sophisticated weapons to Israel. Civilians in the southern part of the country were getting hammered by battles. Israel and its Lebanese Christian allies were clashing with PLO-aligned guerrillas. Peacekeeping forces were getting killed, along with civilians.
On August 28, 1980, U.S. Amb. to Lebanon Dean came under fire in a targeted attack. Gunmen in a Mercedes-Benz ambushed him “with some form of explosive device” and then with automatic weapons as he traveled to a dinner in Beirut. It took place a week after Amb. Dean had issued a statement objecting to an Israeli raid against Palestinians in Lebanon.
Dean grew convinced that Israel was behind the assassination attempt. He collected the numbers on the empty missile canisters fired at his motorcade and went them to Washington for tracing. Eventually, through persistence, he got an answer about the anti-tank weapon origin: They were made in the USA and sold and shipped to Israel in 1974.
