October 21, 1983 – U.S. Invasion of Grenada: The U.S. is asked to intervene in Grenada

On October 21, 1983, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean
States asked the United States
to intervene militarily in Grenada,
fearing that the political instability in that island could spread across the Caribbean region. 
The United States Armed Forces then revised its plan from an evacuation
to include an invasion of Grenada.

Diagram showing location of Grenada in the Caribbean Sea and just north of the South American mainland. Grenada consists of the main island (Grenada) and six very small islands located in its northern and southern ends.

The U.S.
military identified three targets for the invasion: Point Salines, Pearls Airport
in Grenville, and St. George’s.  Just before dawn on October 25, 1983, a
battalion of U.S. Rangers was airdropped at the Point Salines
Airport construction
site.  The soldiers succeeded in taking
control of the facility.  The Rangers
originally were planned to be landed by plane; the plan was aborted when U.S.
reconnaissance detected that the airport runway was littered with
obstacles.  The anti-aircraft gunfire
from the Grenadian defenses was silenced by strikes from U.S. helicopter
gunships.  The U.S. Rangers soon secured
and cleared the Point
Salines Airport
site, allowing American planes to land more troops, weapons, and supplies.

(Taken from U.S. Invasion of Grenada – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background Grenada is a small island country located in the southeastern section of the Caribbean Sea (Map 36).  In 1974, the country gained its independence from the United Kingdom and thereafter experienced a period of political unrest starting with the contentious general elections of 1976.  After the 1976 elections, a government was formed, which imposed repressive policies to curb political opposition and dissent.  Then on March 13, 1979, communist politicians staged a coup that overthrew the government.

A socialist government was formed led by Maurice Bishop, who
took the position of prime minister.  The
new government opened diplomatic relations with communist countries.  In particular, Grenada
became allied with Cuba and
the Soviet Union, and supported their foreign
policy initiatives.  Prime Minister
Bishop dissolved the Grenadian constitution, banned elections and multi-party
politics, and suppressed free expression and all forms of dissent.

The government began many social and economic projects,
which ultimately proved successful.  For
instance, sound financial policies allowed Grenada’s economy to grow and
reduce the country’s dependence on imported goods.  The government made major advances in
upgrading the educational system, health care, and socialized housing
programs.  Public infrastructure projects
were implemented.

Despite being officially socialist, the Grenadian government
maintained its traditional ties to the West. 
Grenada retained its British Commonwealth membership, with Queen Elizabeth II
as its symbolic head of state, and the British-inherited position of Governor
General being maintained.  Western
foreign investments were encouraged, and investors from the United States, the United
Kingdom, and Canada – among other countries –
operated freely in the islands.  Foreign
tourists, who brought in substantial revenues to the local economy, were welcomed
by the Grenadian government.

However, hardliners in Grenada’s communist party (called
the New Jewel Movement) disagreed with Prime Minister Bishop’s double-sided
policies.  They demanded that he step
down from office or agree to rule jointly with staunch communist party
members.  Prime Minister Bishop rejected
both suggestions.  On October 12, 1983,
the communist hardliners overthrew the government in a coup, and Prime Minister
Bishop and other high-ranking government officials were arrested and jailed.  A military council was formed to rule the
country.

Widespread
street protests and demonstrations broke out as a
result of the coup, as Prime Minister Bishop was extremely popular with the
people.  The protesters demanded that
Bishop be set free.  Bishop’s military
captors acquiesced, and released the ex-prime minister.  But in the ensuing chaos, government troops
opened fire on the protesters, killing perhaps up to a hundred persons.  Bishop and other top government officials
were rounded up and executed by firing squad.

The U.S.
administration of President Ronald Reagan, following the events in Grenada with grave concern, believed that Cuba had
planned the overthrow of Prime Minister Bishop’s moderately socialist
government in order to install a staunchly communist regime.  The United
States believed that Cuba
would then take full control of Grenada.  Four years earlier in 1979, when the
Grenadian communists took over power, U.S.
president Jimmy Carter’s government had moved diplomatically to isolate Grenada by stopping U.S. military support and
discouraging Americans from travelling there.

But President Reagan took an aggressive approach against Grenada: he ordered joint military exercises and
mock amphibious operations in U.S.-allied countries in the Caribbean
region.  He also warned of Soviet-Cuban
expansionism in the Western Hemisphere.  Of particular concern to President Reagan was
the construction of an airport at Point Salines at the southern tip of Grenada, which the U.S. military believed would be a
Soviet airbase because its extended runway could land big, long-range Russian
bombers.  The U.S.
government surmised that the Soviets planned to use Grenada
as a forward base to supply communists in Central America, i.e. the Sandinista
government in Nicaragua and
the communist rebels in El Salvador
and Guatemala.  Increasing the Americans’ suspicion was the
presence of Cuban construction workers at the Point Salines site – after the
war, the U.S.
military learned that these were Cuban Army soldiers.

However, the Grenadian government insisted that the Point
Salines facility would be used as an international airport for commercial
airliners.  As diplomatic relations
deteriorated between the United States
and Grenada, President
Reagan ordered the evacuation of American citizens living in Grenada, the majority of whom were the 800
medical students enrolled at the American-owned
St. George’s University.  The U.S. government feared for the
safety of the students, as the Grenadian Army had posted soldiers at the school
grounds and a nighttime curfew had been imposed on the island, with a
shoot-to-kill order imposed against violators. 
As commercial flights to Grenada
were cancelled already, President Reagan decided that the U.S. Armed Forces
should implement the evacuation.