Combat· Panama Invasion (Op JUST CAUSE)
American Embassy Siege
This record concerns the threat to the United States embassy in Panama City during the turmoil surrounding Operation Just Cause, when the diplomatic compound came under danger amid the fighting and the breakdown of order in the capital.
Marines moved to reinforce and protect the embassy, a traditional Marine duty carried out in the charged circumstances of the invasion and its aftermath, when armed Panamanian elements and the chaos of the regime's fall posed a threat to American diplomatic personnel and property. The action reflected the Marine Corps' enduring responsibility for embassy security, here under the acute pressure of a combat operation in the host city. Safeguarding the embassy was part of the broader Marine effort to secure American interests and personnel in Panama during Just Cause. It underscored how the Marines' role in the operation extended from seizing canal objectives to the protection of the diplomatic mission in the embattled capital.
Record no. 802