Combat· Panama Invasion (Op JUST CAUSE)
Bridge of the Americas Secured
The securing of the Bridge of the Americas was a Marine objective in the opening of Operation Just Cause, the seizure of the great span carrying the Pan-American Highway across the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal.
Controlling the bridge was essential to dominating movement across the canal at its southern end and to protecting the western flank of the operation, and the Marines moved to take and hold it as the invasion began. The bridge was a key piece of infrastructure whose control denied the Panamanian Defense Force a vital crossing and secured a critical chokepoint for the American forces. The Marines accomplished the seizure as part of their assigned objectives on the canal's western side, contributing to the rapid collapse of organized resistance. Taking the Bridge of the Americas was one of the Marine contributions to the swift success of Just Cause, the kind of objective seizure that marked their out-sized role relative to their numbers.
Record no. 801