Lafayette family awarded nearly $50 million in son's 1983 death in Beirut terrorist attack

A federal judge awarded a Lafayette family nearly $50 million in the 1983 death of their son in the Beirut terrorist attack on a marine barracks.

Lex Trahan's family, along with 15 other families of victims, sued the Iranian government for damages after Trahan was killed in the explosion at the barracks. 

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of Washington, D.C., awarded Lex Trahan, his father Percy "Blackie" Trahan, and the estate of his mother Shirley Trahan $49.6 million in the case.

"For Blackie, it's redemption," said attorney Warren Perrin, who represented the family locally. "It was the first Memorial Day he had (Monday) that a court of law recognized that what happened was wrong and (the Iranian government) had to pay."

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In 2003, a U.S. District Court found the Iranian government backed the terrorist organization responsible for the attack on the marine barracks.

The lawsuit, filed by the Trahan family and others in December 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, sought compensatory and punitive damages. The 15 families were awarded a total of $337.9 million.

The Trahan family will be able to collect its share of the money over a period of time through a U.S. Treasury Department fund for victims of state-sponsored terrorism, Perrin said. They also can collect from existing Iranian accounts, which would require Congressional approval. 

Perrin sent letters to both U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, two Republicans who represent Lafayette, for their assistance in getting that support. 

"An earlier larger group of victim plaintiffs (the "Peterson" plaintiffs) obtained their judgments against Iran over a decade ago," according to a memo Perrin sent to the legislators. "That group has already collected several million dollars in compensation per family from other Iranian seized funds, such as the seized about $2 billion Bank

Markazi Citibank account."

Lex Trahan, an only child, played football at Comeaux High school, was a "good kid" and wanted to be an engineer, according to a court filing. He was king of Oberon during Mardi Gras one year. He was recruited to the Marines from high school. 

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The 19-year-old's group was scheduled to go to Beirut. But that group was short an engineer, and Lex Trahan volunteered to go. He needed his parents' permission to go. 

The last time his parents saw Lex Trahan was right before he went to Beirut, according to a deposition given by Percy Trahan. He spent time with his friends and his mother cooked his favorite meal, spaghetti and meatballs, which she wouldn't make after his death because it reminded her too much of Lex Trahan.

Lex Trahan was killed on Oct. 23, 1983, when a Mercedes truck filled with 2,500 pounds of explosives broke through barricades and ripped through the Marines' administrative headquarters building in Beirut. The four-story building was torn from its foundation and the barracks imploded in a matter of seconds, according to a court filing. 

The Trahans took their son's death hard. Percy Trahan prayed every night and talked to his son, according to a deposition. The family didn't put up a Christmas tree after his death. His mother would wake up crying sometimes after breaking about Lex Trahan. 

The attack on the barracks was the deadliest single-day death toll for the U.S. Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima. 

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi.