Richard Hyatt: Memories of men I never met

Strange that I remember them for we never met. But reading about Lance Cpl. Morris Dorsey and how he survived a tragic Sunday morning in Beirut made me think about two Marines who did not make it home.

Bill Stelpflug joined right after graduating from Auburn High School. Mark Prevatt of Columbus didn't wait for a diploma. Thirty-one years ago this week they were among the 241 American casualties of an abhorrent attack on the Beirut International Airport that they were protecting.

We had little first-hand knowledge of terrorism until that truck loaded with explosives woke us up in 1983, and here at home the faces of those young men were our letters of introduction.

Prevatt came home on Delta Flight 1672. Men with briefcases left the plane as they always do and so did a few Army guys with medals on their chest. Attendants pushed empty carriers to the rear of the plane and before long they were stacked high with suitcases and duffel bags. When they were filled, an empty one took its place.

Victor Prevatt and his family waited inside, talking quietly with a Marine captain. They were calm until the plane landed. Tears rolled down cheeks and arms were joined as they made their way to the tarmac.

A squad of enlisted men gathered as airline workers reached inside the plane and pulled out a cardboard box marked "Handle with Extreme Care."

Cpl. Mark Prevatt was home.

He was buried on family land in Box Springs, Ga., land he liked to hunt. I can almost hear the sound of Taps rustling through the trees.

I learned about Lance Cpl. Bill Stelpflug sitting in his parents' living room not far from Auburn University where Peggy and Bill Sr. used to teach. They talked about an officer coming to the door to give the news they dreaded.

Peggy and I collaborated on a 2007 history of Fort Benning. She did the heavy lifting and she got involved, hoping to understand why her son died. Her search continues today.

She has shared her son's letters with scholars and poured her soul into poetry about the losses in Lebanon. One of his letters can be read at the Military Service Walk on Broadway. It was written weeks before his death on Oct. 23, 1983.

"It worries me more to know that y'all worry about me more than I worry about me," he wrote. "I won't go out of my way to be a hero, or anything like that."

Mark and Bill haven't aged. They will forever be young Marines who chose to serve. Several years ago, Peggy Stelpflug reminded us not to forget them.

"It's painful sometimes, but it's important to remember," she said. "They're still part of the family -- they're still part of the Marines."

This story was originally published October 21, 2014 at 10:34 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Memories of men I never met."