Robert Stethem
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Robert Stethem (November 17, 1961 – June 15, 1985) was a United States Navy diver and steelworker second class. He was killed after the commercial airliner he was aboard, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked.
Robert Stethem was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, but grew up in the Pinefield section of Waldorf, Maryland. He was one of three children. His two brothers and his father also served in the U.S. Navy. His mother was a civilian Navy administrator. He graduated from Thomas Stone High School in 1980, where he played defensive back on the varsity and junior varsity football teams. He joined the Navy shortly after graduating.
In the Navy, he was assigned to the Navy Underwater Construction Team No. 1 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was returning from an assignment in Nea Makri, Greece aboard TWA Flight 847 when it was hijacked by members of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hizbullah. They demanded the release of 435 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
When their demands were not met, Stethem was singled out. The hijackers learned he was a member of the U.S. military. They beat and tortured him. Then, they shot him and dumped his body on the tarmac at the Beirut airport.
Stethem was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1994, the U.S. Navy launched USS Stethem (DDG-63) in his honor.
One of the hijackers Mohammed Ali Hammadi, was arrested two years later in Frankfurt, Germany. He was tried and convicted of Stethem's murder. He was sentenced to life in jail. Three others, Imad Mugniyah, Hassan Izz-Al-Din and Ali Atwa were eventually indicted for their involvement in the incident. In 2002, they were added to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list.
Mohammed Ali Hammadi was paroled in December of 2005 and returned to Lebanon. It is speculated that he was released in a prisoner swap in exchange for the release of Susanne Osthoff, who was kidnapped in Iraq one month earlier.
