In 1983, Lex Trahan of Lafayette was killed in a terrorist attack in Beirut, an attack later determined to have been sponsored by Iran. The family of Trahan have reportedly now received their first payment of a $50 million settlement owed by Iran for the country's involvement in that attack.

Trahan was a 19-year-old combat engineer at the time of the attack, when a terrorist drove a truck loaded with 2,500 pounds of explosives drove into a Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. KATC reports the explosion was so massive that it left a 30 foot deep crater and killed "220 Marines, 18 Navy sailors, three Army soldiers, and 60 French peacekeepers".

The terror attack on the barracks was later found to be sponsored by Iran, and as a result a lawsuit was filed against Iran in 2016 under the "Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act".

"Attorney Warren Perrin, who represents the Trahan family, said he was notified Sunday that the first payment — $300,000 — of an almost $50 million settlement had arrived. Settlement of the suit will be made as assets of the Iranian regime are secured."

Lex Trahan, a graduate of Comeaux High, was the only child of Percy "Blackie" Trahan and his wife, Shirley, of Lafayette. Shirley Trahan passed away in 2019.

Read more at KATC.com and theadvocate.com.

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