Robert Dean Stethem (
November 17,
1961 –
June 15,
1985) was a
United States Navy Seabee diver who was murdered by
terrorists during the
hijacking of the commercial airliner he was aboard
TWA Flight 847. His Navy rating was
Steel Worker Second Class (SW2).
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, all of whom were Navy
SEALs. 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 766 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.
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.
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. There is a sports complex named in his honor on Piney Church Road, in the center of which is a large stone memorial to Stethem, above which a U.S. flag flies.
Robert D. Stethem Memorial Park includes 10 ball fields, two of which have 90-foot infields; the complex is the main complex for Waldorf American and Waldorf National Little Leagues. It was opened in 1990 and boasts a memorial stone 75 yards from Stethem's memorial, which includes a tribute plaque to several former Waldorf players, as well as local umpires and district officials who have lost their lives.