Operation Silver Wake was a

non-combatant evacuation operation A Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) is an operation conducted to Emergency evacuation, evacuate civilians from another country, generally due to a deteriorating security situation. Australia *2021 - Fall of Kabul (2021), Afghanistan Chin ...

(NEO) led by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to evacuate American citizens, noncombatants and designated third country nationals from

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

, the capital of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

during the civil unrest in 1997. The operation took place over 13 operational days in March 1997 and was performed by U.S. Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducting operations from the Amphibious Readiness Group. U.S. Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines and MSSG-26 (The Support contingent of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit) secured the U.S. housing compound and held the U.S. Embassy. Approximately 900 people were evacuated by the Marines as part of the operation. Additionally, 105 Albanians were rescued March 16-17 from unsafe and overcrowded vessels. Other U.S. Navy ships involved were and . Other European countries such as Germany ( Operation Libelle), Greece (Operation Cosmas), Italy and the UK also evacuated their citizens and civilians of other nations in similar missions in March. Some of the awards presented to participating units included the

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or ...

, Joint Meritorious Unit Award and the Humanitarian Service Medal. Selected Marines were also awarded the Combat Action Ribbon.Awards for Past Operations
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References

External links

DOD Archive

1997 Albanian civil unrest Conflicts in 1997 Silver Wake 20th-century military history of the United States United States Marine Corps in the 20th century March 1997 in Europe Non-combatant evacuation operations {{USMC-stub Military history of the Mediterranean

See also

References

External links