What was going on when I was born?

Israel reacted to the bombing of its headquarters in Tyre, Lebanon, today with a series of military steps and statements designed to regain a posture of determination and resolve. Defense Minister Moshe Arens indicated that retaliation might be taken beyond the two air strikes conducted against Palestinian factions near the Beirut-Damascus highway. ''We'll hit back against those who commit these criminal acts,'' he said on the army radio. ''We, of course, will investigate what happened, how it happened, what must be done in order to assure that this won't happen in the future.'' He ordered the appointment of a commission of investigation.

A truck loaded with explosives crashed through the entrance to an Israeli headquarters compound here today and detonated near the main building, killing at least 39 people and wounding 32. A few hours later, Israeli jets struck at Palestinian targets along the Beirut- Damascus Highway, knocking out a command post and a number of tanks and artillery pieces. Some reports said they also attacked Syrian positions.As many as 60 people were reported killed. (Page 8.)

The Reagan Administration made public today copies of what it said were five secret military cooperation agreements concluded by the former Government of Grenada with Cuba, the Soviet Union and North Korea. Administration officials said the documents called for the delivery of $37 million in military equipment to Grenada and the permanent basing of 27 Cuban military advisers there. Administration officials said the documents, which were found by American forces that invaded the island last week, supported President Reagan's assertion that Cuba and the Soviet Union were turning Grenada into a military bastion. 49 Russians Leave Grenada Early today the 126 occupants of the Soviet Embassy in Grenada, including 49 Soviet citizens, 53 Cubans and 15 North Koreans, were flown off the island and taken to Merida, Mexico. (Page 4.)

News Analysis WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 - The suicide attacks on American, French and Israeli forces over the last 12 days have quickened Washington's determination to alter its policy in Lebanon by forging a closer strategic bond with the Israelis, American officials said today. They said they hoped to create such a bond now to take advantage of what they regard as a growing convergence of American interests with Israel's. By coincidence, Under Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger was in Israel winding up a mission aimed at reducing the misunderstandings and distrust of the last two years when the terrorist explosion occurred at an Israeli compound in Tyre. A goal of his trip was to persuade the new Prime Minister, Yitzhak Shamir, to make an early trip to Washington for discussions on how the two countries can collaborate in these tense times in Lebanon and the Middle East. A Major Shift for U.S. This represents a major shift in American thinking about Lebanon, a shift caused both by the diplomatic stalemate over the country's future and a major buildup of Syrian forces. Ever since Israel pulled its troops back from the Shuf Mountains against the advice of the American and Lebanese Governments in early September, the Administration has feared that the Syrians may be under the impression that they can force Israel and the United States out of Lebanon without making any concessions themselves.

The United States Embassy here is pressing the Government to take action against a number of army and security officers who are said to be ''highly suspected'' of involvement in assassination squads, according to high-ranking embassy officials. The officers said to be involved include the head of security for the Constituent Assembly, two provincial commanders and the directors of intelligence for two of the country's security forces. Hector Antonio Regalado, the head of security for the Constituent Assembly, is said to be the ''head of the thing,'' according to well-placed officials here. Many Thousands Killed Mr. Regalado is known as a close friend of Roberto d'Aubuisson, the president of the Assembly, and was hired by Mr. d'Aubuisson to direct security for the Assembly.

The national unemployment rate fell four- tenths of a percentage point in October, to 8.7 percent of the labor force from 9.1 in September, the Labor Department reported today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said there was an increase of 320,000 payroll jobs, many of them in durable goods manufacturing and construction, two sectors hit hardest by the recession. The Government said one reason for the rise might be that employers hired more workers instead of extending work hours. Big Decrease for Jersey The jobless rate for civilians alone, not counting members of the armed forces in the United States, also declined, falling to 8.8 percent from the 9.3 percent recorded in September.

The Talk of Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES, Nov. 4 - Buenos Aires in the spring of 1983 is young men in long hair and rumpled blue jeans and T-shirts. It is jaywalkers and joggers darting among smoke- belching buses on narrow downtown streets. It is young women, stylish as Buenos Aires women always seem to be, prancing in miniskirts. And it is lovers lying among the daffodils and the statuary of forgotten generals in the many parks. There have been seven springtimes since the Argentine military seized power, but this is the first of them in which people say they have felt free enough to do as they wish in public without fear of offending the authorities.

News Analysis JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 4 - After gaining a convincing ''yes'' vote in favor of plans for limited constitutional change, Prime Minister P. W. Botha addressed the question Thursday of how he would deal in the future with neighboring black governments. He repeated his willingness to sign nonaggression treaties with countries like Mozambique and Angola and Zimbabwe so that neither side might allow the other's foes to operate from their territory. To the conciliatory tone, however, he added, ''I'm speaking from a position of strength with them, and I hope they accept my good will.'' In the light of South Africa's recent and regular military forays across some of its borders, the ''good will'' seemed ambivalent. But after Wednesday's referendum, in which the white electorate was asked to vote yes or no to the proposals, there seemed to be nothing ambiguous about Mr. Botha's strength.

Pope John Paul II has written a letter reassessing the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church toward Martin Luther, father of the Reformation, Vatican sources said today. The sources said the Pope sent the letter to Johannes Cardinal Willebrands of the Netherlands, president of the Secretariat for Christian Unity, to mark the 500th anniversary of Luther's birth on Nov. 10, 1483. The Vatican is expected to make the letter public soon, the sources said.

Zimbabwe said today that it had placed strict restrictions on all reporters working in Matabeleland, the country's troubled southwestern province. Prime Minister Robert Mugabe's Government said both foreign and local journalists were forbidden to report about the anti-Government violence that has troubled the area or about the army's actions to combat the rebels in Matabeleland and some adjoining regions. For the last year and a half, these areas have been the center of killings and kidnappings by dissidents, generally former guerrillas of the opposition leader, Joshua Nkomo. The dissidents say they are protesting what they feel is unfair Government treatment of Mr. Nkomo, his Zimbabwe African People's Union and the minority Ndebele- speaking people who largely support Mr. Nkomo. The dissidents have killed at least 200 people, including 30 white Matabeleland farmers.

The Soviet icebreaker Yermak, on its way from the Far East to help iced-in freighters north of eastern Siberia, has been halted by pack ice in the Bering Strait close to Alaska, the official Tass press agency said today. In the latest report on the continuing efforts to force a passage through the encroaching winter ice for ships carrying supplies to isolated cities along the Siberian coast, Tass said the Yermak had had to ask for air reconnaissance help.

A bomb set off by suspected terrorists ripped through the offices of an armaments factory today, causing $300,000 in damage but injuring no one, the state prosecutor's office said.