Thread: David Of Houston

Yes - that was me. I was teaching at an American school in Beirut back in June 1999, when the Israeli Air Force bombed the city in retaliation for Hezbollah, (Party of God), mortar attacks on their northern settlements ... and this despite their security zone in occupied south Lebanon.

The Israeli planes swooped in from the Meditteranean Sea flying over the coast. The faculty apartment building I was living in was just one block away from the Corniche - the road that ran parallel to the sea. From two blocks away I could hear a Syrian anti-aircraft gun firing at the on-coming planes.

The ack-ack-ack of the anti-aircraft guns was muted by the roar of the planes and the sound of distant explosions.

I spent the evening under a heavy desk in my apartment. Hours of boredom and wondering whether the attacks were finally over were punctuated by intermittent waves of Israeli planes.

When morning came and the attacks finally ended - I learned that the Israelis had destroyed a power plant, a major bridge, a telephone relay station, and a major section of highway.

Internet access was gone. (Amazingly enough I was on-line with teachers.net throughout the night ... but shortly after logging off, my building lost telephone access).

Electricity was gone - but because of the 17 year long Lebanese civil war, a lot of districts had their own electrical generators.

Since the school year had just ended and I was due to fly out - I left Lebanon - but did not return for the second year of my contract. (This effectively ended my overseas teaching career since this was a contract violation - never mind the fact that I never hired on to work in a war zone).

I have been back in the states since late June 1999 - but am still looking for a niche to settle down in.

Regards,

David