thedrifter
08-09-06, 11:44 PM
Marines praised during evacuation
2006-08-08
by Iva Butler
of The Daily Times Staff
Like the ending in a John Wayne movie, the U.S. Marines came to the rescue of American evacuees -- including a Maryville family -- trapped in Lebanon with amphibious transport vehicles and the USS Nashville.
``Those Marines came running up a 500-foot sandbank and came back carrying old people in chairs and carrying their belongings. We were loaded into an amphibious vessel,'' Valarie Budayr said. The evacuation was covered by CNN, AP and Naval and Marine videographers.
``One Marine said this was the largest civilian evacuation in the history of the military,'' Budayr said.
It was the first time since 1982 that Marines had landed on Lebanese soil.
``Once shipside, the Marines were incredible,'' Budayr said. ``When the amphibious vessel got to the ship it scooted in the side of the ship. Everyone was cheering and waving flags. A banner said `Welcome to Nashville City Limits, Exit 13.' We through it was an omen that the ship was named the USS Nashville.
``My son was really traumatized in Beirut, and to him it was like a Boy Scout Jamboree aboard the ship,'' she said.
The Marines had a full mess set up and gave up their bunks so the evacuees could sleep in an air-conditioned area. ``
``Those boys do some fine cooking. The chef had fresh key lime pie, chocolate chip and butterscotch cookies, chicken nuggets, French fries, macaroni and cheese,'' Budayr recalled.
``The ship can hold up to 600 crew members, but had only 210 for the evacuation. They gave the children tours of the ship and all the Marines were giving away sweatshirts and T-shirts,'' Budayr said.
``They organized three amphibious vehicles of luggage quicker than the State Department evacuated us. They did not lose one suitcase. I was really impressed with the Marines,'' she said.
The ship only traveled at 17 miles an hour, and some of the Marines were worried they could not get from the Sinai to Lebanon in time to rescue the Americans, she said.
``Miriam (her daughter) said she could ride her bike or swim faster than that ship,'' Budayr said.
The U.S. military ships were all in the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Indian Ocean near Iraq. There were none in the Mediterranean, where European nations did have ships.
``Our country honestly dropped the ball on its citizens. The only reason they came for us was that France, Italy, Spain, even Sri Lanka, embarrassed them. They evacuated their people faster. Great Britain and America were the last to move. I thank the French for us getting out,'' Budayr said.
The 1,250 people slept under nets on cots during the journey. The family got on the ship at 1 p.m. and they arrived in Larcana, Cypress, at 4 a.m. They then boarded buses for a two-hour bus ride to Nicosia, where the United Nations evacuee staging area was located at a fairgrounds.
``We had a lot of elderly, seriously ill people and newborns on that ship. People were suffering from heart failure, varicose veins, recent heart surgeries and children were dehydrated,'' she said.
Because of that, they stayed in Nicosia for 30 hours so the rescuers could regroup.
Staying together
There were thousands of cots, each with a pillow, towel and blanket. Packets were given out so evacuees could shower. There was a hospital with four doctors.
``They developed a bus list and Zaina (her daughter) stayed up all night long until bus No. 11 was called at 4 a.m. They had not put Sarah Anderson (Zaina's friend) on the bus list. I said we're not moving without her. When I insisted, they wrote her name on the list. We found out later they were separating whole families,'' Budayr said.
When they arrived at Larcana airport they had to wait for their seven buses to be processed through passport, luggage and customs lines.
The International Red Cross met them at the airport and bused them out to the airplane.
They couldn't turn the air conditioning on until the airplane doors were closed, so they sweltered until the plane was loaded. They left Cypress at 1 or 1:30 a.m. for what they thought was a direct flight home.
Instead they stopped in Hans, Germany, which is on the North Sea and the weather was almost snowing. to refuel and get supplies.
She joked that ``Lebanon must be under the age of 10, because there were loads of children. We were on the tarmac five hours in that plane.''
Tennessee homecoming
At 8 p.m. the family landed in Philadelphia and the next day caught a Delta flight to McGhee Tyson, arriving at almost midnight on Sunday, July 23.
``The theme of our trip should be `Stands in Line,''' she said.
About the numerous lines, Budayr said, ``I knew I was safe. I didn't mind standing in line. Once you got evacuated to the ship, you were willing to do anything because you knew you were safe.''
Although the travelers were tired, their arrival at McGhee Tyson ``was incredible. To see all the people. There were banners and balloons. It's really been a wonderful homecoming,'' she said.
She feels a ``great sense of sadness that there is no cease-fire where family and friends live. I've been going to that country for 20 years. We're trying to do everything we can to get all the human aid there is possible.
Donations can be made to the International Red Cross at www.icrc.org/eng or to UNICEF at www/unicef.org.
Search for peace
She talks of the desperate need to create a lasting peace in this area for all people.
``People need to make peace a commodity like oil and gold. Jews, Christians and Muslims need to want peace so badly that they are willing to come to the table and deal for it.''
She said there are 3.5 million people in Lebanon and now 1 million have no homes.
Budayr called Lebanon ``a modern, democratic feudal state.'' There are 18 parts of the government in a country which has six different religious and eight or nine ethnic groups. One part of that 18 is Hezbollah.
``This is the first time that war has become extremely personal for me. I'm more desperate about the bloodshed. We are creating what can become the greatest peace ever known because of our grief. Gandi once said an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,'' Budayr said.
She expressed a longing for peace for all people.
Ellie
2006-08-08
by Iva Butler
of The Daily Times Staff
Like the ending in a John Wayne movie, the U.S. Marines came to the rescue of American evacuees -- including a Maryville family -- trapped in Lebanon with amphibious transport vehicles and the USS Nashville.
``Those Marines came running up a 500-foot sandbank and came back carrying old people in chairs and carrying their belongings. We were loaded into an amphibious vessel,'' Valarie Budayr said. The evacuation was covered by CNN, AP and Naval and Marine videographers.
``One Marine said this was the largest civilian evacuation in the history of the military,'' Budayr said.
It was the first time since 1982 that Marines had landed on Lebanese soil.
``Once shipside, the Marines were incredible,'' Budayr said. ``When the amphibious vessel got to the ship it scooted in the side of the ship. Everyone was cheering and waving flags. A banner said `Welcome to Nashville City Limits, Exit 13.' We through it was an omen that the ship was named the USS Nashville.
``My son was really traumatized in Beirut, and to him it was like a Boy Scout Jamboree aboard the ship,'' she said.
The Marines had a full mess set up and gave up their bunks so the evacuees could sleep in an air-conditioned area. ``
``Those boys do some fine cooking. The chef had fresh key lime pie, chocolate chip and butterscotch cookies, chicken nuggets, French fries, macaroni and cheese,'' Budayr recalled.
``The ship can hold up to 600 crew members, but had only 210 for the evacuation. They gave the children tours of the ship and all the Marines were giving away sweatshirts and T-shirts,'' Budayr said.
``They organized three amphibious vehicles of luggage quicker than the State Department evacuated us. They did not lose one suitcase. I was really impressed with the Marines,'' she said.
The ship only traveled at 17 miles an hour, and some of the Marines were worried they could not get from the Sinai to Lebanon in time to rescue the Americans, she said.
``Miriam (her daughter) said she could ride her bike or swim faster than that ship,'' Budayr said.
The U.S. military ships were all in the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Indian Ocean near Iraq. There were none in the Mediterranean, where European nations did have ships.
``Our country honestly dropped the ball on its citizens. The only reason they came for us was that France, Italy, Spain, even Sri Lanka, embarrassed them. They evacuated their people faster. Great Britain and America were the last to move. I thank the French for us getting out,'' Budayr said.
The 1,250 people slept under nets on cots during the journey. The family got on the ship at 1 p.m. and they arrived in Larcana, Cypress, at 4 a.m. They then boarded buses for a two-hour bus ride to Nicosia, where the United Nations evacuee staging area was located at a fairgrounds.
``We had a lot of elderly, seriously ill people and newborns on that ship. People were suffering from heart failure, varicose veins, recent heart surgeries and children were dehydrated,'' she said.
Because of that, they stayed in Nicosia for 30 hours so the rescuers could regroup.
Staying together
There were thousands of cots, each with a pillow, towel and blanket. Packets were given out so evacuees could shower. There was a hospital with four doctors.
``They developed a bus list and Zaina (her daughter) stayed up all night long until bus No. 11 was called at 4 a.m. They had not put Sarah Anderson (Zaina's friend) on the bus list. I said we're not moving without her. When I insisted, they wrote her name on the list. We found out later they were separating whole families,'' Budayr said.
When they arrived at Larcana airport they had to wait for their seven buses to be processed through passport, luggage and customs lines.
The International Red Cross met them at the airport and bused them out to the airplane.
They couldn't turn the air conditioning on until the airplane doors were closed, so they sweltered until the plane was loaded. They left Cypress at 1 or 1:30 a.m. for what they thought was a direct flight home.
Instead they stopped in Hans, Germany, which is on the North Sea and the weather was almost snowing. to refuel and get supplies.
She joked that ``Lebanon must be under the age of 10, because there were loads of children. We were on the tarmac five hours in that plane.''
Tennessee homecoming
At 8 p.m. the family landed in Philadelphia and the next day caught a Delta flight to McGhee Tyson, arriving at almost midnight on Sunday, July 23.
``The theme of our trip should be `Stands in Line,''' she said.
About the numerous lines, Budayr said, ``I knew I was safe. I didn't mind standing in line. Once you got evacuated to the ship, you were willing to do anything because you knew you were safe.''
Although the travelers were tired, their arrival at McGhee Tyson ``was incredible. To see all the people. There were banners and balloons. It's really been a wonderful homecoming,'' she said.
She feels a ``great sense of sadness that there is no cease-fire where family and friends live. I've been going to that country for 20 years. We're trying to do everything we can to get all the human aid there is possible.
Donations can be made to the International Red Cross at www.icrc.org/eng or to UNICEF at www/unicef.org.
Search for peace
She talks of the desperate need to create a lasting peace in this area for all people.
``People need to make peace a commodity like oil and gold. Jews, Christians and Muslims need to want peace so badly that they are willing to come to the table and deal for it.''
She said there are 3.5 million people in Lebanon and now 1 million have no homes.
Budayr called Lebanon ``a modern, democratic feudal state.'' There are 18 parts of the government in a country which has six different religious and eight or nine ethnic groups. One part of that 18 is Hezbollah.
``This is the first time that war has become extremely personal for me. I'm more desperate about the bloodshed. We are creating what can become the greatest peace ever known because of our grief. Gandi once said an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,'' Budayr said.
She expressed a longing for peace for all people.
Ellie