I flew non-stop from Asmara to Beirut, Lebanon, via Ethiopian Airlines. I think I had been on this same Boeing 707 before! This was a long flight but was followed by a four-day layover. The rest of the military contingent, along with me, were put-up in a pretty nice hotel by Army standards. I liberated a towel from it for posterity.
Being in-town for so long, I wanted to go on a tour of the city. Not see anything offered in the travel office downstairs. I got a "brain-fart" and went outside the hotel and met a Lebanese Taxi-driver. He offered to cart me around the rest of the afternoon, for $25.00 U.S. I thought $25.00 was a lot of money, but I realized the price of gas, his car, and his time was worth it.
I was scared at first. Maybe the driver was going to kidnap me or something and hold me for ransom? The climate was not good for Americans in Lebanon, with some radical-activity going on. I got in anyway. This turned out to be the best investment I was going to make in years!
He, Azzam, took me all over the place. Must have put 150 miles on his Mercedes-Benz taxi, at least! A lot of the taxi-cabs were Mercedes-Benz. I asked Azzam what his name stood for? He said it means “determined or resolved.” I thought to myself that was pretty cool. My name didn’t stand for anything in my world.
We saw the Tripoli River that runs into Beirut, Martyrs’ Square, the American University, and what he said was the oldest Christian Church in East-Beirut. He also took me to, what appeared to be, a little out-of-town, to a long valley that had a cable-car running its length and a river below it. I don’t recall if it was the same Tripoli River that we saw before. It led to a cave that had tours seeing stalagmites and stalactites. I got some pretty bad stares when I got out of the car, but Azzam picked up on it. He suggested we come here another time. On the way back into town, he showed me some ancient Roman architecture that was all over the place.
Back in town, he showed me some slum areas. He said everyone that comes to Beirut only sees the good stuff. I told him he was a very honest person and that the cities in the United States have plenty of slums as well. He knew that. Next He took me to a small cliff-like monument that had a couple of slabs carved into it. One of the slabs looked blank and the other had this inscribed on it:
New Zeeland, and Indian Cavalry
with a French Regiment of (unreadable)
and Spahis (spelling?) Chasseurs D’Afrique
and the Arab Forces of King Hussein
Captured Damascus Homs & Caleppo (spelling?)
October 1918
Azam showed me the American University in Beirut, and took me along a near-by shoreline and showed me an arch formed by the waves over millions of years.
I paid off Azzam and bid him and his family good luck. He kind of knew what I meant, smelling years of turbulence ahead. I often reflect back and hope he and his family faired well in Beirut.
Back at the hotel, I bought a silver ring - which had a black onyx stone on top with a cedar tree engraved. I lost it less than a year later in a restaurant. Go figure! I also purchased a set of black-lacquer, mother-of-pearl and brass inlaid wooden plates - for posterity sake. I still have these in my kitchen.
My four-day lay-over finally ended. My group got our airline tickets back from the group-leader - and prepared to leave. I kept this ticket and it's jacket to this day. I’ll miss the beautiful sunsets and views of the Mediterranean! I will see this same coast line on fire and in ruins twelve-years later, in the Newspaper. I boarded a flight to Athens, Greece, Rome, and on to Paris. From there I boarded a Pan Am flight to JKF. This was to be my first flight on the then-new, Boeing 747. What a flight! This was also the first time I would see a movie on an airliner. I saw The Reivers with Steve McQueen.
The Desert Mounted Corps
composed of British, Australian, and
Immediately reading about Lawrence of Arabia came into my mind. After he captured Acaba with Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish and Auda abu Tayi, they then went up the South and Eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, through Palestine, on into Lebanon, then finally into Damascus, Syria.
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