What began as a fun and relaxing vacation to visit family in Lebanon ended in warfare and an escape for his life.

Summerville High School junior Neal Hilal is half-Lebanese and took a trip to the Middle East to visit his family who he had not seen in 10 years. He went on this trip independently while his parents, older brother and younger sister stayed in America.

Hilal stayed with his uncle, aunt and their two kids in Karnayel, their village in Lebanon; the trip lasted from June 11 to July 26.

Hilal’s peaceful vacation came to an abrupt end when the bombing began on July 12 and he saw Lebanon transform before his eyes.

“I saw Lebanon completely change,” Hilal said. “Before [the bombing], people were out on the streets and having fun. When the war started, people just didn’t go out.”

The full impact of what was happening to the land and people around him did not dawn on him at first. “At the time, I didn’t really think about a bomb hitting me,” he said.

One evening, Hilal was standing on the back porch of his uncle and aunt’s house in Karnayel when he saw a plane drop four bombs, consecutively.

“It sounded like a loud crash of lightning,” he said. “The whole sky went red.” Another night, an Israeli plane hit several oil lines.

“The whole mountain range lit on fire,” Hilal said. “It was like something out of a World War II movie.”

He said it finally dawned on him that people all around him were dying. Hilal also realized even simple outings had become too dangerous.

“I went to this store and bought some shoes,” he said. “One week later, that shoe shop was bombed.”

Many places were demolished in such a manner.

“Israel destroyed roads, airports and food ports,” Hilal said. “They purposely bombed the food ports and there was literally no food anymore.”

The Lebanese showed hospitality to refugees with nowhere to go, he said. “They opened up their homes to those in need.”

In a country under such brutal attack, fear and hysterics were rampant.

Hilal saw one Lebanese woman screaming and crying, “Why did this happen to me, God?” She had lost her daughter, son and husband in an attack.

The situation concerning evacuation in Beirut was crazy, he said. “The American Embassy treated [the evacuees] like animals,” he continued. “They [the embassy] yelled at us and children were crying.”

Meanwhile, back in America, Hilal’s parents were doing everything in their power to get their son home.

Hilal’s mother said the whole situation was “horrible” for her. “I would call Neal and hear bomber planes in the background.”

Hilal stood in line for 11 hours the first day that he attempted to evacuate Lebanon, he said. “There was no water, old people were passing out and you couldn’t sit down because it was packed so tight.”

After this long wait on line, Hilal was told to go home and return at five a.m. the next morning. There were no more military boats leaving that day.

“We could only bring 30 pounds of luggage with us,” Hilal said. “I had to leave most of my clothes behind.”

After returning the next day, Hilal literally stood on line for a total of 22 hours before finally being admitted onto a military boat.

The boat Hilal managed to get onto took him to Cypress in a six hour journey.

“The boat that we were on was huge, but it was extremely crowded,” he said.

From Cypress, Hilal flew to Germany on a C-17 plane. “From Germany we went to New Jersey, and from there I flew into Charleston,” he said.

Hilal’s mother said it took almost two weeks to get her son home.

Hilal said he experienced a mixture of emotions as well as a swarm of media awaiting him in the airport.

“I was in a state of shock and I couldn’t talk,” he said. “It didn’t help that there were cameramen and journalists everywhere, shoving microphones in my face.”

Having finally placed his feet once again on US soil, Hilal was away from the danger in Lebanon but still had to deal with the after-effects of such a traumatic experience.

“A few days after I got home, I was sitting in my room using the computer when I heard a jet-liner plane outside,” Hilal said. “I jumped up and opened the window, expecting to see a bomb drop from the plane. It’s still scary.”

As a result of this trip, Hilal learned more about his culture, the U.S. government and what he terms the partiality in the media.

“I learned that the U.S. is not the perfect democracy it sets itself up to be,” he said. “I also realized the media can be biased.”

The last emotion Hilal feels concerning his experience in Lebanon is regret, though.

“I’m glad I went on this trip,” he said. “I saw my family and became more politically active.”

An active member of the Arab American Institute, Hilal was paid by the group to travel to Washington, D.C. to tell his story.

“I feel like I’m making a difference,” Hilal said.