Gates of Hades

A once-in-a-lifetime holy land tour went terribly wrong when terrorists attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip in October of 2023. Approximately twelve hundred people were killed, thousands injured and 240 taken as hostages. J. Harrison and his oldest son were halfway through their tour schedule when the attacks occurred. The ensuing days were a whirlwind of emergency activities to safely evacuate J. Harrison and his son from Israel through Jordan and Egypt back to the USA.

J. Harrison and his oldest son were enjoying a long-anticipated tour of the holy land in Israel when the unthinkable occurred – Israel came under attack from Gaza by Hamas terrorists. Prior to the attack, J. Harrison and his son had explored a number of biblical sites, such as Caesarea Maritima (where the apostle Paul was imprisoned), Nazareth (boyhood home of Jesus), the Sea of Galilee (where Jesus walked on water, and calmed the storm), and En Gedi (where David hid from King Saul). Photos and detailed descriptions of the locations they visited and their significance in the bible are included that make their tour experiences come alive for readers. While visiting the En Gedi site, the tour company announced that, to protect tourists from possible harm from terrorists, the tour would be terminated that day. Tour members could sign up for bus rides to Jordan the next day, from which they could access the International Airport in Amman for airline flights. After signing up for the evacuation bus rides, J. Harrison, his son and the other tour members were bused back to Jerusalem. En route to Jerusalem, the bus passed a recent rocket hit near the road. After arriving in the hotel in Jerusalem, air raid alarms went off outside in the streets and the tourists, including J. Harrison and his son, were sheltered in the safe room of the hotel, two stories below ground level, before the "all clear" message was given to them some 45 minutes later. The next morning, J. Harrison, his son, and other tour members were bused to an entry point into Jordan, and then to hotels in Amman, Jordan. The following day, J. Harrison and his son took Egypt Air flights to Cairo, Egypt and to Washington, D.C. and an American Airlines flight from there to home in the Carolinas. All bus rides, hotel rooms, and airline reservations related to emergency evacuations for tour members were handled by the tour company. Thanks to Pilgrim Tours!

The author grew up in a working class Christian family in South Carolina. He is a Baptist and a deacon at his local Baptist church. He and his wife Linda had three children – two boys and a girl. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering prior to serving four years as an officer in the U. S. Air Force and a master's degree in management while working in the electric utility industry in the USA. His engineering career included technical and managerial support at major utilities in South Carolina, South Korea and North Carolina. While in North Carolina, his married daughter suffered a major stroke, which left her as a quadriplegic. After being hospitalized for eight months, their daughter was discharged to the author's home, where he and his wife became full time care givers for 3½ years at their home until her passing. J. Harrison subsequently provided consulting services to a nuclear plant near his home for a few years and retired. Since retiring, he has published a novel, An American Family Saga, and enjoys travel and family gatherings, where they exchange stories of their many adventures and misadventures.