Royal Oak resident escapes terrifying attacks in Israel
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – We are hearing a firsthand account of the chaos and fear from an Oakland County man who found himself caught in the middle of the conflict in Israel over the weekend.
John Lichtenberg was in Tel Aviv for about six hours before the first rockets flew over his hotel along the coastline.
"So I hit the stairwell, families there, kids crying, moms looking terrified. There was even a rabbi with a Torah down at the bottom of the stairs, you know, reading down there. And that's when I'm like this is this is very real. But then it kind of stopped. And then, of course, there's just a state of shock for everyone. And we find out what's going on," Lichtenberg said.
He took off to the airport, where it was sheer pandemonium.
"It was just all these people flying, you know, running and jumping and climbing over things. And it was just it was horrible, and I just I was in the middle of that pack, and that's when I'm like, 'I don't know how to get out of here. I don't know what to do,'" Lichtenberg said.
With no luck in getting on a plane, Lichtenberg made the trip back to his hotel.
"All the cars start pulling over, people got out were crouching right next to the cars. There were police cars, they were getting out of their cars. And I just looked in the mirror at my cabbie, and he just said, you know, 'rocket, we drive, safer (sic), 'and so we went, and then it was dark at that point. So I can even see the orange, you know, boom, see them take out the missiles," Lichtenberg said.
The next day, he secured a flight to Dubai before making it to Chicago and to Metro Airport, where he was reunited with his family, who was worried sick.
"I just pray for everybody. There's a lot of innocent people being slaughtered on all sides. And it's just, it's just, it's not a war. It's, it's, I don't know what you call it. It's something I'd never, ever thought I would be part of. And I'm just grateful to be home. I'm blessed to be home," Lichtenberg said.
