A Houston DJ is sharing how a dream birthday trip turned into a front\u2011row seat to war and changed the way he sees the world.<\/p>\n
Bryce Williams, a Houston DJ celebrating his 31st birthday in Dubai with his mother, said the last few days have been \u201csurreal\u201d as missiles targeted the region amid the Iran\u2013Israel\u2013U.S. conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s impacting me and my mom in so many different ways,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThe last couple of days have been surreal, because the things that we\u2019ve experienced are something that I\u2019m not used to experience in my native country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams said he and his mother were visiting Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi when their private driver told them Iran had attacked a nearby naval base. They rushed back to their hotel in Dubai, assuming they would be safer there.<\/p>\n
Later, as they ate, they began hearing the sound of missiles being intercepted. Williams stepped onto his balcony to see what was happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just like under this mass attack, which in theory we were,\u201d he said. \u201cThe sounds we were hearing were actually the Emirati military intercepting a lot of these missiles. It\u2019s just that, unfortunately, one of them that didn\u2019t get intercepted was one that hit our hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams said he watched as a missile struck the lobby.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was surreal. My body went into a shock,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter the impact, I was able to feel the vibrations. We were up on the 10th floor, and so the strike actually hit the first floor of our hotel, and we felt it all up to the 10th floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
He credits the UAE\u2019s defense systems and military response with preventing a much greater disaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully that was just one of 1% of 100 that actually impacted and made contact on land,\u201d he said. \u201cShout out to the UAE military for doing such an amazing job at being proactive and intercepting all these missiles, because they were definitely trying to take the city out, and the great people of UAE put up a great fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams said having his mother with him shifted him into \u201cfight-or-flight\u201d mode.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in more fight\u2011or\u2011flight mode. I was more in protection mode, instead of me trying to cuddle under my mom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He described how staff at his hotel on Dubai\u2019s Palm Jumeirah helped keep guests calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire staff here has been extremely, extremely warming, comforting, calming,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWhile we\u2019re panicking, they\u2019re handling us, meeting us with just peaceful energy. That allowed us to find some sense of calmness because of their calm. They\u2019re like, \u2018Everything is going to be OK,\u2019 and we\u2019re like, \u2018OK,\u2019 because we\u2019re 16 hours away from home.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said operations at the hotel have largely continued, with some safety adjustments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hotel has been operating as normal,\u201d he said. \u201cThe only few things that they\u2019ve adjusted was, like, the first few days they preferred for us not to sit outside. They closed the pool and closed the beach area. But as far as all the food and amenities inside, everything has been totally fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talking with people in the region, including an Iranian woman he met days before the attack, gave Williams a new perspective on the conflict and how it\u2019s perceived outside the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe kind of gave me some insight,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of great people in Iran. However, there is this insane militia group. Despite however people feel about the politics back in America, we do believe that America has what it takes to actually get these people out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams said many people he spoke with support efforts to confront that group.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was like, that group needs to be out of there,\u201d he said. \u201cThem being in control is not good for their country and for the people around them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He urged Americans to remember that people in the region live with threats that many in the U.S. have never experienced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people should have a little more understanding of the fact that there is a bigger world out there than what we know in America,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWhile we might feel whatever we feel based on the actions that are taken, the people of this region are actually in support of what\u2019s going on. That\u2019s just from what I\u2019m learning from literally being here. I\u2019m here, I\u2019m in their world, and they\u2019re sharing information with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHad I been home, maybe I would have had a different perspective on it,\u201d he added. \u201cFrom the people here, they\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah, there\u2019s bad people over there, and they need to be gone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams said his experience has led him to ask for prayers for the U.S. military and others involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just ultimately want people to really pray for our military, pray for our Marines, and just have faith that whatever it is that they\u2019re doing is for the betterment of everybody around us the world around us, not just our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Flight delays and cancellations have complicated his return home, but Williams said he\u2019s trusting the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the active things going on in the air, understandably so, the airlines have postponed a lot of flights,\u201d he said. \u201cAs far as things going back into full operation, they should be going back to full operation soon, but I don\u2019t think they should rush it either. As bad as I want to be home, I don\u2019t want to be in the air while missiles are being intercepted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, emotions were high, emotions were all over the place,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as time has gone by and I\u2019ve had a better understanding of where I am and what\u2019s going on, I\u2019m just learning to be patient and understand that God above is ultimately in control. It\u2019s not a matter of if I\u2019m going to get home. I can\u2019t wait till when I get home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking back, Williams said there may have been no safer place to be in the region that night.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs crazy as it sounds, if there was anywhere, I could have been while there were missiles being attacked in the city, Dubai was probably the best place to be,\u201d he said. \u201cThe defense that they have set around the city and the measures that they\u2019ve taken for their military to protect this city and protect the tourism is something that I could have never imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n
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