TAMPA, Fla. — Late Sunday, around 270 Americans arrived back in the U.S. on an evacuation flight out of Israel.
It was a flight paid for by the state of Florida in partnership with the local nonprofit Project Dynamo. One woman on board said she would have been lost if it were not for their help.
"I'm very grateful to be home," Holly Humeniuk said.
Reflecting on her experience with Project Dynamo, she said, "They're my hero. That's all I can say. They're my hero and I will keep talking about it."
Humeniuk's visit to Israel began as a bucket-list dream.
"I wanted to walk where Jesus walked and I wanted to get more personal with God," Humeniuk said.
But a week ago, it turned into a nightmare.
"We were sitting there singing, and the air raid went off. That's when it became serious for me," Humeniuk said. "I was never afraid to die because I have faith. But in all honesty, I was afraid of being taken hostage because I saw what was going on down south."
She reached out to various U.S. government entities and said she waited days for a response.
"We didn't know if our information had gone through because they didn't even contact us back," Humeniuk said.
Losing hope, she was advised by a friend to reach out to Project Dynamo and said she heard back within hours.
"Called me at 4:00 in the morning and woke me up to say, we're here for you. We'll have drivers there for you within hours," Humeniuk said.
Through Project Dynamo, she was led to this plane in Tel Aviv where she celebrated the noisiest plane ride of her life.
"There was never a moment when there wasn't crying. It might feel annoying, but those children are alive. It's like a newborn baby, when you hear them crying, it's a good thing."
Now, before her final leg home to Minnesota, she is taking a moment of reflection.
"I'm troubled by what I'm seeing going on around the world the division. 'I'm for Palestine, I'm for Israel,' a lot of separation."
And sharing a prayer for peace, "We all hurt, we all cry, we all love. I just want unity. We just want everybody to come together," Humeniuk said.