BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A Vietnam veteran from Bakersfield and his new bride are stranded in Abu Dhabi after a regional conflict disrupted their honeymoon travel plans, pushing their return home back by nearly a week.
Charlie Wilmot, a former U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969, and his wife, Mary, booked the trip to the United Arab Emirates as a honeymoon following their Dec. 29 wedding. The couple is now stuck at their hotel in Abu Dhabi after their original March 7 departure was canceled. They are now scheduled to fly home on March 13.
"We are. It's been an amazing journey," Wilmot said.
The couple's trip began with delays before they even left the country. Their original flight out of Newark was canceled due to an East Coast snowstorm, forcing them to reroute through Denver and Munich before finally arriving in Dubai. Despite the rocky start, Wilmot said the trip got off to a promising start once they landed.
"Everything was just clicking right along," Wilmot said.
The group toured Dubai for several days, visiting museums, a large mall, and the observation platform on the 124th floor of what was at the time the tallest building in the world. Wilmot said the architecture was a major draw for him.
"One of the main reasons I wanted to come to Dubai was because of all the architecture that is here, and boy, I have not been disappointed," Wilmot said.
The group then traveled to Abu Dhabi, stopping along the way at a historic 1890 fort and the Louvre Museum Abu Dhabi. It was during that museum visit that the situation began to change.
"While we were there, we started getting notifications that all hell had broken loose over here," Wilmot said.
The couple returned to their hotel and sheltered in place as the conflict escalated. Wilmot said Iran began retaliating, with strikes hitting a hotel and the airport in Dubai. The couple received an alert approximately 15 minutes before I spoke with him by Zoom, warning of a possible missile threat.
Despite the alerts, Wilmot said the couple has not seen or heard any fighting from their location on the 8th floor of a 7-star hotel in Abu Dhabi.
"We haven't even heard it," Wilmot said. "A couple of days ago, we heard a couple of high-flying fighter jets, but I mean, you know, they were 40, 45,000 ft."
With tours to a mosque and the presidential palace both canceled, the couple has been passing the time playing bingo and socializing with others in their tour group. Wilmot said the days have started to blur together, and they are now on their 5th day at the hotel.
"The food's getting a little tired," Wilmot said. "You wouldn't know we're in a war zone if you didn't hear a couple of alerts and the fact that we're not going anywhere."
Family back home has been monitoring the situation closely. Wilmot said Mary's daughter found an alternative flight into San Francisco for around $8,000 per person, but the couple decided to wait out their rescheduled March 13 departure. On Monday morning, Charlie tells 23ABC that they got on a direct flight to San Francisco on Tuesday, March 10.
"We feel safe. We felt safe here," Wilmot said.
Wilmot said the experience has triggered at least one vivid memory from his time in Vietnam. When leaving his field position at the end of his service, he said he caught a last-minute cargo flight out of Da Nang — and about 6 hours after he departed, the airstrip was hit and shut down for 6 weeks.
"I had that little flashback when the kids started going, you know, anything can happen in the next 8 days," Wilmot said.
Still, Wilmot said he is not worried and that his spirits remain high — especially with his new wife by his side.
"Last time I was on high alert like this, I was in Vietnam," Wilmot said.
The couple also managed to check off at least one bucket list item before the situation deteriorated, riding camels at a farm and stopping at a camel racetrack.
"It's not quite the trip that ended up to be what we expected, but it's all good," Wilmot said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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