SCHINNEN, Netherlands -- Ready to start a new chapter in their lives, just like any other Department of Defense family on travel for a permanent change of station, Enrique Rivera and his wife and son took off from Newark, New Jersey, at 8:20 p.m. March 21 heading to the Brussels Airport.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Larry Young, USAG Benelux-Schinnen Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, prepared to fulfill his role as sponsor and welcome his new colleague and family at the airport and escort them to the Netherlands, their new home country for the next three years.
At first glance, it looks like a simple PCS story; however, when Rivera's plane landed on the Brussels tarmac at 7:55 a.m. March 22, his journey -- along with that of his wife, Liliana M. Evan Correa, and their son Juan Pablo Chaves Evan -- unexpectedly took another direction.
Three minutes after the landing, while the aircraft's wheels were still rolling on the tarmac, two bombs exploded in the airport.
They had just arrived in a city that was the scene of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Belgium's history, with 32 people killed and hundreds of others injured.
"Just as the plane was getting ready to pull up and connect to the gate, we were informed that we weren't able to leave the plane due to a situation at the airport," Rivera said.
The plane sat on the tarmac roughly an hour-and-a-half before crews told passengers what was going on.
"That was a scary moment for us because we were still on the plane and not at a secure point yet," he said.
The family was locked up in the plane for about an hour and a half -- 90 long minutes during which they could see the stress and anxiety in other passengers' eyes as they were all nervously manipulating their phones trying to contact their families.
"Some people were crying, and many were on their phones trying to contact their loved ones in order to get some information about what was going on," Rivera said. "We just wanted to call our family members and tell them that we love them; however, we did not have an international plan in our cell phones to reach out to anyone."
When the plane lock-down was finally lifted and the family instructed to disembark, all senses were heightened: They knew there was always the risk of another attack.
"As a retired first sergeant from the United States Army, I told my family to stay close and to maintain a high level of situational awareness merely by being observant," Rivera said. "I knew we were vulnerable for secondary attack."
At that point, this was not the end of their trip, a trip that had already been emotionally charged. Another eight-hour waiting period was going to start for the family and hundreds of others in a hangar of the airport.
"The hangar was very crowded, and we were told not to leave," Rivera said. "The atmosphere in the hangar was really tense, and communication was very tough due to the security measures."
Since they were in a safer place then, the new priority for the family was to contact their loved ones to tell them they were safe and sound, but it was not an easy task.
However, contacting their family was not their sole pre-occupation. They couldn't stop thinking of Young, their sponsor with whom they had not been able to make contact.
"We were worried for (Larry), and prayed that nothing had happened to him," Rivera said. "As I was walking around looking for answers, I bumped into Sergeant Major David Breitbach and his wife from SHAPE. They became our guardian angels and helped us leave the hangar and contact our sponsor."
Unknown to the family, Young had not been able to make it to the airport. He was blocked in a street perpendicular to where the explosion took place, and all the streets were secured and filled with ambulances and policemen.
At the end of the day, they started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They finally managed to get hold of Young, and they made it to their hotel around 11 p.m. However, they still had to clear out another issue: They had no luggage.
The USAG Benelux-Schinnen community was not going to let them down.
Thanks to Young and Tony Untalan from USAG Benelux- Schinnen Army Community Service, the Spangdahlem American Red Cross in Germany issued $125 in Exchange gift cards to each one of them for clothing. They also received a $25 gift card from the Commissary to assist them with toiletries and other goods. In addition, they were able to borrow jackets and sweaters from ACS employees while they were waiting for their bags to be delivered.
"To the USAG Benelux-Schinnen community, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the warmth and gentle care provided to us these past days," Rivera said.
(Editor's note: This is the third in a series on the Brussels bombings)
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