Interview Checkpoint 5 - 2020

Wijk bij Duurstede, 07-07-2020

'I've always had the idea to go back. But it didn't happen.

Lebanon is not exactly around the corner so you can combine a holiday. Many of these return trips are very expensive with a lot of duties.' Siem Kersten was in Lebanon from March to August 1979 and worked as a weapons repairman for the first few months. In that position he travelled along the various posts to carry out repairs there. 'I had already seen quite a lot of the beautiful country and so I was interested in the rest.' During the last UNFIL reunion, he met a fellow veteran who had recently returned and wanted to go again with a group. 'His personal approach appealed to me. He had gathered a club of eleven veterans plus eight partners.
Beforehand we met a few times to discuss which posts we as a veteran still wanted to see as far as possible. Everyone had their own wishes: to visit their old post and the UNFIL headquarters.' Not everything was possible because Southern Lebanon is still not completely safe, but together we came up with beautiful destinations.After all authorities had given their approval, the time had come in March 2020.
Right from the moment Kersten got off the plane, many memories came back. 'It felt so familiar and familiar. Not so much the places in Beirut -  a lot has changed in 41 years -, but the warmth, the smells, sounds and the language, the people and the atmosphere. And that remained the case throughout the journey.' Kersten and the rest of his group visited several posts. 'One post had been converted into a home and unrecognizable, the other had been abandoned for forty years and had fallen into disrepair. A few posts no longer existed, but it was also beautiful there, because the views were still fabulously beautiful.'

The visit to the UNIFIL headquarters was surprising and pleasant. The two visits to the monuments in honour of the unifil soldiers who died were also impressive.
Kersten impressed by the people he met along the way. "The Lebanese hospitality is really fantastic. Everywhere we were allowed to sit down for a meal or the tea ritual. That was wonderful, but especially the stories of that time made an impression. During a meeting in a village, memories were recollected of the fact that werestored the water supply and electricity at the time. We also built schools there, but especially the social contacts were and are greatly appreciated by the population. Those casual, unplanned conversations are so incredibly valuable.' 
Kersten did not find everything during the trip equally interesting, but that is the 'risk of a group trip'. Kersten: 'Lebanon is simply not the country where you just go around alone with your backpack. So you make the journeyt with each other. And there are also advantages of such a trip with other veterans: we know from each other what we have experienced with it, you do not have to explain anything.'Kersten had hardly any expectations beforehand. 'What I wanted was to show my wife the impressive country, especially southern Lebanon.  It has done me a lot of good, I did not expect that in advance. I experienced heavy things at the time and I had a hard time with that, but it was so nice to see that we did useful work there. And the great thing is: since we've returned, I've been sleeping well again. For the first time in years, I wake up rested.'

Tekst Eline Lubberts Fotografie Merlijn Doomernik