Tulsa group returns home after Iran-Israel conflict: 'Great to be here'

A group of Oklahomans who were stranded in Israel during its war with Iran finally arrived home to Tulsa. The planes flew in from Tampa, carrying 21 people who faced an intense week overseas. Another passenger was Rep. Kevin Hern, who was largely behind the effort. We were able to ask him a few questions about the journey to get the group home. 

Q: Walk us through how this evacuation came together and what agencies or officials you coordinated with to make it happen?

“The timeline was crazy...a lot of canceled flights, a lot of bombings over Jerusalem. A lot of people working night and day with the folks being 8 hours ahead of us, as you can imagine, we were talking to them when they should be sleeping and they were talking to us when we should be sleeping so it's been relentless over the past 7 days in getting them to here. Every single person, every single federal agency was involved in this, from all over Washington DC all the way down to Florida, across this country and abroad as well to make this happen.”

Q: Why was it important for you to fly back to Tulsa with them from Tampa?

“It’s good to see friendly faces when you get here, I wanted them to know the journey was over.”

Q: Have you spoken personally with any individuals on board? How are they doing - physically, emotionally?

"Let’s just say they were eager to leave, they landed about 4 a.m. this (Friday) morning. It’s gotten a lot worse for the people of Israel, and I know our folks, our friends here in Tulsa are glad to be home."

Q: Do you see this effort as a model for future emergency responses?

“We learned a lot on this extraction that will be used on others and are currently being used.”