The Wadi (Where Jesus Walked) by John Burke

While on a tour of duty to Lebanon between October 1987 and April 1988 I was the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) in charge of the maintenance and servicing of all generators through our area of operations. It was Christmas morning and Operations had informed us of a generator down in Post 628/Alfa, so I loaded up my truck with all the equipment I thought I would need for the task ahead and headed off, alone. 

To get to the post I had to travel through a village called Jouaiya which is right on the Israeli border. I drove into the village until I came to the first Irish outpost. As I went past the check-point I heard a shout ‘Stop!’ Looking in my rear-view mirror I could see a pair of arms frantically waving at me, so I stopped and reversed my vehicle back and asked him what the story was. ‘You have to check in with us first, then we radio ahead to 628/Alfa that you’re heading in their direction, and then they inform the Christian militia who have a post beside theirs about you, which prevents them from blowing the you know what off you’, he replied. ‘Fuck that for a game of soldiers’, I said to myself, realising in that moment just how dangerous the territory I was heading into was. 

On the next stage of the journey to my destination I had to drive into a valley (or wadi as it is named in Lebanon) and up a steep hill. I named the area God’s Valley when I learned later that Jesus had walked there when he went into the desert wilderness for forty days and nights. Many centuries after this the Christian Crusaders built a castle at a height overlooking the wadi which is still standing to this day. When I get to 628/Alfa, I parked the vehicle and gathered all my tools, not forgetting my Gustaf Sub Machine Gun, as I had to make the remaining part of the hill on foot. 

Then I noticed a small donkey grazing on the hill side, a lovely sighting on that Christmas morning. I approached the donkey and it turned to look at me. 

Reaching out my hand the donkey licked it. I carried on and made my way up the hill and into the compound where I was greeted by happy smiling faces. It was my job to keep the smiles there by sorting out the problem with the generator. On inspection I discovered the fuel tank was full to the brim, a tell-tale sign the generator had been allowed to run out of diesel and was now air locked. I got it running again and checked the back-up one where all was well. After that, I gathered up my tools and made my way back to the vehicle where the donkey still was, as if waiting for me. ‘Goodbye my donkey friend’ I shouted out and after packing up I headed back into the valley once again. 

As I drove back up the steep hill that evening I stopped the vehicle for a few moments. Looking in my rear-view mirror I could see the Crusaders’ castle proudly standing in the background, and I noticed how beautiful the valley was, even as the light was fading. When I get back into Camp Shamrock, I parked up the vehicle and made my way to my bunk where I reflected on that journey, on all I had seen and on the little donkey and I realised how special and spiritual it had been. To the present day, I often think of that Christmas morning and I wonder what the man above was thinking and what he did and what he noticed as he passed through the wadi. As he headed back to Jerusalem, did he know and reflect on the persecution he would face, and his death on a cross? 

Although objectively the wadi was a particularly dangerous place to travel through alone, paradoxically, God’s valley was the only place in Lebanon where I really felt safe.

CDETB Irish United Nations Veterans Association