ATLANTA, GA — A group of metro Atlanta college students return from Israel after days of air-strikes between the country and Iran.

Kennesaw State University graduate Aaron tells Channel 2 Action News they were there for a 10-day birthright trip.

“A couple of days in, our trip took a wild turn when we all heard Israel hit Iran. But we didn’t actually know that. Our first clue was when Iran started, you know, sending missiles at us.”

He says they had to run to bomb shelters multiple times and were eventually evacuated to southern Israel. He says he’s grateful to be back on American soil.

“Being Americans, we’re not really used to running to the shelters, and you’ll see it on in the news, but the news doesn’t do it justice. And, like, the eerie quiet of Tel Aviv, for example, you know, that’s a bustling city, just dead quiet, just smells like sulfur, like gunpowder.”

He says it took multiple days of travel to get back to the US, calling it a “couple days of mayhem.”