Seeing Libya through a vet’s eyes

Regarding “Fabulous Scenery, Stellar Ruins in Charming ... Libya?” [Travel Insider, March 21]: In January 1943, I don’t remember Libya as being quite that charming country you invite your readers to visit.

I was a member of the 66th Fighter Squadron, which was rushed to Egypt, then Libya to stop the German Afrika Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. After we defeated the Germans at El Alamein, Egypt, we chased them through Libya and Tunisia.

I’m 89 years old, and my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I remember Libya and the marble arch on the coast road between En Nofilia and Al Uqaylah.

From September in Egypt till we finally reached Tunis in May 1943, the nights were extremely cold, the rains were heavy and the heat was another story.

Libya was not my favorite overseas post. Still, I’ve had a yen to go back to visit the old battlefields and see the vast desert sands and the star-filled nights. To me it will always be the Land of the Desert, or, as we called it, the “Blue.” I hope your article will entice world travelers to visit.

Albert Schoenfield

Los Osos