Ordeal in Kuwait Is Over for San Diegan

B. George Saloom, 42, arrived at his Scripps Ranch home early Friday morning after a journey halfway around the world and found the door of his garage plastered with welcoming messages, including one that quipped: “We Hear the Job Did Not Pan Out Too Well.”

Saloom had been scheduled to take an executive job with the Bank of Kuwait. But, within hours after Saloon, his wife Deborah, and their son, Preston, 18, arrived in Kuwait in late July, Iraqi troops swept through the tiny country.

Saloom’s wife and son escaped Kuwait Sept. 2 in an airlift arranged by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Saloom remained behind and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City.

Friday, Saloom’s wife said he was “reasonably well but very, very tired. . . . No one except family and friends will be allowed to talk to him today.”

She said her husband planned to talk with reporters about his experiences today.

The Saloom home, on a quiet cul-de-sac in the Cheaumont neighborhood of Scripps Ranch, was decorated by well-wishers with posters and patriotic drawings in anticipation of his return after four months in the besieged American embassy.

Saloon and his wife and son took refuge in Kuwait City hotel for several weeks after their arrival and then moved to the comparative safety of the embassy.

Iraqi troops put the embassy under siege, preventing Americans from leaving and cutting off electricity and water.

When Deborah Saloom and son Preston were allowed to return home in September, she described miserable conditions in the embassy compound, including the lack of air conditioning during 120-degree heat and the spoilage of most of the food.

Since her return, Deborah Saloom said she had received periodic reports about her husband’s plight through the State Department.

On Thanksgiving, the Americans dined on squab--captured pigeons--and turnip greens grown in the embassy garden. Well water and water from the swimming pool kept the small contingent of Americans alive, she said.

Saloom, who had been scheduled to take over the data processing department at the Bank of Kuwait, is a former vice president and information systems director for Home Federal Bank in San Diego and also worked for a high-tech firm in La Jolla.