The Iraqis in general were friendly. I recall one incident. Once we were traveling to Baghdad College. It was north of the city, and Al-Hikma south, both with Jesuit communities. Sometime we would go back and forth for a meal or a movie. The road took us toward the city through a military camp. Stupidly as I was driving we ran out of gas right in the middle of the camp with soldiers all around us. When cars entered and left the camp, each car was examined. So we were cleared and legitimate, but we simply ran out of gas, and soldiers gathered around. They were very friendly, and they asked us what happened. We spoke Arabic with them. So they went to get gas to refill the tank. An officer came along, and he smelled the can, but it was kerosene, not gasoline it was a mistake. So the officer said to us, "Well, sorry about that. We'll go to the garage and empty the tank so it won't damage the motor." In the meanwhile, we were invited to sit around and have some tea. And an officer said, "We're not supposed to talk to you. But we like Americans."

After I came back from Baghdad, during that year, the New York Province Mission Director wrote to all the Jesuits expelled from Baghdad and said that they needed a priest who could teach physics and math, and help in parishes in their mission in Micronesia. Altogether, I was out there twenty-five years.

Due to death or sickness some of these selected readings have been read by someone other than the author. This page contains one such replacement.