A Houston DJ is sharing how a dream birthday trip turned into a front‑row seat to war and changed the way he sees the world.
Bryce Williams, a Houston DJ celebrating his 31st birthday in Dubai with his mother, said the last few days have been “surreal” as missiles targeted the region amid the Iran–Israel–U.S. conflict.
“It’s impacting me and my mom in so many different ways,” Williams said. “The last couple of days have been surreal, because the things that we’ve experienced are something that I’m not used to experience in my native country.”
Williams said he and his mother were visiting Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi when their private driver told them Iran had attacked a nearby naval base. They rushed back to their hotel in Dubai, assuming they would be safer there.
Later, as they ate, they began hearing the sound of missiles being intercepted. Williams stepped onto his balcony to see what was happening.
“We were just like under this mass attack, which in theory we were,” he said. “The sounds we were hearing were actually the Emirati military intercepting a lot of these missiles. It’s just that, unfortunately, one of them that didn’t get intercepted was one that hit our hotel.”
Williams said he watched as a missile struck the lobby.
“It was surreal. My body went into a shock,” he said. “After the impact, I was able to feel the vibrations. We were up on the 10th floor, and so the strike actually hit the first floor of our hotel, and we felt it all up to the 10th floor.”
He credits the UAE’s defense systems and military response with preventing a much greater disaster.
“Thankfully that was just one of 1% of 100 that actually impacted and made contact on land,” he said. “Shout out to the UAE military for doing such an amazing job at being proactive and intercepting all these missiles, because they were definitely trying to take the city out, and the great people of UAE put up a great fight.”
Williams said having his mother with him shifted him into “fight-or-flight” mode.
“I was in more fight‑or‑flight mode. I was more in protection mode, instead of me trying to cuddle under my mom,” he said.
He described how staff at his hotel on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah helped keep guests calm.
“The entire staff here has been extremely, extremely warming, comforting, calming,” Williams said. “While we’re panicking, they’re handling us, meeting us with just peaceful energy. That allowed us to find some sense of calmness because of their calm. They’re like, ‘Everything is going to be OK,’ and we’re like, ‘OK,’ because we’re 16 hours away from home.”
He said operations at the hotel have largely continued, with some safety adjustments.
“The hotel has been operating as normal,” he said. “The only few things that they’ve adjusted was, like, the first few days they preferred for us not to sit outside. They closed the pool and closed the beach area. But as far as all the food and amenities inside, everything has been totally fine.”
Talking with people in the region, including an Iranian woman he met days before the attack, gave Williams a new perspective on the conflict and how it’s perceived outside the United States.
“She kind of gave me some insight,” he said. “There are a lot of great people in Iran. However, there is this insane militia group. Despite however people feel about the politics back in America, we do believe that America has what it takes to actually get these people out of there.”
Williams said many people he spoke with support efforts to confront that group.
“She was like, that group needs to be out of there,” he said. “Them being in control is not good for their country and for the people around them.”
He urged Americans to remember that people in the region live with threats that many in the U.S. have never experienced.
“I think people should have a little more understanding of the fact that there is a bigger world out there than what we know in America,” Williams said. “While we might feel whatever we feel based on the actions that are taken, the people of this region are actually in support of what’s going on. That’s just from what I’m learning from literally being here. I’m here, I’m in their world, and they’re sharing information with me.”
“Had I been home, maybe I would have had a different perspective on it,” he added. “From the people here, they’re like, ‘Yeah, there’s bad people over there, and they need to be gone.’”
Williams said his experience has led him to ask for prayers for the U.S. military and others involved.
“I just ultimately want people to really pray for our military, pray for our Marines, and just have faith that whatever it is that they’re doing is for the betterment of everybody around us the world around us, not just our country,” he said.
Flight delays and cancellations have complicated his return home, but Williams said he’s trusting the process.
“Because of the active things going on in the air, understandably so, the airlines have postponed a lot of flights,” he said. “As far as things going back into full operation, they should be going back to full operation soon, but I don’t think they should rush it either. As bad as I want to be home, I don’t want to be in the air while missiles are being intercepted.”
“At the end of the day, emotions were high, emotions were all over the place,” he said. “But as time has gone by and I’ve had a better understanding of where I am and what’s going on, I’m just learning to be patient and understand that God above is ultimately in control. It’s not a matter of if I’m going to get home. I can’t wait till when I get home.”
Looking back, Williams said there may have been no safer place to be in the region that night.
“As crazy as it sounds, if there was anywhere, I could have been while there were missiles being attacked in the city, Dubai was probably the best place to be,” he said. “The defense that they have set around the city and the measures that they’ve taken for their military to protect this city and protect the tourism is something that I could have never imagined.”