All Aboard The Orient Queen
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BEIRUT, Lebanon — A commercial ship escorted by an American destroyer will start evacuating Americans from war-torn Lebanon today, and more military helicopters will be used to fly others directly to Cyprus.
A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said the ship, the Orient Queen, which can carry up to 750, will be escorted by U.S. Navy destroyer the USS Gonzalez and the USS Iwo Jima.
There are about 25,000 Americans in Lebanon, and the American Embassy has already advised those who wish to leave that they should prepare their bags and be ready for announcements.