Bin Laden’s father built my compound. Bin Laden’s terrorists blew it up

By Tom Williams

Published October 5, 2026 9:00am ET

For most Americans, terrorism is something experienced at a distance — through television images, newspaper headlines, casualty reports, and political speeches. For me, it became personal.

On the night of May 12, 2003, I was participating in a training exercise with the Saudi Arabian National Guard approximately 40 kilometers east of Riyadh. At about 23:24, I heard a distant explosion, followed by several more.