Shant Kenderian was a schoolboy in Baghdad, growing up in the Armenian Christian community there. His parents divorced, and in 1978, at age 14, he chose to emigrate to America with his mother and brother. Just before his 17th birthday, he returned to visit his father in Baghdad, arriving on Sept. 14, 1980. One week later, Iraq invaded Iran, the borders were closed and Shant was trapped. His father died soon after in a car accident and he would not see America again for more than 10 years.

Shant continued his education and earned a degree in Engineering. Upon graduating he was forced to join the military where he served until the end of the war. While he reapplied to the US Embassy to have his Green Card status renewed, war broke out again. Desert Storm had begun and Shant was conscripted into Saddam's navy. After being dropped on the front lines without a weapon, his ship was commanded to sail through a body of water littered with mines that they had been ordered to drop earlier that day. When his ship inevitably blew up, he miraculously lived to then survive an American air raid. Shant's situation was so absurdly precarious that his only hope was to be captured by American troops. He waved a white cloth in the air and became an American POW. So begins 1001 Nights In Iraq....