Omar Jarun was just seven years old when the ground shook mightily -- exploding bombs lighting up the Kuwait City sky.

It was August of 1990, the early stages of the Gulf War, as Jarun's father Belal and mother Brenda loaded young Omar, clutching a stuffed bear, and his sister Noor into what he remembers being a Lincoln Town Car, trying to get to the airport for a plane heading to the United States. The family left behind everything, eager for a new beginning -- a life without houses being shredded by missiles.

Belal, a Palestinian, and Brenda, a Mexican-American, took their kids to live with Brenda's mother in Austin, TX. They would later have two more sons -- Ramsey and Nader -- before moving to Peachtree, Ga., where Belal in 1996 started a construction company, which grew to 500 employees. Ah, living the American dream.

Twenty-three years after fleeing his home, Jarun is one of the key players for the North American Soccer League's Ottawa Fury FC, which plays its first-ever home game Saturday afternoon at Carleton University.

"I remember hearing the bombs, running into my parents' room and saying, 'What's going on?' I remember being in the car, in a huge lineup trying to leave Kuwait and the soldiers were in the streets with guns," says Omar, a centre-back. "My dad knew it was going to be all right. He was calm. But my mom was very scared. She had to cover us up. I had to wear a scarf. I didn't know what the hell was going on. For sure, I thought I was in danger."

Blond hair cropped close to his head, the 6-foot-5 Jarun, who speaks with a bit of a southern twang, became a very good soccer player with the AFC Lightning youth team. He would refine his game with the universities of Memphis and Dayton. In North America, his stops have included the Atlanta Silverbacks and Vancouver Whitecaps. He spent three years in Poland before playing in Belgium last season.

In 2011, he was asked to play for the Palestinian national team in World Cup qualifiers. Home games had not been played in Palestine for many, many years. Too dangerous, it was thought. But there were no shootings on that day in Ramallah. It was beautiful -- with 20,000 on hand to watch.

"It was peaceful that day. You could see the joy in the fans' faces," says Jarun. "It was something that gives them hope, where for one day they could put the war and fear of getting killed behind them. There's a wall around the country, a blockade. They're caged in. Both sides (Palestine and Israel) have a lot of stuff they need to work on to get along."

It was important for Jarun to be there, to be part of the moment.

"I'm a Palestinian-American," he says. "That's who I am. It's in my blood. I love America, I owe a lot to being American. I'm sure my dad had a lot of Middle Eastern thoughts that were really outdated. But when you come to the States, you become westernized."

Living in Ottawa with his Canadian wife Genevieve, his two-year-old daughter Aubrey and their dog Pickles, he's eager for a new start.

"(Aubrey) was born in Poland," says Jarun. "It was just me and my wife so it was difficult through the sleepless nights. But she's changed my life. It's awesome."

Fury FC is thrilled to have him on board.

"He's a guy that has a lot of experience in this league," says Fury FC coach Marc Dos Santos. "He's also the right person for this team. It's not easy to leave the comfort of Atlanta. He's got a really nice house there. He leaves to go to Poland, to play for Belgium, to play for Palestine. It's incredible the character he shows. I told him I wanted him to come and play an important role here. We knew he would have other opportunities, but we're happy he's here."

"I had opportunities with San Antonio and Indianapolis, but Marc has a great vision of what he wants," says Jarun. "I thought this was a good challenge for me to take on. There are going to be bad times and good times. When the bad times are here, it's up to somebody of my experience to help the guys out of it. This is the next chapter of my life."

It's a chapter in a book that's taken plenty of twists and turns since a young boy left a war-torn country.

tim.baines@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @timcbaines