CEDARBURG, Wis. (CBS 58) - A Wisconsin nurse is finally back home after being stuck in Israel for weeks as attacks escalated across the region.

She spent days rushing into bomb shelters, unsure when she would make it back.

The U.S. and Israel continue to launch attacks on Iran, with U.S. civilians caught in the crossfire.

After more than three weeks near Tel Aviv, Heather Berken is now back in Cedarburg—relieved but still processing what she experienced.

What was supposed to be a fun trip to run a half marathon quickly turned into weeks spent taking cover.

“I did see missiles go overhead and it was scary and we did see an interception,” she said. “We saw all the debris and there was a fear of how far out is the radius where the debris will hit and are we safe, should we get under a dumpster?"

Berken said other people helped guide her to safety as sirens went off.

“People would kind of grab me, and I would go find the shelter that everyone was going to,” she said. “There were some shelters where we were stuffed in like sardines.”

With flights canceled and airspace disrupted, she said there was uncertainty on how to get home.

“That was a little bit unsettling, like wow this is really not dying down,” she said. “I was like I don’t know when I’m going to get home.”

Eventually, Berken found a way out.

“I found a very small Israeli airline was flying out of Tel Aviv, so I was able to get a ticket to Greece,” she said.

That flight marked the beginning of a long journey home, traveling through Greece and Newark before finally landing in Chicago.

But even as she made her way back to the U.S., Berken said leaving wasn’t easy.

“I kind of felt a little bit of guilt because I had met so many amazing people,” she said. “It was this guilt that I get to leave and I get to go to the comfort of my house where there aren’t ballistic missiles being sent to me.”