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Editor’s note: This is the first part of a three-part series about the kidnapping of two Americans in the Middle East. To read the entire project and watch a 45-minute documentary film produced by The Enquirer, visit Cincinnati.com and search “Yemen.”

The Hotel: Sanaa, Yemen – 2014

Death to America. Death to Israel.”

The chants reverberate around a 13-acre hotel compound in Sanaa. There is no electricity, but power generators from the U.S. StateDepartmentkeepeverythingrunning. Shell casings litter the ground, and Marines are stationed on the roof.

Mark McAlister walks around a track at the Sheraton hotel, and he hears explosions. This is his first time in Yemen, and he often hears gunfire. Mark is a construction manager from Tennessee, but he now finds himself in the middle of a civil war.

To save an embassy, the State Department pays a private company in Florida up to $250 million to maintain and upgrade this compound. Working for Advanced C4 Solutions, Mark oversees the installation of blast walls. His team places 4-by-8 sheets

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ABOVE: Boys hold weapons as Shiite rebels known as Houthis gather to protest against Saudi-led airstrikes during a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, on April 1, 2015. HANI MOHAMMED, AP

LEFT: John Hamen III and Mark McAlister take a photo together in Djibouti before traveling to Yemen for their contract work.

PROVIDED BY THE MCALISTER FAMILY