On November 1, 1999, 19-year-old Meriam Al-Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini royal family, sneaked out of her family's mansion to meet her beloved -- 25-year-old U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jason Johnson. Johnson gave her a forged military I.D. and fake orders along with baggy men's clothing. She hid her long, dark hair under a New York Yankee baseball cap and together the couple boarded a commercial flight to the United States. The lovers, who had met nearly a year before at a Bahrain shopping mall and had exchanged hundreds of love letters and one kiss during their courtship, got as far as Chicago -- where Al-Khalifa was taken into custody and forced to spend three days in jail. She was released after announcing her intention to seek asylum, and the couple quickly eloped to Las Vegas. For helping Al-Khalifa enter the country falsely, Johnson was court-martialed and demoted.
