Memorial Day is real here by Leora Hessing

Today is Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day for the soldiers that have fallen for Israel. Here in Israel, it is a real commemoration day because every Israeli has lost a father, son, husband, brother or friend at war or to terrorism. I attended a ceremony at the local military cemetery here in Elkana. So far, there are only (thank God) 2 soldiers that have been buried here in this small settlement that was settled 25 years ago. Yoav was killed 8 years ago in Lebanon when he volunteered to lead a mission and replace a friend, who was sick, as the commander. They were overtaken by Hizbollah on the road and he was lost but he saved his unit. Ariel was killed on March 3 2002. He was 25 years old. He left a young wife and a baby only a few months old. Memorial Day is real here.

The following is a letter by a soldier named Gad in the Golani unit to his fiance, Galit. He was killed in Je'nin on the last day of Passover. He wrote this letter just as he was going on a mission into Ramallah, just a month before he was killed.

"If this letter reaches you, it is a sign that something has happened to me. My love, I feel that on the one hand, there is nothing I want more in the world than to be with you. However, on the other hand, there is nothing I want more than to go out on this mission and to beat those animals, so that they wont be able to commit any more acts of terrorism...and then they will take into account that any time they are going to commit such an act, we are willing to pay the price. I am ready to be that price. At times like this, it is the feeling of unity with the nation of Israel that stands to guide you and to beat the evil as though we have no individual lives." (I translated this so there might be mistakes.)

I hope that it is meaningful to you all and that you remember the soldiers who have fallen for us. B'Shalom, Leora Hessing