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Heroes of the Lebanon War

[Jerusalem Post/Ha'aretz] Yaakov Katz - When the Lebanon war broke out, Dr. Yehuda David, 53, who was on a family vacation in Greece, immediately returned to Israel and was assigned to the Nahal Brigade's Battalion 932. He spent the entire war inside Lebanon, carrying a 60-kilogram pack filled with medical supplies on his back, and treated more than 50 wounded soldiers. Due to his age, he is not required to serve, but said, "I sign on for volunteer service since if the soldiers are willing to give everything they can, then I am also willing to give everything I can....After 2000 years in exile it is an honor to serve in the IDF and I don't miss a single opportunity." Lt. Erez Ramati, another doctor, served with Battalion 931. Near the end of the war, Ramati's company engaged dozens of Hizbullah guerrillas in the Lebanese village of Randuriya. "My medics and I began treating the wounded when suddenly another company's commander ran over and said there were soldiers who needed help on the other side of the intersection," Ramati says. "The only problem was that to get there we had to run through the intersection, which was totally exposed to Hizbullah fire." With bullets passing him in all directions, Ramati sprinted across the intersection. When he stopped he noticed that cables from two antitank missiles that had been fired at him were hanging from his helmet. "There was no time for hesitating since there were people who were wounded and they needed me. This was not about heroism or bravery but about doing what you need to do." Sgt. Benyamin Asraf served as a gunner in the reconnaissance battalion of the Paratroop Brigade during the war in Lebanon. During the battle in Maroun a-Ras, Asraf crawled into a burning house and brought out weapons that were essential to continue fighting. He also grabbed a radio from the body of a terrorist, which enabled them to listen to enemy communications and hit large numbers of terrorists. Two weeks later, in Bint Jbail, he remained with a seriously injured comrade under heavy fire, stopping his friend's bleeding with his bare hands.
2007-08-30 01:00:00
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