alexjulian
05-18-2004, 07:18 PM
Reminds me of the three US sisters in Iraq we have recently been hearing about....
Brothers in arms
Three brothers, a pilot and two officers in the Givati Brigade, tell of their experiences fighting in the territories and of their moments of terror in last week’s attacks on two APC’s.
Amir Buhbut
When things are relatively quiet, they are just three brothers, ages 22, 25 and 28 who meet on weekends at home. But the three are also brothers in arms: Captain “A”, 28, is a pilot in the army attack helicopter squadron; Captain Tal, 25, is an officer in the Givati reconnaissance battalion; Lieutenant Dean, 22, is an officer on the Givati basic training base (“boot camp”).
The three have participated in numerous joint operations in the Gaza Strip, with “A” in the sky and the two brothers fighting terrorists on the ground. But last week, when the Givati brigades lost 13 of their fighters in Rafah and in the Beit Zaidoun neighborhood, is a week the three will not likely soon forget.
Before going out on a mission in the Beit Zaidoun neighborhood, Captain Tal spoke with his brother “A”, who told him he’d be covering him from the air. The two exchanged “good luck’s” and said goodbye. Towards the end of the operation, “A” saw a mushroom cloud rise up from below and understood that something had gone terribly wrong. An APC had been bombed. After a few minutes the report came in: six soldiers were killed. “A” knew his brother was down there.
“A” recalls those difficult moments: “Suddenly I saw the APC blast from above. I wait to hear a familiar voice over the radio, but there’s nothing. You try to continue the operation but you know something has happened and you know your brother is down there. For three hours I didn’t know what had happened to my brother and it was awful”.
Reports of the six casualties also reached Lieutenant Dean, a Givati Company’s second in command. “They told me there are six dead in my brother’s platoon. The images that kept flashing through my head were of my mother and my brother. I couldn’t breathe for about an hour, I really just couldn’t catch my breath. I sat next to my bed and didn’t move. All I kept thinking was, I have to just go out and join the fighting. It all comes from my parents, who taught us to contribute as much as we can”, Dean recounts.
Several hours later, Tal was finally able to call his parents and tell them he is still alive. The incident affected the entire family. “After what happened, I call my mother five times a day just to reassure her”, Dean says.
We don’t tell our parents
“A” told Maariv Online about life for a family of IDF fighters. “Naturally we meet mostly on weekends, and talk about what’s happened to us all week. Everyone tells how things went for them, me up above and them below. In the Air Force, we really respect the fighters on the ground, especially Givati. They are incredible fighters. They’re going to be visiting us at the Air Force base soon”.
How do the parents feel about having to worry over three of their children at the same time? “It’s not a simple matter”, the brothers say. “For the most part, we don’t tell them anything about what we’re doing. And if something happens, we wait until its over before we say anything. Our parents are very supportive, and educated us to be what we are today”.
(2004-05-18 23:59:02.0)
Brothers in arms
Three brothers, a pilot and two officers in the Givati Brigade, tell of their experiences fighting in the territories and of their moments of terror in last week’s attacks on two APC’s.
Amir Buhbut
When things are relatively quiet, they are just three brothers, ages 22, 25 and 28 who meet on weekends at home. But the three are also brothers in arms: Captain “A”, 28, is a pilot in the army attack helicopter squadron; Captain Tal, 25, is an officer in the Givati reconnaissance battalion; Lieutenant Dean, 22, is an officer on the Givati basic training base (“boot camp”).
The three have participated in numerous joint operations in the Gaza Strip, with “A” in the sky and the two brothers fighting terrorists on the ground. But last week, when the Givati brigades lost 13 of their fighters in Rafah and in the Beit Zaidoun neighborhood, is a week the three will not likely soon forget.
Before going out on a mission in the Beit Zaidoun neighborhood, Captain Tal spoke with his brother “A”, who told him he’d be covering him from the air. The two exchanged “good luck’s” and said goodbye. Towards the end of the operation, “A” saw a mushroom cloud rise up from below and understood that something had gone terribly wrong. An APC had been bombed. After a few minutes the report came in: six soldiers were killed. “A” knew his brother was down there.
“A” recalls those difficult moments: “Suddenly I saw the APC blast from above. I wait to hear a familiar voice over the radio, but there’s nothing. You try to continue the operation but you know something has happened and you know your brother is down there. For three hours I didn’t know what had happened to my brother and it was awful”.
Reports of the six casualties also reached Lieutenant Dean, a Givati Company’s second in command. “They told me there are six dead in my brother’s platoon. The images that kept flashing through my head were of my mother and my brother. I couldn’t breathe for about an hour, I really just couldn’t catch my breath. I sat next to my bed and didn’t move. All I kept thinking was, I have to just go out and join the fighting. It all comes from my parents, who taught us to contribute as much as we can”, Dean recounts.
Several hours later, Tal was finally able to call his parents and tell them he is still alive. The incident affected the entire family. “After what happened, I call my mother five times a day just to reassure her”, Dean says.
We don’t tell our parents
“A” told Maariv Online about life for a family of IDF fighters. “Naturally we meet mostly on weekends, and talk about what’s happened to us all week. Everyone tells how things went for them, me up above and them below. In the Air Force, we really respect the fighters on the ground, especially Givati. They are incredible fighters. They’re going to be visiting us at the Air Force base soon”.
How do the parents feel about having to worry over three of their children at the same time? “It’s not a simple matter”, the brothers say. “For the most part, we don’t tell them anything about what we’re doing. And if something happens, we wait until its over before we say anything. Our parents are very supportive, and educated us to be what we are today”.
(2004-05-18 23:59:02.0)