Once we were soldiers

Old soldiers never die.  They just tell stories. (Inaccurate quote of a US-army ballad)

Following a reunion of our old paratroop unit (see my post Suez Memories),  I received a link to raw TV footage taken during the the 1973 war.  Watching the grainy, silent clips, I immediately recognized Micha, standing in the center of the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC).  Micha, was one-year my senior growing up in Tivon, a fellow officer in 1973, and the battalion commander in the subsequent war. Here also was Yo'ash, the smiling, balding fellow, who died from a direct hit to our APC as we entered the city of Suez. (A helmet would not have helped.)  Yossi, our battalion commander,  is shown outside the vehicle.  He was a man I loved and admired.  He died in a landmine explosion.  I saw several other friends, but only on the second viewing did I recognize myself.

The images moved me because here were the same warriors that a couple of weeks later, in a different APC, drove together into Suez City. Some, did not return, some were seriously wounded, and all carry scars.  For them, I edited the scattered clips into a two minute video.
Watch it here:   The Road to Budapest

Budapest is the code name for the only Israeli outpost that was not captured during the Egyptian assault of Yom Kippur.  However, it was cut off from the rest of our forces by Egyptian commandos who blocked the sole access road.  After one attempt to open the road failed, our unit was sent in.  We accomplished the task ,and joined with the outpost.