Sgt. Michael Levin

August 4, 2006 - 1:35 PM by

Dina Kraft writes in the NY Times:

Michael Levin came back to Israel to rejoin his unit after cutting short a vacation with his family in Pennsylvania when the fighting broke out in mid-July.

“He said: ‘There is a war. I’m coming home. I have to serve my country,’ ” …

On Tuesday, he was killed by a Hezbollah antitank missile in Aita al Shaab, Lebanon, less than a mile from the Israeli border.

Sergeant Levin immigrated to Israel shortly after finishing high school. Friends say he thrived here. “He was doing exactly what he believed in,” said Lt. Lazar Berman, 24, a fellow American immigrant. “He, this kid from Philly, all of a sudden he was defending the Jewish homeland and the free world.”

He was a bit light for a paratrooper. In his first jump, Sergeant Levin, who weighed 118 pounds, drifted off course, according to a friend who was there, Tziki Aud, 56. For his second jump, he put weights in his pockets. “Then he landed like a pile of bricks,” Mr. Aud said, laughing.

But what he lacked in size he made up for in enthusiasm. “He was still speaking of ideals and about how important he viewed the army,” said Cpl. Eli Magzimof, 21. “All the others come in with lots of motivation, and a few months later it goes away. He never lost it. Never.”

The blogger at Life in Israel attended the funeral and supplies photographs and his impressions.

Tags: • Category: A New Reality 

Comments

One Comment on Sgt. Michael Levin

  1. martin on Mon, Aug 7th 2006 1:19 AM

    2. Very poignant stories. Met & befriended Jewish lady from Israel yesterday who was selling lotions from the dead sea. We were lamenting the problems in the middle east & the hatreds evinced. My opinion was that politics drives most of the hatred. She said I was very smart for this opinion. I am Arabic. She said I could kiss her (after trying the lotion, if it works as proposed). She is pretty & single, why not?

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Sitemap