Just last week we started our “Faces of the IDF” series on a positive note, highlighting the first female Arab-Israeli paratrooper. Our goal is to show that Israel truly is a “citizen’s army,” represented by men and women of great diversity.
Yesterday, July 26th, 2010, Israel lost six of its finest in a helicopter crash in Romania. The flight was part of an 11 day Israeli-Romanian joint training exercise held in a mountainous region of central Romania, designed to simulate a search and rescue operation in hostile regions. Working with Eastern European countries for training exercises is nothing new for Israel. In 2006, Israel and Romania signed a military exercise and cooperation deal which they had extended last year. The CH-53 helicopter, carrying 4 IAF personnel, 2 aerial engineers, and a Romanian Air Force Servicemen, crashed leaving no survivors.
For a country with such a small population, in which most spend years of their lives in the army, this tragedy hits especially close to home.
We would like to take this opportunity to offer our most heartfelt condolences to the Israeli and Romanian families of the victims. As part of our “Faces of the IDF” series, we honor the memories of those fallen. continue reading…
