VIDEO - The families who have paid the ultimate price: After three torturous weeks, Staff Sergeant Eyal Banin was all set to finish this year's stint of reserve duty Wednesday. It turned out to be the last day of his life. The 22-year-old Beer Sheva native was killed in Wednesday morning's Hizbullah attack. Banin was due to move to Jerusalem next month with friends and was planning to begin law school at Hebrew University in the fall. Wednesday morning, his mother Daniella woke up to news of fighting in the north, tried calling her son, but to no avail. She called the IDF communications officer in Tel Aviv several times in an attempt to glean some information about her only son, but also couldn't get through there. Hours later, she received the bad news. Just one dream "It's so hard to say we 'were' three brothers. I remember him looking at me with that smile. That's my last memory of him," said Chaim Turgeman, brother of 24-year-old Shani Turgeman who was also killed in the attack. Several months ago, Turgeman returned from a post-army backpacking trip to South America, and moved from his hometown of Beit Shean to Tel Aviv. "He felt Beit Shean was too small," said brother Chaim with a pain-filled smile. Shani served in the Nahal Brigade as an enlisted solider. According to Chaim, the trip to South America was the only thing on his mind after finishing his mandatory service. "He saved and saved for the trip," said Chaim Turgeman. "He finally got to go, and traveled the length and breadth of South America for 10 months." Turgeman's father Albert added: "My father had a dream that I would be an engineer and Shani would be an architect, and that we would build houses together. "Now, only one part of that dream can ever come true," he said. Banin was part of a group called "The 18" - 18 guys from the southern town of Omer (where Banin lived until the 10th grade) who lived together, served together, and were the best of friends. Because he was an only child, his parents had to agree to his enlistment in a combat unit. 'We found out that all our fears had come true' Other members of the group took Banin's death particularly hard. "I spoke to him yesterday, and he said he was thrilled to be finishing up reserve duty," said Ariel Zisman, a member of "The 18." Zisman said that when news of Banin's death spread, members of the group dropped everything and traveled to his mother's apartment. Eyal Banin will be laid to rest Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. Due to the close age gap between Chaim and Shani – just 18 months – they were always close. "The last couple of years, as we got involved with our own lives, we saw each other less. But the last time we saw each other two weeks ago, we had a great time and lots of laughs," he said. Chaim said he first heard on the news Wednesday morning that soldiers had been kidnapped in the north and understood immediately that it was in the area where his brother was serving. "Even before I knew what had happened, I called my father and told him to take care of my mom," he said. Then we found out that all our fears had come true," said Chaim. Shani Turgeman will be laid to rest at 6:00 p.m. at the military cemetery in Beit Shean. He is survived by his parents, Albert and Marcelle, and two brothers – Chaim and Einav. 'Special, sensitive child' Nineteen-year old Nimrod Cohen of Mitzpeh Shalem was killed during efforts to retrieve the bodies of tank crew members after a Hizbullah strike. Nimrod was survived by his parents, Arieh and Esti, and an 8-year-old brother, Doron. Members of kibbutz Mitzpeh Shalem took hard to the news of Nimrod's death and spoke of a special, sensitive young man who had a way with children and adolescents. Kibbutz member Eliezer Erlich said that Nimrod was "an amazing, clever kid with a huge heart and unusual sensitivity. He was sensitive to people, the environment, everything." Erlich said that Nirmod's death was a great shock to the kibbutz, "as it is the first death here. The feeling is like losing the most precious thing," he explained. Family loses another son The family of Wissam Nazal from the village of Yanuch swayed between hope and despair for several hours on Wednesday, after they were notified that their son was either killed or taken hostage during a Hizbullah raid on the Hummer he was driving on Lebanon's border. Only in the evening hours was the family informed that Wassim had been killed. The Nazal family experienced another tragedy last month, when Wissam's brother, in his forties, died of a heart attack. Wissam is the youngest in a family of five sons and four daughters. About four years ago he married Akmal and the two had a child, now two years-old, and were expecting another one. "He belongs to a very respected family in the village, all educated and respectable people," one family acquaintance said. "This is truly a disaster, so shortly after his brother died," he added. Anat Barshkovsky, Vered Luvitch, Neta Sela and Sharon Roffe-Ofir and Avi Cohen contributed to this report