The graveside service
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
Michael Levin's parents come to his grave for tenth anniversary of his death
Joined by other immigrant soldiers from the Paratroopers, where their son served, Mark and Harriet Levin came to Mount Herzl to observe the tenth year since their son cut short his vacation in the US to join the fight in the Second Lebanon War.
The story of Michael Levin, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War a decade ago, has inspired hundreds of young Jews from around the world to leave comfortable lives abroad and enlist in the IDF, as Levin had previously from Philadelphia.
Thursday night, the tenth anniversary of his death, an emotional meeting took place between Levin's bereaved parents and soldiers from the Paratroopers' Brigade, where Levin served, who immigrated to the country to enlist.
Michael's parents, Mark and Harriet, came to Israel to visit their son's grave at the IDF cemetery on Mount Herzl. Joining them were 20-old Cpl. Yehuda Dresner from England and 21-year-old Private Eitan Goldfried from Brazil, who both happened to hear about Levin's story by chance. They were 10 and 11 when Levin fell in battle, and they didn't even know about the difficult war going on along Israel's northern border.
Levin's parents, Yehuda Dresner and Eitan Goldfried (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
Goldfried happened to have met a young woman wearing a bracelet with Levin's name on it; when he asked her about it, she said that she was the fallen soldier's cousin and told the Brazilian her cousin's story. Goldfried decided that he, too, had to realize his dream and enlist in the IDF, as had Levin.
"Hearing about a person who was born and raised in the United States who just decided to leave everything and immigrate to and defend the State of Israel, the Jewish State—it was inspiring," he said.
At the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, Levin was thousands of kilometers away, on furlough with his family in Pennsylvania. On hearing of the battles being waged against Lebanon, the Paratrooper chose to return early to join the fight. After arriving back in Israel, he joined his unit and crossed into Lebanon.
On August 1, 2006, Levin fell in battle at Aita al-Shaab at the age of 22. His death received much media coverage both in Israel and around the world, and the Lone Soldier Center in memory Michael Levin continues to support other lone soldiers in the IDF to this day.
At the graveside memorial, the soldiers said to the Levins, "We won't forget Michael. Even today, a decade after his death, he still influences lots of soldiers and us."
