Joining them last Friday (June 1) were younger men and women who had seen action in the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars and the Lebanon campaigns, as well as families of deceased volunteers.
By TOM TUGENDAn IDF soldier.(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
LOS ANGELES – To mark the 70th anniversary of modern Israel’s independence, the nation’s consul-general in Los Angeles, Sam Grundwerg, invited a small group of surviving American volunteers, most also vets of World War II, who had clandestinely volunteered for the Israeli army, navy and air force during the 1948 War of Independence.Joining them last Friday (June 1) were younger men and women who had seen action in the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars and the Lebanon campaigns, as well as families of deceased volunteers.Grundwerg, who himself left his native Florida to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, presented framed certificates of appreciation and noted that too often in life “we don’t extend recognition until it is too late.”Each volunteer was given a few minutes to recall the highlight of their war experiences, with some expressing gratitude to Israel for allowing them to participate in the historical events of the past century.