Arrow, Shmuel
Son of Haim and Sheva. He was born on 10 February 1938 in Haifa, where he was educated in Kibbutz Shefayim and graduated from the elementary school in Holon, where he continued his studies at the “Max-Fine” vocational school in Tel Aviv. He joined the IDF in mid-August 1957 and volunteered to serve in the air force. After successfully completing the pilot course, his path was paved ahead of him and his pace of progress was rapid. In 1959 he joined the career army. He was a shooting systems officer, flight instructor and squadron commander. Each course he passed successfully and his instructor in one of the courses even said: “I do not find in him any feature for which he would receive less points than the maximum possible …” Shmuel had a high flight ability, with a developed technical sense and great potential. He was a dynamic commander with the ability to think and execute, who demanded a great deal of his subordinates, but no more than he demanded of himself. He was sent to many studies in France, Britain and the United States and was one of the first Phantom pilots. On the 18 th of July, 1970, at the height of the War of Attrition, Major Shmuel fell as a pilot west of the Canal, when his plane was hit by an enemy missile, leaving a wife and two sons. For a long time, the Egyptians refused to even search for the body of Shmuel and the missing persons on Mount Herzl, and a memorial stone was placed in his memory, during which the remains of his body were found in an area occupied by the IDF. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul. His commander wrote in a letter of condolence to the family: “His career in the air force, even if it was interrupted in the middle, was full of successes and achievements, and his achievements in all areas, both as a man and as a member of society and as a soldier and a fighter. Always from his special qualities – – – his qualities were expressed modestly, humility, ability to perform, cooperation and joy of creativity without limit. A grove in his memory was planted by the Jewish National Fund in the Modi’in Forest, where a monument was erected in his memory. Every year, his father is divided by a scholarship in his memory at the “Max Payne” vocational school and there is a corner in his memory in the library.
