Chofshi, Meir
Son of Yosef and Esther. He was born on December 13, 1929 in Pinsk, Poland. Immigrated to Israel with his parents in 1933. After one year in Haifa, the family moved to Kfar Yehoshua. After graduating from elementary school, he entered the Tietz Yagur vocational school, because his youth tended to technique and mechanics. Participated in a day-care course in Kfar-Yeladim. A year later he joined the Palmach and divided his time between work and training, and at the age of 17 went to America to study aeronautical mechanics. At the outbreak of the War of Independence, he turned to the appropriate institutions to bring him home, but he was asked to continue his profession, which became vital in the country. He did obey, but he did not know how calm he was; As a result, he devoted himself to any action in favor of the war effort, such as the loading of illegal weapons in a port in New York. But his heartfeltness did not subside, and in his letters to his parents he asked for their agreement to stop his studies. The decision came when he received word of the fall of his classmates. He stopped his studies in mechanics, was accepted to a flight course in California and immediately after finishing it successfully returned home. He did not stay in his parents’ home for only one day, because he immediately went to the airport in Tel Aviv and from there was transferred to Dorot and entered the Air Force. He was active at night in bombing the enemy concentrations from his Primus, and in the days he worked to maintain his base. He also arrived at remote points, bringing in food and medical supplies and transporting wounded and sick people. When the fighting intensified, he received a reconnaissance plane in which he participated in many battles. He did not wait for an order or fear of any daring action. At the end of the war, his parents asked him to return to his studies in America, but he refused and signed a permanent service contract for another year. He decided to take a train in passenger cars and for a time worked in a regular service between Eilat and Tel Aviv. Finally he was a flight attendant instructor and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. At the end of his year of service, he signed a contract for another three years, but on 9 Tevet 5711 (December 18, 1950) he fell to the eternal rest of the cemetery in Kfar Yehoshua.
