Chubotro-Zoran, Zvi (Zvika)

Zvi ben Yanko and Ernestina was born on the 27th of Tamuz, July 17 1955 in Ashkelon. The eldest son of new immigrant parents. In the Yom Kippur War, Zvika dug trenches, filled sandbags and distributed food to the soldiers at the crossroads, and in early 1974 Zvika was drafted into the IDF. He was originally scheduled to be sent to a pilot course, but when he heard about that elite unit, he relinquished the course and began preparing himself for that unit and was accepted. Zvika was trained in combat courses – parachuting, sabotaging – and was to patrol a fighter. During his military service, Zvi took part in many secret operations, of which only two were published. One is an Operation against Terrorists in Lebanon, and the other is Operation Thunderbolt, and in both of them he displayed courage and heroism. During his service he was hit in the back. For a whole year he struggled but was finally operated on.Zvika returned to command his unit. After three years of service he was released.
Zvika managed to persuade his commanders to take him to reserve duty in his unit. He married and two weeks later he was called to the Sheli unit for three days of reserve duty which turned into another two weeks. On the 1st of Av, August 4th, 1978, after being called to his unit, he fell on duty and was brought to eternal rest in the Ashkelon cemetery. Zvika left behind a wife, parents and brother. In a letter of condolence to the bereaved family, “Zvi belonged to an elite unit and became one of its finest fighters. His personality and behavior were exemplary in all his military service, in regular and reserve duty.