Eyal, Menachem

Ben Shoshana and Moshe was born on May 26, 1944, in Rishon Letzion, Menachem was drafted into the IDF in late August 1962 and volunteered for an aviation course. He successfully completed the course, won good grades and became a fighter pilot in the Air Force. After completing mandatory service, Menahem volunteered for the permanent army. In the early years, he flew on Urangan, Mister and Watour planes. After that he served for three years as a guide at the flight school and was considered an excellent instructor. He was a pilot on Mirage and Skyhawks. During the Six-Day War he participated as a Fuga-Magister pilot. On one of the flights he was injured, but managed to return safely to the base with his plane. During the War of Attrition he was the deputy commander of the Skyhawk Squadron and was promoted to Major. Menachem was discharged from the army at the end of 1970 and joined the El-Al company, where he reached the rank of first officer, and was a devoted, humble and gentle family man, and he was a loyal friend who was always willing to help with advice and action, In the Yom Kippur War, Menahem was the deputy commander of the Skyhawk Squadron, and he arrived in his squadron straight from New York, where he was on an El Al flight, and immediately left for the battlefield, taking dozens of sorties on the southern front, He participated in the bombing, assisting the ground forces who fought in the battles of containment and attacking enemy forces east of the Suez Canal and westward. “on the 20th of Tishrei 5734 (October 16, 1973). He was brought to eternal rest in the cemetery in Rishon Letzion. He left behind a wife, two daughters and a son.