Goras, Arnon

Arnon, son of Tirza z “l and Yosef, was born on October 31, 1951 in Kibbutz Ma’ayan Zvi. He attended elementary school in his kibbutz and at the Hebrew school in Paris, France, and graduated from the high school in Kfar Galim. He was a diligent and serious student, and he was particularly interested in subjects related to the study of nature and agriculture. He excelled in craftsmanship and technical work. He liked to listen to music and did photography. Arnon was an athlete, a good swimmer and an amateur lifeguard because he always wanted to help others. From his childhood, the love of man – the other person – stood out. He was very interested in the problems of youth and especially about the problems of youth in distress. He was very attached to his parents and tried to make things easier for them, especially during times of crisis. After his mother’s death, he overcame the pain thanks to the degree of optimism that was inherent in him and helped him to withstand difficult situations. Arnon was a member of the Hanoar Haoved movement and served as a counselor in the movement’s Zichron Yaakov branch and later in Jerusalem, where he founded the movement’s branch in Ramat Eshkol. As part of his activity as an instructor in the movement, Arnon became fond of everything and was a “father” to all the children of the nest, who loved him for his interest in them and for his approach to their problems and devotion. His mentors also appreciated his easy nature and temperament and respected his dedication to work. During his childhood he traveled abroad with his parents, who were on a mission to France and before his enlistment in the IDF, went to a summer camp for Jewish youth in Belgium. After completing his basic training, he completed a tank training course and a course for tank commanders. He was later assigned to a tank unit as a tank commander and was given the rank of sergeant. He was an excellent soldier and a loyal friend and excelled as a model commander. He loved his soldiers, who inspired him and saw him as an example. With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, his company, after heavy shelling, moved to fight the enemy in the northern part of the canal. The unit encountered an ambush and the tanks began to sink into the muddy area. Arnon remained in a tank sunk with a few soldiers, while his commander continued to move in his tank with the force. In this situation, Arnon conducted an exemplary infantry battle, with his characteristic calm and complete control over the situation, on October 18, 1973. He participated with his unit in breaking into the West Bank and crossing the canal in the Abu Sultan area, On one side, high vegetation and one side – swamps, the force encountered strong fire, and Arnon’s tank was hit at the beginning of the fighting, and he was killed.Then Arnon was laid to rest in the cemetery in his kibbutz, Maayan Zvi. In a letter of condolences to the bereaved family, his commander wrote: “Arnon encouraged his soldiers during the battle, thanks to his optimism, and after the first days of the war he told his subordinates that “We have already gone through the worst and now nothing will happen to us …” His kibbutz prepared a memorial booklet for his sons who fell in the Yom Kippur War with a chapter dedicated to him; The youth village of Galim, where Arnon studied, published a pamphlet commemorating its graduates and apprentices who fell in the war and the section devoted to Arnon, about his character: “Arnon, who has endless optimism and borders and overcome every cloud, Secretly, a task of keeping the light and joy for him to always be in his home, the so-called big smile, the Lev that is overflowing with joy and age – that is what the image engraved in our hearts perpetuated. “