Ofir, Yoram

Yoram (Yurka), son of Roth and Abraham, was born on May 9, 1952 in Haifa. He attended the Tchernichovsky Elementary School in Haifa, continued his studies at the Ironi Hey high school, and later completed his studies at the military boarding school in Haifa. Yoram was an intelligent and alert student, eager and curious, loved by his teachers and friends. He excelled mainly in humanistic studies and was a literary lover. He was also a member of the United Movement and took an active part in all its activities. He loved a company of people and was good at making friends with them. He was naughty and cheerful, and in his gaiety he caught up with those around him and captivated them. But at the same time he was thoughtful and serious in things that were good to them. He loved to help others and was loyal and boundless to the friends and principles he believed in. Although he was a central figure in every society, he never married, and was therefore loved by all. He had always adapted himself to a new environment and new people. He was a lover of nature and agriculture – as a child his parents lived in an auxiliary farm near Haifa, and he liked to be with the animals in the farm. Yoram has a determined will and determination. Following the brilliant victory in the Six-Day War, he decided to leave high school at the end of the first year of studies and move to the military boarding school. Despite the difficulty of getting into a boarding school not at the beginning of the class, he was determined to do so – and indeed, when he was accepted, he soon completed the gap between him and the “veterans” in his class. There was no social event at the institution, where Yorka did not take part. He had a leadership capacity and his commanders predicted a bright future for him in the army. When he completed his studies at the boarding school, the Armored Corps chose to take the military route there. Yoram was drafted into the IDF at the beginning of November 1970 and was assigned to the Armored Corps, after graduating with honors from the Patton tank course, completing his tank commander course and becoming commander of a tank. And later as deputy commander of a tank company. He was an excellent officer, responsible and devoted to his job and his comrades in arms, and his commanders praised his work. One of them wrote to him that he enjoyed “every minute of work” with him, his desire for perfection “and the initiative to develop and improve things.” Four months before the Yom Kippur War broke out, Yoram was appointed officer of operations in his battalion. When the war broke out, he was with his unit in Sinai. After a day of fighting, all the tanks in his company were out of action. A group of officers, Yoram in it, formed a crew in the only tank that remained intact. On October 8, 1973, the tank participated in the braking battles near the Firdan bridge and later on that day, in an attack on the “Machshet” and “Hamutal” strongholds, where the tank was hit during the assault and the entire crew – Yoram in general – was killed. At first his body was not found, he was declared missing. A few months later the body was identified and identified and brought to eternal rest in the Haifa cemetery. Survived by father, mother, brother and sister. After his fall, he was promoted to the rank of captain and received a commendation from the Chief of Staff, and his brigade published a pamphlet in memory of its fallen soldiers, including some about Yoram.