Ramon, Assaf

Son of Rona and Ilan. Born in Ramat Gan on the 22nd of Shevat, February 10, 1988. In 1998, Asaf flew with his family to the United States: his father, Colonel Ilan Ramon, was chosen to be the first Israeli astronaut to fly into space. In January 2003, Ilan Ramon flew into space with his six crew members on the Columbia shuttle. After two weeks in space, on it’s way back to Earth, the shuttle disintegrated and all the crew members perished. In the summer of 2004, the Ramon family returned to Israel. On July 16, 2006, Assaf enlisted in the IDF. Like his father Ilan, thirty-five years earlier, Assaf completed the pilot’s course as an outstanding trainee, and received the medal of excellence from President Shimon Peres. At the end of June 2009, Assaf was recruited as a fighter pilot in the F-16 squadron. On the 24th of Elul, September 13, 2009 he was killed in a plane crash. He was laid to rest at the cemetery in Nahalal. He was twenty one and a half years old. He was survived by his mother, two brothers and a sister. After his fall he was promoted to captain.