Mario, son of Miriam and Zvi Mendel, was born on May 16, 1940, in Padua, Italy, where he studied medicine in Italy and returned to Budapest, where he studied for several years. The family immigrated to Israel and chose to settle in Acre, where his father worked as a doctor at the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, and Mario graduated from the elementary school in Acre and then studied at the vocational school at the “Samet” As a child, due to his family’s wandering from place to place, he was always among the best students in every school, so he went abroad and continued in the schools in Israel. The newcomers, and easily overcome the difficulties of language and social difficulties, and within a short time he was absorbed by his contemporaries and a year later it was hard to distinguish him from the native sabras, and he was a sociable boy who loved to spend time with his friends. Surrounded by a bunch of boys, or leading the group in the games, Mario was especially good at dancing, for he was easy and graceful in his movements and was able to absorb the most complex dance in just a few minutes.I joined the Technion folk dance troupe and became an enthusiastic dancer, . He made sure to participate regularly in all the meetings of the band and soon took a central place among the dancers. He was also a member of the list of elected members, who traveled abroad to a series of performances. Mario was drafted into the IDF in early November 1958 and volunteered for the air force. After standing well in the tests, which were designed to examine the suitability of the candidate for an aviation course, he was offered the opportunity to volunteer for an aviation course. He did not hesitate to join the ranks of the air force. After completing the course with great success, we became a pilot for the Mister and Vautor planes. After a period of operational service in the Air Force, his commanders recommended that he be sent as a guide to the flight school. In this role, too, his success was greater than expected. He was one of the school’s most successful instructors and everyone admired him; His commanders appreciated his achievements and his students admired him and loved him as a teacher and as a person. Colonel Dan Ronen, the commander of the base, wrote: “His career in the air force, even if cut short in the middle, was full of successes and accomplishments, and his accomplishments in all the territories, both as a man and a member of society and as a soldier and a fighter, were always mentioned by his commanders. For years and every meeting with him, I was always re-impressed by his special qualities, which only a few were blessed in. As commander I was especially grateful for his good qualities, which were expressed in dedication, knowledge, and ability to perform. And his friends alike, are always proud of him. ” At the end of his regular service, Mario was released and began working as a spray pilot. His luck and a fire broke out in his plane, which he miraculously escaped. A second time he escaped miraculously from a certain death in the Six-Day War when he was forced to abandon his plane in Sinai and was rescued with great effort by an Air Force helicopter. Despite this, Mario did not abandon the plane’s helm and when the Yom Kippur War broke out, he had already completed some of the exams for receiving the title of Captain in the national airline El Al. When the war broke out, Mario made a routine flight to Rome. He quickly returned to his unit and only after returning from the first battle did he call his wife and family. On October 9, 1973, his plane was hit and he was killed. For many months he was considered missing and only in February 1974 was his body discovered and he was brought to eternal rest in the Kiryat Shaul cemetery. The ShahFollowed by a wife and three children, mother, sister and brother.
