Vardi, Michael

Michael, son of Rene and Rafael, was born on December 10, 1951, in Tel Aviv. His father was one of the senior officers in the IDF, and he studied at the Tzahala elementary school in Tel Aviv and then at the Hebrew University High School, where he completed his high school studies in the mathematics program at the Municipal High School, , In Tel Aviv Michael was an excellent student and a serious boy in his approach to life, despite the fact that he chose mathematics and physics as his areas of specialization, read Hebrew and English literature and was attentive to all fields of art, In the framework of the high school, Michael acted as a trainee and as a Gadna counselor and in the Tzahala Scouts, Continued for over two years. After completing his matriculation exams in the summer of 1969, Michael traveled with friends on a trip to Europe, where he was drafted into the IDF in January 1970 and volunteered for the air force. A year later he moved to the Armored Corps, where he graduated with honors from a course for tank commanders and officers. Michael also graduated with honors from the Armored Corps Officers Course and was awarded the rank of Second Lieutenant. Michael remained as a guide in the Armored Corps course. At the end of his regular army service, he decided to make one year in the career army, and Michael trained three officers in the Armored Corps course, and he became known as an officer and a responsible and devoted guide to his job. He settled in the IDF. The next day he was about to leave and begin his studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion in Haifa. His battalion was parked in the center of Sinai and was attacked from the air during Yom Kippur. The battalion was ordered to move toward the northern sector of the Suez Canal to repel the Egyptian invaders. Michael served as commander of the tank division on the water line in the Maoz “Mifrat” area. His mission was to establish contact with the besieged stronghold, and to hold out with his men and purge the stronghold of enemy soldiers. Without fault, Michael fulfilled his mission by demonstrating exemplary peace of mind and leadership. Then, when the company was attacked from the north and caught in the swamps, Michael moved north, destroyed two enemy tanks, two bridges, and cleared the area of ​​enemy soldiers. He repeated this action twice, with a display of self-sacrifice and exemplary judgment. On the morning of Sunday, October 7, 1973, his tank was stuck near the stronghold. Michael got out of the tank and climbed onto another tank to rescue the men from the stronghold. On his way, a missile hit the turret of the tank where Michael was standing, knocked him to the ground and killed him. At first he was declared missing and in December 1973, on the eve of his 22nd birthday, he was declared an absentee, and on May 22, 1975, Michael was brought to eternal rest in the Kiryat Shaul cemetery. And on the eve of the war he was promoted to lieutenant.In the month of Iyar 5735, Maj. Gen. Mordechai Gur, the Chief of the General Staff, awarded the Medal of Mercy to the parents of Lieutenant Michael, and concluded: “In all his actions he displayed great courage, “He said.