Vlad, Ra’anan

Ra’anan, son of Frida and Gershon, Holocaust survivors, was born on May 21, 1954, in Afula. Before he enlisted in the IDF, Ra’anan was well versed in the problems of the state, and he did not settle for simplistic explanations of the situation, such as “there is no alternative.” He tried to investigate and get to the bottom of the matter and even visited an Arab village and talked with its residents. One of his teachers at the high school attests to the fact that Ra’anan’s character was characterized by unmistakable signs of crystallization and determination: the desire to clarify things to their true roots, the opposition to any manifestation of coercion, or doctrines, – which is in the form of expression of things and sometimes even poetic, and above all – the request for truth and protection IDF in early August 1972 and volunteered for the paratroopers. After completing basic training, he took a parachuting course and was permitted to wear the wings of a parachutist. His physical and mental difficulties did not dampen his spirits, and when he came home for short vacations, he did not complain or express his fears about what awaited him during his service in the Paratroopers. In the song “I said,” he confesses: “I said / I will volunteer for the paratroopers / I will wear the beret / that the others will know / that I am an idealist / patriot / and other good men. In another song, he reveals the brutality of the war tools: “The steel was sharp / alive, but only you and I knew that the iron was treacherous, that the future would cling. “In the Yom Kippur War, Ra’anan’s unit was in the Mitla area on the Sinai front, and for ten days Raanan fought fiercely and made sure to encourage the spirit of his comrades, and in the letters he sent to his parents and friends he sought to reassure and encourage. (October 16, 1973), a fresh victim of gunfire fired at him while attempting to rescue soldiers who were injured in the Bir al-Mara area in the southern sector of the Mitla. Raanan died of his wounds and was brought to rest in the military cemetery in Afula. He was survived by a father, mother and brother. After his fall, he was promoted to corporal.