IDF Blog: The Story Of An Israeli Hero

From the IDF blog: the story of Captain Yoni Roth:

During the battle of Bint Jbeil, one of the main battles of the Second Lebanon War, CaptainYoni Roth (then Sergeant), a soldier in the 51st Battalion, 1st Infantry (“Golani”) Brigade, was shot three times in the back. One of the Hezbollah bullets ripped through his back, puncturing his lung and leaving a hole that could not be surgically repaired.

I remember the terrorist shooting at me with a machine gun, while throwing a few grenades, and then, at some point, I could hear him firing rounds from three hundred meters. In a split second, I understood that the terrorist is about to shoot me. Then I felt the bullet hit. I fell to the ground. My gun dropped. I understood that the initial bullet had struck my back, thinking that the next bullet will hit my head.

Capt. Roth was able to get himself out of the terrorist’s shooting range. He then laid on his stomach, waiting to be evacuated and feeling his breath shorten. Recalling his thinking at the time, Capt. Roth said,

When the enemy is firing at you and wounded soldiers are screaming for help, you are presented with a dilemma: To whom should you run first? And if you are going to save the wounded, rather than strike back at the enemy, then whom do you save first? The wounded soldier that is screaming the loudest or the quieter ones?

Capt. Roth explains his recovery from near-death:

Continue reading The Story Of An Israeli Hero

Technorati Tag: Israel.