American Parents of Slain Lone Soldier Mourn — 10 Years Later
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM — The parents of Michael Levin, a lone soldier from the United States who was killed in the Second Lebanon War, returned to Israel to mark the 10th anniversary of his death.
Mark and Harriet Levin of Philadelphia traveled to Mount Herzl on Thursday to mark their son’s yahrzeit. They were joined by other immigrant soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade in which their son had served.
Levin fell in battle at Aita al-Shaab on Aug. 1, 2006, at 22. He left a furlough with his family at home in Pennsylvania in order to rejoin his unit and cross into Lebanon.
Levin’s dream had been to create centers for lone soldiers to assist them; today there are three such centers that bear his name. More than 6,000 lone soldiers from around the world are currently serving the Israeli army.
“I think about him every day,” Mark Levin told The Jerusalem Post. “We love him, we miss him, we’re very proud of his service here, and we are proud that we were able to support his dreams and make them come true.”
Also Thursday, the Lone Soldier Center opened its new building in downtown Jerusalem.
The centers offer services including laundry, assistance in moving, Shabbat meals, counseling, paperwork and bill paying, while also providing recreational activities.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Barnard staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as part of government hunt for antisemitic harassment on campus
-
Fast Forward NIH bans grants for schools that boycott Israeli companies
-
Fast Forward An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director’s embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
-
Fast Forward After outcry, Cornell president cancels pro-Palestinian performer chosen for campus concert
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Opinion Yes, the attack on Gov. Shapiro was antisemitic. Here’s what the left should learn from it
- 4
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Barnard staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as part of government hunt for antisemitic harassment on campus
-
Opinion A Palestinian leader just gave Trump an unprecedented opening to pursue peace
-
Fast Forward NIH bans grants for schools that boycott Israeli companies
-
Fast Forward An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director’s embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.