Seconds after Nadav Kodinski and his dog Diablo entered the suspicious building near the Karni crossing in the Gaza Strip, a huge explosion was heard.
A powerful explosive device, detonated by the two, killed them on the spot.
Later, when the fighters managed to get inside, they found Diablo lying on Nadav, as if hugging.
"I really wanted them to be buried together, I thought they were one, that it was a great love and that there was no reason for them to separate, but I was told it was impossible," says Nadav's father, Hanoch Kodinsky.
Nine sting unit fighters have fallen in battle since 1991, and many more fighters were wounded while leading the forces in classified operations, some of which have not been released to date.
Like a pillar of fire before the camp they went at the head of the force, leveling the way of the warriors in the most dangerous areas, ready to sacrifice their souls, their bodies, to protect their comrades in force.
Beside them were their dogs, the warriors on all fours.
Last Monday, a ceremony was held at the dog cemetery at the human facility base in memory of the sting unit dogs, who died in the operational missions while preserving human life.
Dozens of warriors dressed in green and red berets stood among the small gravestones, and on the side sat members of bereaved families.
One by one, four male and female fighters marched in and performed a canine salute parade along with their dogs.
Those present sang a song, heard things and saluted the warriors for four who saved lives.
Memorial service for sting dogs, this week, Photo: Oren Cohen
On a chair in the shed, wearing a large hat, Yaakov Gottlieb sat and watched the ceremony with his wife, Tzipi.
For 25 years they have been attending ceremonies and events of the Sting Unit, and have even adopted a dog born in the unit.
They have been part of the unit for 25 years, since their son, Sgt.
"Micha wanted to be in a special combat unit and enlisted in the counter-terrorism unit, but because they are more involved in training he asked to move to a combat unit that comes into contact with the enemy - and that's how he got stung," they say.
The unit wanted to send Micha to an officers' course, but he vehemently refused to do so without carrying out operational activities in Lebanon.
"He said that a soldier could not go to an officers' course without going through Lebanon. The unit commander agreed, because he was afraid he would give up the course at all, and told him that as soon as he came down from Lebanon he would go to BAD."
"He jumped into the helicopter"
On the evening of the disaster, Micha had a cold, and a doctor forbade him to set out.
"He gave him gimmicks so he wouldn't go up to Beaufort, but Micha refused and accepted the responsibility." He arrived late at the airport due to a delay by the driver who was driving him, and almost missed the helicopter. To find out what was going on he jumped inside.
After the helicopters crashed, they found his wallet inside Nahal Dan.
"Most of his equipment was not found, only the wallet, and inside it was a note from the doctor forbidding him to go up to Beaufort - and Micha's signature that he was going up anyway."
Micha Gottlieb and the bitch Amber, Photo: Courtesy of the family
After the death of their son, the Gottlieb couple form a close relationship with the sting unit, and they usually come to the unit's ceremonies and events.
As mentioned, they even adopted a dog from the unit.
"The children always wanted a dog, but I grew up with dogs at home and I knew it was a big burden," says Tzipi. ".
At first the five-month-old bitch Sean was very difficult to raise, but she was trained with the help of Sting's dog trainer.
She lived 13 years and died after being bitten by a snake.
She is buried next to the unit's dogs. "In memory of Micha, who was a karate enthusiast, a karate championship named after him is held every year at Tel Aviv University, in which military personnel also participate.
In the helicopter disaster, the late Haran Perens was also killed along with his bitch Leslie, and was twenty-one years old in his fall.
Harn Perens, who was killed in the helicopter disaster with his bitch Leslie, Photo: Courtesy of the family
Predicted his death
Nadav Kodinski, who was killed with his dog Diablo in December 2004 in the Gaza Strip as part of an operation with the Golani Regiment, predicted his death even before his training.
After graduating from high school he went out with friends to Greece, and while they were on a ferry near Rhodes one of his friends pulled out a video camera and asked him to say something.
In retrospect, his words are extremely chilling.
"Do you know why this is a great place?", Nadav asked his friend, "When I see Sukenik clothes when I die in the army, then at least there will be the view too, why can I explode with the dog."
"Nadav was a very special child, and only after he was killed did we realize how much. After he was killed, we opened the room, the drawers, and we could not believe what we were reading," says his father Hanoch.
His path to the sting was paved even before his enlistment.
He went through the formation successfully and then the long training.
"Tear them there, but every time he would take out the guitar and play for everyone. Everyone is done and he plays."
He received his dog, Diablo, during his service.
"He had a dog before Diablo, which was the legend of a sting. Suddenly he was told he would get the best dog in the unit. He was so proud. One Saturday he stayed in Gaza and we came to visit. He showed us the dog's performance. I was shocked."
Memorial service for sting dogs, this week, Photo: Oren Cohen
On the eve of Hanukkah 2004, Golani Reconnaissance fighters entered the Sajaiya neighborhood of Gaza to locate an inferno tunnel that went in the direction of the Karni crossing.
The force was led by Nadav and Diablo, and a 200-kg explosive device buried about two meters in the ground exploded - and Nadav was killed.
We did not worry about his military service.
My only concern was when he would take my car in the evening for fun, which I was most afraid of.
His death came in a boom. "Nadav's mother, Hadassah, passed away about a decade ago, and Hanoch links this directly to the difficult mourning.
"The life of a dog is not equal to the life of a human being, and the life of a dog of a sting is not equal to the life of a soldier, warrior or civilian. , Head of the kennel section.
"The fighters on all fours are our right to exist. We have a common destiny, so they are an integral part of the unit's bereavement and pain," said the commander of the Oketz unit, Lt. Col. Y. R. (Res.) A. and told how the faithful animal saved the lives of the warriors, including his own life, in Operation Eitan.
"It was a difficult entrance to Gaza, which included a long gun battle," he recalled, "the next day we entered one of the houses that was an indication of his basement. We did not know what was there, maybe a tunnel. You open and there is a whole world."
The fighters blew up the thick door that blocked the basement, and A. sent Solo inside.
"The staircase led downstairs, and we had no idea what was inside. Suddenly we heard a bomb boom. We flew off the top, then we heard two terrorists coming out and spraying the stairwell with a heavy machine gun. We returned fire and killed the terrorists. If Solo was not there, absorb the The fire and makes the terrorists come out,
These were soldiers who had been killed.
There could have been seven or eight dead there. "
Memorial service for sting dogs, this week, Photo: Oren Cohen
Three days after the incident, the fighting ended, but the then commander of the Givati Brigade, Ofer Winter, ordered the soldiers to return inside and bring the dog's body.
"Solo saved us," Sgt. (Res.) A. thanks him. "Without him, an officer would have had to knock on my parents' door and tell them I was killed."
This week, along with the heavy bereavement of the IDF fighters who were killed, the sting unit commemorated the heroism of their fighters, who worked with the dogs to save lives and paid the heaviest price of it all.
Without the dogs we might be excellent commando fighters, but lacking the important weapons that set us apart, "concluded Major N., deputy commander of Sting," the fighters and dogs are the force that moves before the camp.
We came together to honor the heroes who were killed for the country. "
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