Thousands came to the funeral of Major Ben Shelly, who fell in the terrible incident in Shejaiya earlier this week. Major Shelly was the commander of a company of fighters in the Special Rescue Tactical Unit (669), who in his previous position served as an auxiliary company commander in Golani's 51st Battalion.
"Son, our beloved son. You were born at the end of the spring of '97, a beautiful boy with prank eyes," eulogized his father, Moshe Shelly, a colonel in the reserves, who last served as chief engineering officer from 2007 to 2011. He commanded the corps in Operation Cast Lead, under which the corps received high praise during and after the fighting.
"As a child, you were the soul of the army, when you came with your mother to the bases on weekends. At the stations of your life we have come to recognize the fact that we have a very talented and smart child," his father said, adding: "Last March we celebrated a little release party for you. You hesitated down the road, said you needed a break to make decisions, and in the end you went to the unit to be assigned to the reserves, and from there you returned with a summary of long unpaid leave and a position that returned you to the army as commander of a combat company for a year."
His father also said that my son RSU intended to go to a party in Nova but missed it because of operational duty to which he was a partner. "We felt grateful that you weren't there," the father said, adding: "In the last two months you were shocked by what you saw in the envelope, saying goodbye sadly to your friends who were injured at the party and your friends who fell in battle. You always took care of your siblings and us parents. Your concern was with those around you, but not with yourself. You ran in to save Magd 13, who was seriously
injured, and I'm very proud of you. I want to apologize so much that I didn't help you choose your path in the army before enlistment, out of fear for your safety. Yesterday we decided that it would be right for you to rest next to Sharon, your friend who was murdered at a party."
Major Ben Shelly, a resident of Kidron in the lowlands, is survived by his parents, Carmel and Moshe, and two younger brothers, Yam and Mika.
Carmel, Ben's mother, eulogized him: "When I became a mother, I decided that my job was to raise happy children. As a baby I let you make your choices, I believed in you to know the right limits. When you were born I thought I didn't need anything anymore, but every day you asked me when you would have a brother, and thanks to you we had a sea, how much you looked after and loved Yam. When Mika was born, you were already 12 years old and you told me you would take care of her.
You found the time to be with your little sister and now that Mika is a teenager you would come from the army and wave her in the air. Arieli came into our lives four years ago. I have many girls' hours with whom I tried to fill her loneliness. Ben loves Ariel and Ariel loves Ben like you've never seen before. I'm not saying goodbye to you. Send me signs. I love you little one."
Commander of Unit 669: "Unfortunately I was not by your side, but I imagine you standing tall and alert and confident in your ability to lead the mission. Doing everything with confidence and charisma that makes everyone follow you .
You were a commander with so many layers and depths, yet with humility and calmness
you had the courage to change. You had command maturity. You activated something in my heart that cannot be explained. From the beginning of the fighting, you did not stop. You are the commander that 669 needed at this time. The subordinates looked at you and followed you through fire and water. I'm more proud of you now than ever."
Ariel, my son's girlfriend, said: "My beloved, my best friend. It's not real, where did you go? We dreamed that we would get married, how scared I was of this moment, how anxious I was for you, you were my whole world. There wasn't a moment in the day when I didn't think about you. From the first moment we knew it was boundless love, as if we were both walking around the world ready for each other how much we loved and understood each other without words. We became the same person, I couldn't stop telling about you and being proud of you, my whole world was you, I was left alone.
How you loved this country, you are my hero. You died while charging to save lives. My love, I loved you more than anything, and I promise you that forever it will stay that way and will forever be my greatest love."
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