Fallen MIA IDF Commander Returns Home
Sergeant 1st Class Zachary Baumel’s last words to his parents were “Don’t worry, everything is okay, but it looks like I won’t be home for a while.” After 37 years, Sergeant 1st Class Zachary Baumel has finally returned home.
03.04.19
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In 1982, during the First Lebanon War, Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel, an IDF tank commander, went missing in action (MIA). Today, we finally brought this fallen soldier home to Israel for a proper burial.
For decades the Israeli intelligence community and the MIA Allocation Team have undertaken various intelligence, research, and operational efforts in order to locate and recover the remains of those who are MIA.
The IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate initiated Operation Bittersweet Song, and following a month’s long process which was just completed in the past few days, the body of Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel was located, identified, and recovered.
Battle of Sultan Yacoub
On the night of June 10, 1982, the IDF’s 362nd Armored Battalion entered the Beqaa Valley in the eastern region of the Sultan Yaaqoub sector in Lebanon. The Israeli battalion found itself facing the Syrian 1st Armored Division alongside forces from Palestinian terrorist organizations.
At dawn on June 11, the IDF battalion began to exchange fire with the enemy. Later that morning, at around 9:00 AM, the IDF battalion withdrew and relocated southward in order to reconnect with the rest of the IDF troops in Jabal Arba and Talat Abu-Amar. While most of the battalion moved quickly, eight IDF tanks remained behind and were captured by the Syrian Armed Forces and the Palestinian terror organizations.
By the end of the battle, 20 IDF soldiers were killed in action, an additional 30 were wounded, and five soldiers were captured and went MIA. Two of the five captured soldiers were returned in June 1984 and May 1985 respectively.
The three other soldiers who went MIA were Sergeant First Class Yehuda Katz, Sergeant First Class Tzvi Feldman and Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel.
After 37 years, the body of one of the MIA soldiers, Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel, has finally been recovered and returned to Israel.
The IDF will continue to look for all of those who are MIA and hopes to return its soldiers home.
