First Sergeant Major Avi afner
Avi loved books. He used to tell his army friends about the books he loved…when he went up to the north for the last time, he took with him [the book] “His whole life is ahead of him”.
Raaya, his mother: “Avi always asked questions and never took anything for granted. That wasn’t always in his favor, but I think that it was respectable. As a person who believes, he also had his own path. I was very worried about him throughout his service because most of the time he was in Lebanon and that period of time was awful. He made sure to share with us what he was going through and tried to calm us down. Avi already prepared himself for his day of release: he got his motorcycle license, [and] rented an apartment in Tel Aviv. He wanted to take on the world and he had a lot of dreams that unfortunately he wasn’t able to fulfil. He once said that he wanted to travel to Alaska, sit in a cottage, smoke a pipe and write a book.”
Yossi, his father: “In his nature, Avi got along with everyone and gave his all for the sake of his friends. He had a hard time in the army and I always told him not to ask questions or argue. During his service, his relationship with his brothers became stronger and he matured and became more open. On the night of the tragedy we knew that he was on the helicopters, but we thought that he went up in the afternoon. Slowly, the events became clearer and everything suddenly became dark.”
Raaya, his mother: “Avi always asked questions and never took anything for granted. That wasn’t always in his favor, but I think that it was respectable. As a person who believes, he also had his own path. I was very worried about him throughout his service because most of the time he was in Lebanon and that period of time was awful. He made sure to share with us what he was going through and tried to calm us down. Avi already prepared himself for his day of release: he got his motorcycle license, [and] rented an apartment in Tel Aviv. He wanted to take on the world and he had a lot of dreams that unfortunately he wasn’t able to fulfil. He once said that he wanted to travel to Alaska, sit in a cottage, smoke a pipe and write a book.”
Yossi, his father: “In his nature, Avi got along with everyone and gave his all for the sake of his friends. He had a hard time in the army and I always told him not to ask questions or argue. During his service, his relationship with his brothers became stronger and he matured and became more open. On the night of the tragedy we knew that he was on the helicopters, but we thought that he went up in the afternoon. Slowly, the events became clearer and everything suddenly became dark.”