Sergeant Major (Res.) Ilan Fiorentino of blessed memory, 38-year-old civilian security coordinator at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, went into battle as soon as he heard the alarm. He received a phone call from the mother of a boy who, out for a morning run, had found himself under fire. Fiorentino rescued the boy and drove home, where the boy stayed together with Ilan’s wife and daughters in the family’s safe room. Fiorentino returned to the battle and tried to hold back the terrorists. While earning precious time for the people of the kibbutz, he managed to contact his deputy, Nissan Dekalo, who lived in another neighborhood of the kibbutz, and tell the emergency squad to board their armored vehicle. Together with Barry Meyerowitz, also of the emergency squad, Fiorentino and Dekalo waged a three-man battle against dozens of terrorists. Ilan Fiorentino fell under the terrorists’ fire, leaving a wife and three daughters. May he rest in peace.
