Memorial Fund - Team Paz IDF

Dear Friends,

My name is Re’em Oz, First Sargent in the Palchan Company of the Paratrooper Brigade in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). 

The Palchan is an elite unit (Special Forces) in charge of demolitions and combat engineering assignments for the brigade. To be accepted into the Palchan, one has to pass a rigorous 2-day try-out and then a rigorous week-long try-out both which test your physical and mental capabilities.  Those who survive the try out and are accepted into the unit are now faced with 14-months of training.  This training is one of the longest training periods in the Israeli army (Twice as long as the regular paratroopers training). For the first 6 months we undergo the regular paratroopers training and then for the next 8 months we begin there specialized training in reconnaissance, sabotage, explosive, engineering, and more.

Last summer a war broke out in the south of Israel (Gaza) with the Terrorist Organization Hamas. The Operation we were involved in was called Protective Edge. We were some of the first IDF units who entered the Gaza Strip and being a Special Forces unit, Palchan, was first on the front lines and went in the furthest, behind enemy lines.  One of our main missions was the destruction of enemy tunnels.  Even within Israeli Special Forces community, only a hand full of units were tasked with this important mission. 

A week into the ground invasion a great tragedy occurred to my newly trained team - "PAZ TEAM", as the name of our commander Paz. While finishing the first major missions and destroying all the tunnels in the area we were in, the order came to move north.  As the forces moved north, deeper into enemy territory, my company moved closer and closer into the heart of the city. Every team was to take over a strategic home on the way, where the goal is to set up a base of operations.  My commander and his group of four soldiers approached a house, when all of a sudden it exploded.  A huge flame could be seen for miles.  In this horrendous trap, the commander PAZ , along with LEE MAT, SHAHAR DAUBER and SHAHAR SHALEV, lost their lives.  We are forever changed, devastated and will never forget the memory of this loss.

In the IDF we are trained never to stop, and always complete the mission. With that mindset, and the training we received, we succeeded and destroyed more tunnels then almost any other unit.

Thankfully the war has ended we can now grieve our fallen brothers and continue to defend the state of Israel.

To honor the memories of our brothers, our goal is to build a place with a great view of our country where my team and I can have benches and large awnings with the names of PAZ ELIYAHU, LEE MAT, SHAHAR DAUBER and SHAHAR SHALEV on it.  To mark this place of honor we would like to place a large symbol made out of iron from our unit, the Palchan on a stone.

The place we have chosen is the middle of Israel, where we can see the Mediterranean Sea.  It is where we spent every Wednesday night of our 14-month training and where we climbed together arm in arm.  A place we can visit and bring our children and grandchildren someday to share the story of our fallen brothers.

Please consider helping us make sure their memory lives on forever.

Thank you,

Re’em Oz

Team Paz

PS - All funds in access of our goal will be donated to the Lone Soldiers Program @ Friends of the IDF. 

 

To view more pictures of PAZ TEAM please click or go to - https://pazteam.shutterfly.com/