Widow of Israeli tank commander killed in Lebanon shares farewell letter

Ariel, the wife of Lt. Col. Dor Gedalya Ben Shimchon, commander of Armored Corps Battalion 52, published a heartbreaking goodbye letter on Saturday morning after he was killed overnight Thursday to Friday in southern Lebanon. In a Facebook post, she mixed the story of how they met, their life as a military couple, and her grief with a promise that their two daughters would know their father.

Ben Shimchon, 32, from Kibbutz Beit HaShita, was killed in the village of Tebnine in southern Lebanon along with three other soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces said that around 12:20 a.m. a suspicious target struck the tank of Battalion 52 forces operating in the area. He had taken command of the battalion only in April, after his predecessor was badly wounded in combat in southern Lebanon.

Ariel, herself a deputy battalion commander in the Military Intelligence and Borders Corps, wrote that they met eight years ago when she began studying at the Tactical Command College. She described their engagement in a kibbutz setting and recalled saying yes to the man she called funny, smart, and beautiful inside and out. She said their seven years together were the best years of her life, and that he left her with two daughters, Ayala and Gaia.

She also wrote about his role as a commander, saying he was “a commander who was a person of people” and “a commander of a mission.” Ben Shimchon had previously told Ynet from Lebanon that the battalion was carrying out “very significant actions” to improve Israel’s defense and that “the fighters here are writing history in real time.” He added that he had received “a sharp and experienced battalion” that did not stop at any challenge.

Ben Shimchon, known to friends as “Dabash,” was the fourth battalion commander in Battalion 52 to be hit in combat since the war began, after three predecessors were wounded. His wife promised to tell their daughters about him and ended her post by repeating the nickname she used under the wedding canopy, saying she loved him and would love him forever.