Widow of Fallen Battalion Commander Shares Heartbreaking Farewell on Facebook

Ariel Biton Ben Shimhon posted an emotional farewell on Facebook after the death of her husband, Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimhon, who was killed in fighting in southern Lebanon. She described him as a commander who was both “a person of people” and “a commander of the mission,” and said he gave her “the 7 best years of my life.”

In the post, she retraced how they met eight years ago at the Tactical Command College, when he came to brief a traffic-accident inquiry. “I just wondered to myself, how can there not be some devastatingly handsome guy here for me? ואז you came up to give the briefing,” she wrote, recalling that she immediately thought, “Oh. There he is.” She said their relationship grew into an engagement at a kibbutz, “in your most beautiful landscape.”

Ben Shimhon wrote that she said yes to “the smile with all the face,” to his intelligence, to “the love that came in many ways,” and even to “the kibbutznik who dared to get married in shorts and Teva Naot sandals.” She said that as a military family, their shared time was always measured between leave and operations. “In net, we were together for a few months, but in gross, you gave me the 7 best years of my life,” she wrote.

She added that they built a family together and left her with “two of the most amazing girls in the world.” Dor served as battalion commander for only two months before his death. “Two months as battalion commander is not enough,” she wrote, adding that she knew he would not have wanted to die any other way and calling him the commander she wishes for every IDF soldier. She closed by saying, “I had the privilege of being the love of your life while you were alive. So for the last time, my beloved commander, here is your beloved commander. I love you and will love you forever, end.”