IDF Veterans Bring Grandfather’s Yom Kippur War APC Home to Israeli Museum

Avia Chatroni from Kibbutz Be'eri dreamed of showing his grandson Yanai the armored personnel carrier (APC) his unit fought with during the Yom Kippur War. In 2023, a year before the October 7 massacre, Chatroni took his grandsons Liel and Yanai to the "Yad LaShiryon" armored corps museum in Latrun to see tanks and heavy vehicles. Yanai asked where his grandfather’s APC was, but the museum had none from that war, only a Jordanian trophy from the Six-Day War. Disappointed, Chatroni contacted his friend Ziva Zohar, who promised to bring the APC to Latrun so he could show it to his grandsons.

Four years later, on September 18, the veterans of Chatroni’s unit, the 10th Armored Personnel Carrier Company of the 184th Battalion, will gather at the museum alongside their former commander, retired General Amnon Reshef, and current Armored Corps commander Brigadier General Or Wolozinsky. However, Chatroni and his grandsons will not be there; they were murdered in the October 7 massacre at Be'eri. A special plaque will be placed near the APC in their memory.

Despite the tragedy, the unit’s members raised 600,000 shekels to purchase an intensive care ambulance named after Chatroni and his grandsons and continued efforts to acquire the APC. Reshef, who was the battalion commander during the war, helped navigate the complex process involving the Israeli Defense Ministry and the U.S. State Department, as the APC is American-made and required special approval for civilian transfer.

In February 2024, the APC arrived in Israel, fulfilling Chatroni’s wish posthumously. Zohar recalls crying with emotion upon hearing the news, determined to keep her promise to Chatroni. The APC’s arrival symbolizes both the unit’s legacy and the personal loss suffered by the Chatroni family and their comrades.