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Most Israelis were at home or in synagogue when news of the war broke on Oct. 6, 1973. Harel, a uni- versity student, was serving on the front line at the Bar-Lev Line opposite Egypt, one of 436 soldiers stationed at posts along the 110-mile-long Suez Canal. Harel said his reserve unit — the 68th infantry battalion — had reported armored vehicle movements and sightings of Egyptian troops sus- piciously wearing helmets, and won- dered why they didn't get a reaction to their reports from those higher up. Harel, who is Orthodox, attended a Kol Nidre service with other soldiers at the Milano post on Friday night. As they rested Saturday to gather strength for their fast, the company comman- der held a briefing. Intelligence reports, he said, warned of a possible Egyptian shelling later that day. Before the briefing was completed, a barrage of shells came crashing down on Milano. "It caught us completely off guard," said Harel. Some soldiers jumped for cover behind benches before the corn- pany commander ordered all troops to the bunker. Harel was sent to the observation tower to see what was happening. "It was a frightening scene," he recalled. "Rubber boats carrying Egyptian soldiers were crossing the canal. Hundreds of Egyptian troops were mobilizing." The troops at Milano didn't realize how serious things were until they heard on the radio that Israel was under an all-out attack. Recalling the national pride after the 1967 Six-Day War when Israel swiftly defeated the Arab armies, Harel said, "We were sure that within minutes, the air force would come in and crush the Egyptians." Instead, Harel saw several Israeli planes fly in and get shot down. He and his company commander opened fire on the rafts, sinking sever- al, but failed to provide a formidable response to the massive movement of Egyptian troops across the canal. A shell exploded, throwing shrapnel into the commanding officer's face and Harel's elbow. His scars remain today. In the bunker, two soldiers were dead. Making matters worse, the com- pany doctor had gone into shell shock. At night, the shells fell relentlessly. By Sunday morning, four were dead, six more wounded. Morale was low. Several posts along the canal had been completely wiped out. Somehow, the company repelled Egyptian troops from the compound five times, before an order was issued at 10 p.m. Sunday to abandon the post and head to a base about 15 miles north. Since many posts already had been overrun, the air force planned to shower the Israeli side of the Suez Canal with bombs. Harel's company had to leave the corpses of their friends behind as they set out on foot. All night, the troops played cat and mouse with the Egyptian army. There were some 30,000 Egyptian troops swarming the Israeli side. On Monday morning, trekking through the Sinai Desert, Harel's corn- pany found a resting place among some shrubbery. For the first time since Yom Kippur began more than two days earlier, they ate the little food they had. One soldier had man- aged to salvage his prayer shawl and tefillin. Secular and religious soldiers alike took turns donning the tefillin. Then, they heard an approaching rank. A soldier put his ear to the ground to listen to the tank treads. -It's one of ours," he said. Immediately, he grabbed the tallit, ran up a hill, and spread the prayer shawl like a flag to signal the tank. The Israeli tank crew in the dis- tance tried to decipher the signal. One crew member thought it was a tallit, but the commander thought it was a kaffiyeh, or Arab headdress, and almost opened fire. In the end, the tallit was recognized and the tank steered for the soldiers. The weary 20 soldiers piled onto the tank and were transported to base — survivors of the approximately 60 men who started Yom Kippur at Milano.