Lone Soldiers on page 16

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ve rrna r kO, OC/ a n d C ENTER O F MY U NIVERS E '. a re Tra de Ma r ks o f t he De Bee rs d rool, o f co rn

Stephanie Horwitz, 22,
West Bloomfield
Arthur Horwitz remembers the
text message he received from his
daughter Stephanie like it was yes-
terday. Stephanie, training to be a
tank shooting instructor in the IDF,
was elated about her recent accom-
plishment of nailing two targets
from her tank at 1,935 meters,
about 1.2 miles, during a training
exercise.
"I don't think it's a text mes-
sage that many fathers from the
United States receive, or anyone,
anywhere, for that matter;' said
Horwitz, JN publisher and execu-
tive editor.
Stephanie chose the unusual
road from an organizational stud-
ies major at the University of
Michigan to serving on the base

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day his unit hikes along the Syrian
border to make sure there are no
infiltrators or anyone who should
not be there.
"We ended paratrooper training
two months ago with a two-week
simulated war, and within those two
weeks we hiked around 200 kilo-
meters:' he said. "The last night we
hiked the final 60 kilometers to get
to the finish at Ammunition Hill,
where our ceremony started. When
we entered Jerusalem, there were
a lot of parents waiting for us, and
they actually walked the last mile
with us to the finish. My parents
were two of them, so that was really
special to have them with me."
His mother, Karen, said, "You
raise them to be supportive of Israel
and Zionistic and then, low and
behold, your son goes ahead and
puts his life on the line. It's scary,
but there is so much pride, too."
His father, Ken, said, "He was so
committed to this, and we really
were nothing but supportive; we
would only regret it if we were any
other way. This was his mission at
this point in his life."
Aaron has five months left of
service, after which he intends to
come back to the United States and
look for a job. As Yom HaAtzmaut
approaches, along with the anniver-
sary of the day he made his deci-
sion to join the IDF, Aaron says he
will look at this year's celebration in
a much different light.
"I think Yom HaZikaron and Yom
HaAtzmaut will definitely hit me a
little harder this year than previous
years:' Aaron said. "I am a soldier
now, and I'm sure I will embody a
different, more impactful sense of
pride knowing that I am doing what
I can to protect the country."

May 1 • 2014

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