Matan, the heroic combat soldier in the Golani brigade, had only completed his training two months before the terrorists invaded Israel. He got up on Shabbat morning in Kibbutz Nir Am, to guard the country's borders. When rockets painted the sky with smoke and sirens broke the Shabbat quiet, Matan was called to the armored vehicle that would take him and his fellow soldiers straight to the battlefield.
When they arrived, Matan and his unit organized themselves, and together with other brave soldiers and they fought fiercely. Under heavy fire and attack, they managed to eliminate many terrorists. When the fighting became particularly challenging and the team commander was no longer visible, the heroic Matan took command of his unit. The brave unit pushed forward in battle and at some point, he got out of the vehicle to enter into another battle with more terrorists.
Suddenly, one of the bullets hit him and everything changed. The heroic Matan was now in pain, but he gathered all his strength and managed to drag himself into the vehicle. Now his friends would protect him until he was in the arms of his parents again. Just before they started moving, a hand grenade was thrown into the vehicle.
Matan instantly realized that in a moment the grenade would explode and kill everyone sitting in the vehicle. He jumped on the grenade to save his friends but was now seriously wounded. He told the team that he tried to do everything for the country.
At his funeral, his friends related that he always achieved what he wanted through hard and dedicated work. During his training, Matan was given the award of an outstanding fighter of his brigade, and he was given his commander's personal beret, a gift that is a symbol of great appreciation. They say he was a quiet and humble young man - so humble that even his parents didn't know about these achievements, until his graduation ceremony. Matan didn't even get to tell them his last story. They heard about him as a legend from combatants who came to mourn the hero who saved them with his own body.
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