Today was Yom Hazikaron and tonight is Yom Ha'atzmaut. Since we got here, the weather has been incredible, and this continued today. We began the day at Ammunition Hill, which I had seen already. There, at 11 AM, the siren sounded and the entire nation came to a halt. This was an amazing moment. Unlike in the US, everyone here truly has a personal connection to the soldiers, as well as a real love for the State..
From there, we went to Latrun, which I had also seen already.
There, we saw tanks and a movie. We ate lunch at Canada Park,
which was very nice. Afterwards, we went to Yad LaYeled, the children's
memorial in Yad Vashem. We had a brief ceremony there. Next we
went to Har Herzl, the military cemetery. After dinner, we went
to Ben Yehuda street. Everyone was celebrating Yom Ha'atzmaut.
People were walking around with spray confetti and toy hammers,
"attacking" any random stranger in their path. Most
of the night was spent in a combination of eating, drinking, dancing,
having confetti wars, and generally just wandering around and
having a great time. There was a feeling of camaraderie between
everyone there, totally unhindered by the fact that people did
not know one another.
[description of Thursday, April 14, 1994 - Yom Ha'atzmaut]
We began Yom Ha'atzmaut with a program at the Shalom hotel. We ate at the hotel, and danced in celebration. After a few hours there, we went to Palmachim air force base, for a special program.
Palmachim was the third time the entire march was together at the same place, at the same time, and this alone created an excited atmosphere. At the base, there were fighter jets, missiles, tanks, and other military equipment set up for us to look at. We went around with a guide and checked out the latest high-tech weaponry. After the tour, we had a special air show, performed just for us. We saw attack helicopters fly in formation and fire missiles right over out heads, hitting their targets, which we saw explode. They also performed search-and-rescue missions, finding and safely rescuing soldiers who were stranded in the woods, while at the same time, avoiding "enemy" fire. On a technical level, the show was completely amazing. It had even more impact, though, on an emotional level. Standing in Israel, on Yom Ha'atzmaut, seeing the power of the Israeli army, one of the world's greatest, filled me with pride. It made me appreciate just how far we had come since the Shoah.
After the air show, we gathered at another part of the base for
a barbecue - for 4,500, not exactly your everyday cookout. By
this time, it was already beginning to get dark, but we were far
from tired. We went to an area of the base that had been set up
with a stage and lots of chairs. There, we had a ceremony, followed
by a concert. Several performers took the stage - the types of
music ranged from Jewish, to Israeli, to American rock, and several
types in between. It did not take long for us to get up on the
chairs, singing at the top of our lungs and dancing, while the
sky was filled with fireworks and a laser-light show. By the time
the concert was finally over, we returned to our busses exhausted
from a long and exciting day, but still on a great emotional high.
continue...
