Dan Gordon: Honor Thy Father

On October 7th, 2023 retired Major General Noam Tibon and his wife Gali were enjoying an early morning swim in the Mediterranean Sea when rockets began falling on Tel Aviv and all of southern Israel. When the rocket barrage finally ended they came out of the water and found a message from their son who, together with his wife and two toddler girls, lived in a small farming village called Nachal Oz near the Gaza border. The message was a horrifying one. Terrorists were not only in their kibbutz but at their doorstep...and the army was nowhere around. Something had gone dreadfully wrong. Without hesitating the Grandpa General grabbed his pistol and two magazines and he and his wife, Grandma Gali raced South to rescue their son, daughter in law and grand children. On the way General Tibon realized this was no simple terrorist infiltration. He was in the middle of the worst war in Israel's history and the terrorists were at his grandchildren's door. He dropped off his wife at a small shelter and continued South. On the way he was in two fire fights, killed several terrorists, rescued a young couple and a young soldier who was gravely wounded and arrived in Nachal Oz in time to lead the counter attack that stopped the terrorists and saved his family.