Last update - 00:00 08/08/2007
142 soldiers to receive citations for service in 2nd Lebanon War
By Yuval Azoulay Haaretz Correspondent
Israel Defense Forces commanders will visit on Wednesday the homes of 142 soldiers who will be notified they are to receive citations or decorations for their service in the Second Lebanon War.
The citations destined for soldiers that were killed in battle will go to the families of the soldiers.
In early September, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi will give the citations and decorations to 38 soldiers in Tel Aviv's Mann Auditorium. The other 104 decorations will be granted to soldiers, including reservists, by their commanders.
The recipients were chosen by a committee, headed by General Yishai Bar, which set the criteria for receiving the citations.
"The incredible stories discovered during the war attest to the spirit of fighting that prevails among IDF soldiers, and they are a source of pride for the IDF," Ashkenazi said.
Throughout the last year, IDF officers expressed angrer over the media dealings with the failure of the war, and said that they had neglected tales of heroism and bravery of soldiers on the battlefield.
The IDF Spokesman's Office recently developed a special booklet marking the one-year anniversary of the star of the war, entitled "War Diary," which tells such tales. Outgoing IDF Spokeswoman Miri Regev said one of her goals is to tell the stories of heroism from their personal points of view.