Zvika Force

Syria invaded Israel in 1973 close to the Golan Heights. Zvika Greengold, a 21-year-old male, was one of the men who was resolved to stop them. After completing his hitchhiking trip to Nafekh Base, he was given the task of gathering the injured from two damaged Centurion tanks. As an alternative, Goldman and crew fixed the tanks and stopped a Syrian column of Russian T-55s. Zvika Force bluffed hordes of Syrian tanks and its own Israeli superiors into believing that there had to be more than one tank out there fighting dozens of foes after taking out six enemy tanks. They then swapped to the other tank to continue the battle.

Zvika Force eventually merged with a dozen other tanks. Zvika Force often had to defend Nafekh by itself while battling more than 100 extra tanks. After buying more than enough time to fortify the fortress and halt the onslaught, Zvika and his crew finally evacuated their Centurion tank after 30 hours. Later, the story received harsh criticism for being propaganda. Of course, some of his feats were exaggerated. For instance, several publications exaggerated Zvika Force's damage to 60 tanks, which Greengold himself claimed was absurd. Nevertheless, the valor of this skeleton tank crew could not be discounted.

Date: October 6, 1973