Itai Ofek Glisko

Sgt. Itay Ofek Glisko, 20, a soldier in the Golani Brigade, was killed in battle with Hamas terrorists on October 8.

A native of New Jersey who was living in Yokne’am Illit with his family, Glisko had enlisted in the IDF just eight months earlier.

His family said that he was not scheduled to be on base that day, but had swapped to help out a friend.

“He replaced the shift with his friend because his friend probably couldn’t go to the base at the moment, and Itay is Itay,” his cousin Dana told a local news outlet.

His family said he battled with Hamas terrorists for hours, while also working to treat wounded soldiers before he was ultimately killed.

“I want everyone in the world to know what he was, how he acted, what he did in his last moments. In his last breath, he fought like a hero. He didn’t give up, even when he knew he was going to die. He wrote it to my brother… I’m afraid but I’m staying and will fight like a hero,” Dana added.

Another cousin told The Daily Beast that Itay was “loved by everybody,” and was “a very nice mensch.”

His friend Ben Buskila eulogized Itay on Facebook as “my blood, the friend that was always with me… I knew you as well as I know myself, I followed you everywhere.”

“You protected your friends with your body, you sacrificed your soul, you looked at the terrorists and carried the wounded, you fought as long as your heart was beating,” Buskila wrote. “I’m asking you to watch over us from above, to talk to me in my dreams, to be next to me. I love you and I promise you we will do everything to avenge your blood. You will always be in my heart.”

The singer Moshe Peretz was present at his funeral, who performed his song "Mother's Hero". "I share in your sorrow. It is impossible to console or say words," said Peretz. "Dear Itai, I heard you liked my songs. I came to salute you and pay you my last respects."
Source: The Times of Israel