Gideon Giladi

Gideon Giladi was born in 1940 in Ashdot Ya'akov

Giladi was born on Kibbutz Ashdot Ya'akov to Ada and David, and went to the kibbutz elementary school. After the War of Independence the family left the kibbutz, spent a year in Kfar Yehoshua, and in 1950 moved to Neve Oz near Petah Tikva. He finished the Kadoorie agricultural school and was active in the United Movement.

He was drafted in July 1958 into a Nahal group and served in a paratrooper Nahal unit, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. After his release he trained as a machine officer in Haifa and worked for Mekorot. He married Ruth in 1961, and their first son, Dagan, was born a year later.

From 1962 to 1964 he worked at the Dead Sea Works in Sodom. He then moved with his family to Ashkelon, worked as a mechanic, and completed a course for garage managers.

He fought in the Six-Day War with the paratroopers, and his brother Amnon, a tank company commander, was killed in it. Giladi then joined the regular army in the Armored Corps, became an officer, and served in Sinai during the War of Attrition as a captain. He left regular service in 1970, the year his son Eran was born.

On 16 October 1973, in Operation Abirey Lev, he led his company to open the Tirtur road and was killed in the fighting. He was promoted to major after his death and buried in Kiryat Shaul military cemetery near his brother. A memorial to the two brothers stands in Ashkelon.