15 Facts About Zvika Greengold

Zvi Greengold is a former Israel Defense Forces officer who fought during the 1973 Yom Kippur War as a tank commander.

Zvika Greengold is one of only eight people who fought in the war to be awarded the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest medal for heroism.

Zvi Greengold was born and raised on Kibbutz Lohamey HaGeta'ot.

Zvika Greengold's parents were among the founders of the kibbutz.

On 6 October 1973, Yom Kippur day, twenty-one-year-old Lieutenant Zvika Greengold was home on leave when Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack on two fronts.

Zvika Greengold was not attached to any unit as he was about to take a course for company commanders.

Greengold's Koah Zvika spotted tanks belonging to the Syrian Army's 51st Independent Tank Brigade, which had broken through the line and were advancing unopposed northwest along the road to Nafekh.

Zvika Greengold's tank was damaged, so he switched tanks and sent his original tank back for repairs.

Zvika Greengold engaged the enemy, taking advantage of the darkness and moving constantly to fool the Syrians into thinking the opposition was stronger than it was.

Zvika Greengold destroyed or damaged ten enemy armoured vehicles before the confused Syrians withdrew, believing they were facing a sizable force.

At a time when Zvika Greengold Force consisted of only one tank, Colonel Yitzhak Ben-Shoham, a brigade commander, assumed it to be "of at least company strength".

Zvika Greengold fought for the next 20 hours, sometimes alone, sometimes in conjunction with other tanks, and displayed an uncanny knack for showing up time and time again at the critical moment to tip the scales of a skirmish.

Zvika Greengold had to change vehicles "half a dozen times" as his tanks were knocked out.

Zvika Greengold took charge of one undamaged tank, while the other two carried away the wounded.

Zvika Greengold was one of the founders of the vegetarian food company Tivall and the managing director of Frutarom chemical company.