St.-Sgt. Victor Ariel

Sep 30, 2004 - St.-Sgt. Victor Ariel, 20, of Kadima, a medic in the Shimshon Battalion, was killed by a grenade thrown by a Hamas terrorist as he ran to treat Shulamit Batito, whom terrorists shot dead as she was jogging near her home in Nissanit in the Gaza Strip.

A devoted student of karate since the fourth grade, Ariel eventually became an instructor who taught an entire generation of children on his moshav.

"It's always the good ones who go, and you always hear about the 'flowers' that were cut off in their prime," recalled Moshiko, a childhood friend. "And it's so painful to say this about someone you grew up with -- but Victor really was a flower. If I had to think about someone who contributed to the community, that's Victor. For whole summers long, when everyone was on vacation, he'd come and train the kids in karate. He virtually raised the next generation on Kadima."

St.-Sgt. Victor Ariel is survived by his parents, Esther and Shlomo, and three sisters. He was buried in the Kadima Cemetery.