St.-Sgt. Erez Turgeman

Feb 19, 2002 - St.-Sgt. Erez Turgeman, 20, of Jerusalem was one of six soldiers killed in a terrorist attack near a roadblock west of Ramallah. Several terrorists opened fire at soldiers at the roadblock, including three off-duty soldiers inside a structure at the roadblock, killing them at point-blank range.

The attack took place at about 9 P.M., a few hours after the troops who had manned the Ein-Ariq outpost for the last few months handed the position over to replacements from the same corps. The outpost, consisting of a roadblock and a few temporary housing buildings, was manned by eight soldiers, five of whom were on guard at the time. Two or three Palestinians apparently opened simultaneous fire at the outpost from different directions, killing six soldiers and injuring one.

The oldest of four children, Erez Turgeman lived with his family in Jerusalem's Talpiyot neighborhood. He graduated from Ort Nevi'im high school and toured Japan before he joined the IDF. He was an enthusiastic soccer fan.

"Last week he was on a mission in Nablus," said Erez's younger brother, Tal. "He asked me not to tell mom and dad, not to worry them. He was very proud of his service, and he was happy when I began my army service. He believed that if you join the army you have to do everything you possibly can, and therefore he chose combat service."

"Erez was a wonderful child, who loved helping and giving," said his mother Etti. "He had a hard time at the beginning of basic training, but he continued."

St.-Sgt. Erez Turgeman was laid to rest in the military section of the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. He is survived by his parents, Shalom and Etti, two brothers, Tal (18) and Ziv (11), and his sister Dana (16).