Posted on 02/11/2003 7:26:53 AM PST by yonif
February 11th, 2003
Col. Ilan Ramon's remains were identified by NASA on Febuary 5, 2003 and yesterday, Febuary 10, his flag draped coffin was flown home to Israel. A morose ceremony was held in Lod Air Force Base, with Ilan's family, Israeli politicians, Army leadership, NASA representatives and schoolchildren present.
Eight of Col. Ramon's fellow air force colonels carried his coffin into the hanger, as Col. Ramon's son, Assaf, wearing his father's bright blue NASA flight jacket, wrapped his arms around his younger brother, whilst wiping tears from his eyes. Rona Ramon, Ilan's wife, held their five year old daughter in her lap, as she sat next to Ilan's 79 year old father, Eliezer Wolferman.
Israeli school children who had designed scientific experiments for Ilan to perform in space, attended the ceremony and stood speechless, with tears in their eyes.
"If I had been born in space, I would have aspired to visit our wondrous planet earth much more than I would ever have wanted to visit space," read Ilan Ramon's widow, Rona, from a letter written by astronaut Dave Brown, also killed in the Columbia tragedy. She added, "We don't only feel like representatives from the Ramon family, we feel like we are representatives of all the families of the astronauts who were killed on board Columbia."
Israeli President Moshe Katsav gave a eulogy for Col. Ramon in which he said, "This one man knew how to capture all aspects of the Jewish people in the twinkle of his eyes, even before his death. We all basked in his magic, and we all felt fondness toward him."
Katsav also read an email that Ilan had sent to him from space and commented, "The pleasantness of Ilan's ways, his faith, his courage, his readiness to sacrifice, his responsibility and his decision to take with him to space symbols that represented the Jewish people and Israel, demonstrated to all humanity, Ilan's unique place as a Jew and as an Israeli."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also paid tribute to Col. Ramon in a speech and noted, "His youthful face, his eternal smile, his fresh countenance, the twinkle in his eyes - penetrated our souls. His image, projected from above, was a reflection of Israel at it's best - Israel as we would love to see it - the Israel we love."
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told mourners, "An entire people will feel the pain as he is laid to rest."
Air Force Chief Major General Dan Halutz read an air force poem concluding with the line: "Bring the pilot's soul to land safely on the runway of eternal rest."
An IAF Lt. Col. played the song, "You will hear my voice calling you from far away," a song that Rona Ramon had beamed up to the shuttle for Ilan, on the saxophone.
Ilan Ramon, 48, was the son of a holocaust survivor and was one of Israel's top air force pilots. He had logged thousands of hours of flight time in F-16 fighter jets and had fought in two wars. He and his family had moved to Texas several years ago as Col. Ramon prepared for his space flight. As a tribute to holocaust survivors, Ilan had carried with him into space a drawing by 14 year old Jewish boy, Peter Ginz, who was killed in Auschwitz, depicting the Earth as seen from the moon.
Col. Ramon was Israel's first astronaut and was a source of great national pride to Israelis and Jews around the world. He will be buried today, February 11, in a private ceremony, in the Nahalal cemetery where Moshe Dayan is also buried.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.