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From this moment, the morning of October 16th, the number "87" disappeared from the order of battle of the 143rd division and was erased from the boards of the Command Posts. Nevertheless, the warriors of the 87th continued the fight within their new units, mainly the 184th and the 79th tank Battalions, until the cease-fire. On October 17th, an improvised tank company, commanded by lieutenant Yair Litvitz, that had joined the 79th tank battalion participated in a successful battle in the division's southern sector area against forces of the Egyptian 3rd army trying to interfere with the Canal crossing. On October 18th, the 184th battalion participated in the final and successful effort to gain control of the key area around the "Tirtur-Lexicon" junction, but the crews of the 87th again paid a price of 6 more APC warriors who were killed in this action. On October 21st, the former CO of "A" company, Captain Rafi Mitzafon, who had been injured and evacuated to hospital from where he "escaped", was killed while serving as deputy CO of a battalion within the 600th brigade. The dispersed warriors of the 87th continued the battle on the western bank of the Suez Canal, almost reaching Ismailia, when cease-fire was announced on October 22nd at 1900 hrs.. In the last minutes before the fighting stopped, 3 tanks from the 87th, attached to the paratroopers, were hit and burned in the southern sector of Ismailia, 4 crewmen being killed.

'H' company crossing the Suez Canal

Several weeks later, the 87th was re-created as a light reconnaissance unit of the 143rd division, with APC's and jeeps, including jeeps carrying TOW anti-tank missile launchers. The new CO was Lieutenant-Colonel Amatzia ("Patzi") Chen, a seasoned veteran who commanded the famous "Shaked" reconnaissance unit during the "War of Attrition" following the Six Day War. "Shaked" veterans and many of the 87th's warriors joined together to form this unit, that performed reconnaissance and patrols in the whole division sector. During this activity, the 87th suffered its last casualty, a young APC driver who was killed by a direct hit by an anti-tank missile on January 12th.

The 87th was 'born' just 5 months before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War and was decimated in battle. But the 87th had gained an honored prominent place in the history of the IDF, being remembered as the unit that located the critical corridor between the Egyptian armies and later lead the way to the Canal crossing and to the turning point of the War.

The last 3 tanks of the 87th. to be destroyed - in the southern outskirts of Ismailia, at the time of cease-fire on Oct. 22nd.

The commander of the 143rd armored division, Major-General Arik Sharon, later to become Prime Minister of the Government of Israel, wrote in a letter to the veterans of the 87th:

Egyptian Prisoners

"At the moment of the cease-fire, when I was standing in the outskirts of Ismailia watching the last tanks of the 87th burning, I saw before my eyes the unit's warriors as I saw them on the day of Yom Kippur. I remembered the expression of resolve on their faces, and I knew now that they had not disappointed. Many of them did not live to see the end of the war, but they were the men that made the end of the war possible. I have known many battalions throughout my military career; the 87th was among the finest of them all."

Additional Sources:

www.cnn.com
lexicorient.com
www.mideastweb.org

Post Scriptum: The 87th suffered altogether 112 casualties during the war, 45 of whom were killed in action – including two successive battalion CO's and two company CO's.

Major Yoav Brom was posthumously promoted to rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and in addition received the Medal of Courage. Captain Rafi Bar-Lev and Captain Rafi Mitzafon were both posthumously promoted to rank of Major.

Lieutenant-Colonel Bentzi Carmeli was posthumously awarded a citation of valor by the IDF Chief-of-Staff.

The 87th armored reconnaissance battalion was formed urgently when the winds of war started blowing, five months before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. Its personnel was a combination of young warriors from elite units and seasoned recon veterans. On the third day of the war it was the 87th that alone held the front line in a critical area against superior enemy forces, on the night between the fourth and fifth day it was the 87th that went on a scouting mission behind enemy lines and located the weak border area between the two Egyptian armies. And in the great operation "Knights of Hearts" – the crossing of the Suez Canal, that finally turned the tides of war, it was the 87th that spearheaded the attack and lead General Sharon's division ("Pillar of Fire") to the brink of the Canal. And there, in the terrible night battle, the 87th ceased to exist as a coherent fighting unit. But its valiant warriors had had a great impact on the battle on the Egyptian front, and the survivors would go on fighting within other units until the end of the war.

Because of its short life span, and the large number of casualties (112, including 45 killed in action) that included unit and subunit commanders, the unit's legacy evaporated and was left to oblivion for many years. The warriors were assigned to other reserve units and lost contact with each other and with the bereaved families of the fallen. But lately, a group of 87th veterans "Legacy of the 87th." has taken up the challenge of restoring the units legacy to its deserved place in IDF's history. A veterans' convention is to be held at the IDF Armored Corps Memorial Site in May 2005.