The Story
When Israel declared her independence in May 1948, six Arab armies (Egypt, Trans-Jordan,
Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Kaukji's Army from the Galilee) descended upon her people
with thousands of troops and an air force replete with bombers and fighters. The
armies enthusiastically intended to fulfill the Arab League's promise to perpetrate
attacks on the Jewish people that would dwarf the massacres of Genghis Khan and
Adolf Hitler and prevent the Zionists' efforts to create a homeland.
In response to the invasion, 150 pilots came from around the world to meet the
air and land challenge. Never in history had a human event called to action such
a cross-section of people from all over the world: Americans, Europeans, Africans,
Jews, Christians, Holocaust Survivors, Mercenaries. This elite group of foreign
volunteers left behind the comforts of home and family and risked their citizenship
and lives in order to secure a homeland for the persecuted and devastated Jewish
people.
The valor and courage of these fighters is legendary. Their brave efforts and accomplishments
are nothing less than miraculous. They were the birth of the Israeli Air Force.
They were the birth of Israel. And without them there would be no Israel.