This is the story of the life and death of Lt. Col. Avi Lanir. 1940-1973. The most senior pilot who was captured by the Syrians in the Yom Kippur War, as told by his family members, his subordinates and his comrades in the Air Force over the years.
Yael Yanai weaved from the memoriesLeft behind is a deep, complex and beautiful story about a vibrant life, which has orders and briefings and investigations and family and love and wounds and hopes.
"The central dialogue of my life is with my father. All my life I have been working to preserve this memory. Trying to hold on to pre-war memories. The two of us together in the bath... airplanes taking off... father and son spending time... short conversations... flying together." ---Noam Lanir
"I could not put the book down for a moment - a whole night - without a break - until I finished the last page.
You managed to write such a true story - touching exposed and painful nerves, but presenting my father and the entire family in such a humane light, free of fakes, hindsight, clichés.
The book evokes in me today, 45 years after my second sergeant period, 50 years after my father fell, a lot of familiar feelings, memories that are sharpened, the smell of fuel and the cockpit of a Mirage photo, the picture of the piper in the sight, the mechanic who ties you up, the standby in the pads, patrols For interception, mistakes and flight accidents.
Thanks to commanders like Avi Lanir - the Air Force is the best in the world. Not because of the planes, not because of the weapons, not because of the budgets. It is the quality people, the culture of investigation and the operational focus that have made it an outstanding organization - Israel's insurance certificate for decades.
I was moved, I learned, I remembered, and I shed a tear...
With great friendship, Amos Yadlin
