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1st LT. Anton Syomin doesn’t give up easily. He insisted on serving in the paratroop brigade despite having sustained serious injuries. He did not retreat when faced with death during the battle in Bint Jbeil in the Second Lebanon War and was subsequently awarded a Medal of Courage. Neither did he give up when Operation Cast Lead was launched. He put his studies aside and joined the battle. Yesterday (Saturday) he was injured in an exchange of fire with terrorists in northern Gaza. “I can’t wait to return to my unit,” he said last night.
Just before dawn yesterday morning paratroop forces came under sniper fire. In the ensuing exchange of fire deputy company commander Sivman, sustained leg injuries and was evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon several hours later with shrapnel wounds in his leg.
Last night Syomin, aged 24, moved around in a wheel chair and showed signs of impatience. “I was injured by shrapnel, nothing serious,” he insisted. Anton had already called his friends and girlfriend to report on his condition and told them that in the past week he and his soldiers had had several close-range encounters with bands of terrorists and had uncovered several explosive charges, tunnels and booby-trapped houses.
Anton came to Israel from Kazakhstan in 2002 and was granted lone soldier status. He volunteered to the paratroop brigade but several months later he was badly injured in a parachuting accident in which both his legs were crushed. He underwent treatment and was discharged from the army with a greatly reduced medical profile.
Anton was determined to return to the army and dedicated the next four months to his rehabilitation, after which he appeared before the IDF’s medical board and insisted on regaining combat profile status. The board agreed and Anton was sent to a squad commander course which he completed successfully. He was then posted as a squad commander in the spearhead company of the Paratroopers’ 890 Battalion.
During the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006 Anton went up north with his soldiers to fight the Hizbollah. His team reached Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. “In our house-to-house searches we clashed with some terrorists. Suddenly they opened fire from one of the rooms.” Anton went on to describe the events of the ensuing battle that raged a week before the end of the war, and for which he received the Medal of Courage, the second highest award in the IDF. “The squad commander, Staff Sergeant Malko Ambao, was hit by machinegun fire. I didn’t know his condition, I didn’t know that he had been killed on the spot.”
With bullets flying everywhere, Anton crawled into the house and forcibly dragged the injured soldier out. At the same time he lobbed a hand grenade at the terrorist, who fired back and hit Anton in the back. Fortunately he was wearing a bullet-proof vest and his life was saved. Anton regrouped his troops and they once again stormed the house. “Suddenly I saw a terrorist with his gun aimed at me,” Anton recalls. “I shot him and he fired back. One bullet hit my fingers and my eyes and shoulder were hit by shrapnel.”
The battle ended when the four terrorists in the house and another eight outside were killed. Anton, who was injured, ordered his troops to leave the house and move, while exchanging fire with Hizbollah terrorists, to the house where the IDF doctors were. It was there that Malko was certified dead. Anton had lost one of his fingers. “I didn’t focus on my injuries, only on the mission,” he said, adding, “As the mission commander I needed to lead my troops. Who else would have done it?”
The evacuation of soldiers from Bint Jbeil took two days. During all that time Anton insisted on remaining with his soldiers in the field. He remained with them as long as the platoon did not receive instructions to leave the area. He was hospitalized and underwent months of rehabilitation, after which he was invited to return to his battalion as a deputy company commander. Anton was recently informed by his commander that when he completes his studies his next position will be that of company commander in Battalion 890 – where he grew up.
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