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.
The Aviators
