The following was written this week by a lone soldier who recently served over 250 days in reserve duty, and is currently living in Colorado who must remain anonymous for security reasons. He sent it to me so that I could share it. 100,000 reservists have been mobilized for Operation Lion’s Roar. Hundreds of thousands more continue to serve in active duty.

I sit on my balcony as I write this, an almost full moon peers through light clouds on an unseasonably warm winter evening. Other than the occasional passing car, it is quiet, and I find the quiet serene.

I live in a small town in Colorado where the locals often make much ado about nothing much. I’m the only Israeli in my friend group here and the only Jew. On occasion, I make the drive to the Chabad in Denver to stay in touch with my Jewish roots, and to have some home-cooked Jewish food.

I served for almost 250 days in my reserve Combat Search and Rescue unit following the October 7th attack. Two tours of duty were spent with my unit and three tours with units I volunteered with. But on my quiet balcony, there is little here that reminds me, that once again, there is a war raging in Israel.

I check on my friends in Israel daily, many of whom have brought their families to temporarily live in various municipalities’ bomb shelters. I watch the news and see the pictures of the destruction from the Iranian missiles falling on civilians in Israel. Though perplexing to my friends here in Colorado, I yearn to be in Israel.

On Friday, February 27th, I received a phone call and a few text messages from the system that informed me that my unit was recalled to Active Miluim (reserve) duty. My Miluim unit’s group chat was already buzzing about the recall to active duty, so it was not unexpected. My officer is aware that I am living in America now, and returning is currently impossible.

My first thought was, “How much can one Lone Soldier impact a conflict like this?”

My next thought was, “If every soldier felt that way, we would have no soldiers.”

If the war drags on, planes will begin flying soldiers back to Israel to rejoin their units. If that happens, I will be on one of those flights. I will land at the airport, take a bus to wherever my unit is stationed, put my IDF uniform on, and, as I have done time and time again, rejoin the fight.

There is no other option.

I am but a single Lone Soldier who lives far from Israel in his small town in Colorado. Worlds away, both in distance and day-to-day life, from the pain felt in Israel right now. But when Israel cries out that war has come, and it is time to defend the Jewish State, I will always answer that call. For no matter where this Jewish Lone Soldier resides, the existence and defense of Israel is existential to my survival and the survival of all Jews.

For more information on supporting lone soldiers during this war, visit https://lonesoldiercenter.com/donate.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)