This IDF Commander Blew Our Minds and Touched Our Hearts | Tearjerker
Shoshi Tamam, well-known on social media for documenting her life as the wife of a career officer, spoke on Sunday about the harrowing moments surrounding the injury of her husband, the Deputy Commander of the 9th Battalion. In a series of Instagram stories, Shoshi revealed that even in his darkest hour, Boaz’s indomitable spirit never wavered.
Just one week ago, in the pitch-black silence between Sunday and Monday, a Kornet missile tore through the steel of an IDF tank, turning a routine operation into a scene of fire and sacrifice.
The strike claimed the life of Sergeant Liran Ben Zion, 19, a hero whose journey ended far too soon. But in the wreckage of that same tank, another story of survival was just beginning, one that has moved all of us to tears and unpseakable pride.
Major Boaz Tamam, the battalion’s deputy commander, was critically wounded in the blast.
Shoshi, his wife described how Boaz managed to extract himself from the tank, but collapsed when he tried to stand. "He realized his leg was severely injured. He applied a tourniquet to his own mangled leg, and his soldiers secured it a second later. He then got on the radio and reported that he was hit."
Despite the excruciating pain, Boaz remained in command of the situation.
Just before being lifted into the helicopter, he took the radio one last time to strengthen his men:
"You are the best there is. Keep fighting. Don't worry about me. Until the end, until victory."
As a rescue helicopter touched down to whisk him away, Boaz made a singular, selfless request. He insisted on being flown to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, not for the medical prestige, but for his wife, Shoshi. He wanted to ensure that the journey to his bedside would be as easy as possible for her.
Even as he was being prepped for a grueling surgery that would cost him his leg, Boaz’s mind wasn’t on the pain. It was on the woman who holds his heart. In a final call before being sedated, he spoke with the calm of a man going for a routine check-up.
"Sweetie, I’m 100%," he told Shoshi. "There’s something with my leg. If you want, come over. I’m good."
When he got to the hospital, doctors feared he would lose both legs. Eventually, doctors updated the family that while one leg was severely injured but functional, the other had been lost on the battlefield.
During surgery, the news grew more complex: "We were told the knee was crushed, and therefore they had to amputate above the knee. They told us he would be sedated and on a ventilator for a week."
However, Boaz defied medical expectations. Only a few hours after surgery, he woke up, was taken off the ventilator, and immediately asked for his phone to call Shoshi: "My soul, how are you?? I'm good! Come to me."
Shoshi described the emotional weight of their first meeting after the operation. "When I came to see him for the first time after he woke up, I burst into tears."
True to form, her husband took the lead in comforting her:
"Sweetie, it's all good. It’s just a leg. Look at me, I’m your Boaz. In two months, I’ll be running with you and the kids. I received the privilege to give my leg. They took it, but they didn't beat me. No one can ever defeat my spirit."
Shoshi concluded the moving account by telling her tens of thousands of followers that Boaz’s positivity is "contagious" in the hospital room. She emphasized that this strength didn't just appear the night the missile hit his tank, it is the essence of who he has been since the day he was born.
Instagram influencer Elyasaf Ezra beautifully pointed out:
In a world that looks to cinema for heroes, Boaz Tamam reminds us that the greatest strength doesn't come from a cape, but from a soul that refuses to break.
* He was at his lowest point, yet he lifted others.
* He was in maximum pain, yet he radiated love.
* He was physically weakened, yet he became a pillar of strength for his crew and his family.
Absolutely incredible heroism.