‘I don’t want to say kaddish for my son’: Tamir Vaknin, soldier killed in Lebanon, laid to rest

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, one of two soldiers killed yesterday by an explosive device in Lebanon, is laid to rest in the military cemetery in his hometown of Eilat.

Vaknin, 33, is survived by his parents and two brothers. He is described by Channel 12 as a talented tech worker who decided not to pursue a career in the United States because he wanted to remain close to his family. His brother tells Channel 12 that he served several tours in reserve duty in recent years.

“I don’t want to say kaddish for my son,” his father Shimon says through tears after reciting the mourning prayer at the funeral.

“Everyone loved you,” his father says in his eulogy, according to Hebrew media reports. “I told you, don’t be the first or the last. You laughed and said it didn’t work that way. You didn’t tell me when you went into Lebanon, you didn’t want to worry me.”

He continued, “How is it that I’m burying my son instead of walking beside him at his wedding?”