Sgt. Guy Bazak, 19: Golani, scout leader ‘destined for greatness’
Killed battling Hamas terrorists next to the Kissufim IDF outpost on October 7
Sgt. Guy Bazak, 19, a Golani soldier from Kochav Yair, was killed on October 7 while battling Hamas at the Kissufim IDF outpost.
His sister, Tamar, told Ynet that she messaged him that morning when the rockets began, and “Guy told me that the ground in the base was shaking and even recorded the loud booms that were sounding.” But soon after, he stopped answering, she said, and even though she herself was called up to reserve duty, she wasn’t worried about Guy: “I kept writing to him, I was sure that I would soon receive a response. I was always convinced that he was OK, because it was Guy. Nothing could happen to him, he was the strongest.”
Later that night, his family received the news that he had been killed in the battle.
He is survived by his parents, Carmit and Yuval, and his sisters Tamar and Adi. He was buried in Kochav Yair on October 11.
Growing up, he was an active member of his local scouts troop. He dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps and serving in Golani’s Battalion 51, which his father, Brig. Gen. (res.) Yuval Bazak, had commanded before he was born.
“His commanders told us how much they loved and appreciated Guy, what a leader he was in the platoon and in the company,” said Tamar. “Guy always wanted to take part in every activity, he always sought out actions with meaning.” On that fateful Saturday, she said, “I knew he was waiting for the moment they would let his force take action.”
After he was killed, his family was handed a list he had written a year before he was killed, titled “20 things I want to do before I turn 20.” The list included “leave a lasting mark on the scout troop”; “make someone feel good”; “pick exotic countries to visit in the world”; as well as to find the best version of his favorite dish to cook and eat — pasta carbonara, a search his family has taken up in the wake of his death.
Guy’s father, Yuval told 103FM radio that his son was a “wonderful, wonderful kid.”
“A charismatic guy, a leader from birth, with a incredibly creative mind,” he said. Yuval said “it was totally clear to me that Guy would be a combat soldier. We were raised that way and we raised [him] that way… Guy was destined for greatness, he was a born leader.”
During battle that day, “they were so heroic and professional, but in the end they didn’t have a chance.”
A week before he was killed, Guy and his friends recorded themselves singing the Backstreet Boys’ hit “I Want it That Way” in the car — and the song turned into a form of comfort for his family and friends, who sang it throughout the shiva mourning period, choosing to remember Guy in his happier moments.
Tamar told Ynet that “Guy had a very dominant presence — in the family, his little cousins really admired him; in the scouts, all the grade levels below him knew and loved him; in his friend group he was the glue who kept everyone together.”
“He was talented, funny and creative. He learned to play the guitar and taught himself to play the piano, he loved to climb and to draw,” she said, noting that Guy was the middle child in the family, between his older and younger sisters, and “he had a rare sensitivity, which only those close to him got to see.”
