Staff Sgt. Guy Simhi, 20: Off-duty soldier charged terrorists unarmed

Staff Sgt. Guy Simhi, 20, an off-duty soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade from Gedera, was killed on October 7 while trying to fend off Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Re’im.

Simhi was on break that weekend and attending the Supernova music festival when the onslaught began. He and other friends fled to nearby Re’im, where one of them lived, and entered the apartment’s safe room. But Guy and his friend, who was an armed off-duty soldier, stayed outside standing guard, and managed to kill two terrorists who entered the apartment, survivors later recounted.

But the terrorists threw grenades inside, wounding them, and when Guy, who was unarmed, jumped out a window, he was killed, while his friend and all the others in their group managed to survive.

Guy was the son of Dedy Simhi, a former commissioner of Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services, who also had a long military career, reaching the rank of brigadier-general, and is a frequent panel guest on Israel’s news broadcasts.

Dedy was the one who ultimately recovered the body of his own son at 2 a.m. that night after it lay on the ground for hours next to the apartment.

“I told the [soldier] stationed at the entrance [to Re’im] that my son was lying there dead,” Dedy told Ynet less than 24 hours later. “They recovered him, I embraced him and accompanied him until Ramle, where the bodies of those killed were gathering. He was an incredible boy. He and his childhood friend killed two terrorists and saved the lives of 14 friends. They’ve been coming to our house and telling them that Guy saved their lives.”

Guy — who was born in Re’im and moved to Gedera as a child — was buried on October 10 in Gedera. He is survived by his parents, Orit and Dedy, and his two brothers, Tomer and Alon.

His mother, Orit, told the Mako news site that “everyone whose children die say that they were perfect, but Guy was really like no other.”

“He was a surfer, a fighter, so many people loved him,” she added. “He was the glue of all his friend groups. He was incredibly handsome and knew it. They took the light from my eyes, nobody can bring it back.”

His brother, Alon, recorded a memorial video for Channel 13, reading to “my Guygo, my little brother, the good looking and cocky one. I don’t have the words to describe how much I will miss you.

“For years you have been my best friend and the best partner I could ask for,” he said. “Despite the five-year age gap, Guy and I were very close. From a young age I was your role model — we would watch the same TV shows, play the same games and enjoy the same vices. All this until you grew up, and you became my role model.”

Alon said they would always stick together at family gatherings “and gossip about the family. On Saturdays I would take you with me to play volleyball and of course there too you would steal the show. You made sure to be the best in every area that interested you. We were together so much that I would tell my parents that I raised you, and you were like my son.”

He continued: “Three months ago we buried you, and my whole world collapsed. I stood at your funeral and I couldn’t hold myself together. The whole time I felt your hand on my back — I know it wasn’t you, but I felt that it was… I hope you can hear me from there, I promise to be strong and to reach the expectations you had of me. It’s weird to think that I was once the role model of an angel.”

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