U.S. Family Lays 'Lone Soldier' Son to Rest in Israel

David Johnson, 22, a soldier from Asheville, N.C., was Levin's roommate during a one-year program for new immigrants the two took together when they arrived in Israel four years ago.

He shifted his rifle and paused before the start of Levin's funeral to describe why he, Levin and other young Americans had joined the Israeli military instead of the U.S. armed forces.

"As a Jew in the diaspora, you feel like you've got to give something to your country," said Johnson, with a hint of North Carolina drawl. "Israel is a little country disliked from many sides."

Like many American parents whose children move to Israel and join its military, Levin's parents had mixed feelings, according to friends and acquaintances. One said Levin's father tried unsuccessfully to persuade his son to delay his decision to immigrate to Israel as a teenager.

"You're proud -- and scared," said Karyn Kedar, a Silver Spring resident whose daughter, Talia, recently finished her service in the Israeli military and was a friend of Levin's.

On Monday night, Levin's family experienced the sense of pride. A speaker at a pro-Israel rally in the Pennsylvania town of Newtown stood up and recognized Levin's service in southern Lebanon. The family received a standing ovation that brought Levin's mother, Harriet, to tears, according to an account in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

On Thursday afternoon, as Israeli soldiers passed water bottles among the sweating funeral attendees, Levin's parents and sisters broke down in uncontrolled sobs as they listened to soldiers, friends and acquaintances give testimonials about the gregarious young man known as Mikey, who had a reputation for turning strangers into friends in a matter of minutes.

"Michael's dream was to be a soldier, a paratrooper, to serve in the best unit in the army of Israel," said Tzvika Levy, who served as a surrogate father to Levin and other foreign-born soldiers.

But Levin was an unlikely paratrooper. At 118 pounds, he weighed so little that he couldn't keep himself on course on his first parachute jump. On his next jump, soldiers tied weights to his pack to help him control the parachute, colleagues recalled.

Tziki Aud, whose family frequently hosted Levin and other foreign-born soldiers whose families are abroad, said he saw Levin about 10 days ago as he was on his way to join his unit at Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

"He wanted to go," said Aud. But he said Levin also was looking to the future, with his military service scheduled to end in another few months. Levin told Aud that he hoped to go to college and study medicine.

At Levin's funeral, Kedar unfolded a piece of paper from her purse. It was a copy of Levin's inscription in his military unit's yearbook: "You can't fulfill your dreams unless you dare to risk it all."

Special correspondent Hillary Claussen contributed to this report from Jerusalem.