A hiker trekking in southern Israel found the helmet of IDF pilot Maj. Danny Gori, a fighter pilot in the Israel Air Force (IAF) who went missing in 1984 during a training exercise when his plane crashed. His remains were eventually found and he was laid to rest in Rehovot. The helmet was discovered close to Nahal Paran, a river close to Moshav Paran, along the Jordanian border, according to a release by the IDF. The hiker who found Gori’s helmet initially posted the discovery on Facebook and showed pictures of the helmet on his account, including one that displays Gori’s name written in Hebrew on the inside. He left the helmet where he had found it; representatives of the IAF’s missing persons and investigative branch contacted him afterwards to determine the exact location of the item. After determining the authenticity of the Facebook post, a team was established to locate and return the helmet to Gori’s family. The team included members of Unit 669, the elite combat search and rescue unit, investigators and researchers from the IAF, and a helicopter crew from Squadron 123 (“Desert Birds”), which divided the search area into sections until the helmet was found. Gori was drafted into the IDF’s pilot school in 1969 and graduated as a combat pilot, later joining the 119th fighter squadron. Throughout his service, Gori participated in a number of military operations and wars in the 1970s, including in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Following his release from conscripted service, Gori continued to play an important role in his reserve duty, such as serving as an instructor at the IAF pilot school, an emergency pilot, and commander of the 140th squadron. On May 27, 1984, Gori, who was 32 at the time, went missing during a training session with one of his students when his plane crashed. Gori and his student allegedly tried to eject from the plane prior to the crash, but did not succeed. Both he and his student, Ilan Rosenthal, perished as a result. In response to the discovery, Gori’s daughter Dana, who was born only two months after the crash, was ecstatic. She said that she “can’t find words to describe the harsh sense of shock every cell has in my body. I am writing and tears are choking my throat, I have no air. Since yesterday, dozens of representatives from all the media bodies in Israel have [asked] me to do an interview: to share our story with the people of Israel.” The interview was with News1. “My mind has been agitated since Saturday afternoon, I can’t rest,” she continued. “At six o’clock, a phone call came from my mother. The head of a casualty branch of the Air Force called and updated me on the Facebook post, on how a a hiker found a helmet with “Gori” written on it. [The phone call] came from top officials in the Air Force and they made sure to locate the helmet. [After a] quick search on Facebook, I found the post. “As [the initial shock] passed, I didn’t know what I was excited about. Mom and I are excited and shocked, waiting for more answers,” she concluded.
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