On the basketball court of the Israeli Defense Forces school for Medicine (Training Base 10), there stood an overjoyed Gal and Carole Zamura shoulder to shoulder. Gal had just completed a medics course for the armored brigades, while Carole had completed her medic course under the auspices of IDF medical corps.
While the twins smiled at each other, only their deceased father, Aaron Zamura who had served as a medical officer at the same base was missing.
“Dad always made sure to tell us what he did in the army,” said Carole. “He said the IDF made him into the person that he was. From that point on, Gal and I knew knew that we wanted to continue in the path of our father, and to focus and excel in helping people through the medical corps of the IDF.”
The Zamura twins hail from New York and grew up there until they were fourteen and their family moved to Israel. Upon arriving in Israel the family built a home in Rehovot, and the day before the twins enlisted in the army their father developed a cancerous tumour in his head.
“Dad began to suffer from spasms, and I had to push off my enlistment by six months,” said Gal. “A few months after he passed, Carole and I enlisted. We enlisted in separate divisions and did not think that we would end up at the same place.”
After submitting many requests, Gal, who at the time was a sergeant, was sent to the train as a combat medic, and after two weeks, his twin sister joined him. When they finished their course, albeit in different fields, the twins stayed together at Training Base 10 serving as the heads of new courses to train new medics.
“None of this was planned ahead of time” Corporal Carole laughed. “The fact that I have Gal here with me, going through the same course and sharing experiences with me, certainly gives me a boost and offers me support and renewed strength. At the end of the day, we are always there for each other. It won’t matter wherever we are commissioned in the end.”
Today the twins are commanders of tens of soldiers. According to the two of them, their father’s legacy and education help them greatly in fulfilling their duties. “We are teaching men and women here who in due time will go out and save the lives of many soldiers and there is no job that is more rewarding than that.” Sergeant Gal added.
“Combat soldiers rely on their medic to save them in a time of need. They have to know exactly what to do. These are the values that I learned from my father, and they are the same ones that I am trying to instill in my soldiers.”
In due time, the twins will stand once again on the ceremony platform of Training Base 10, only this time they will be the ones handing out the graduating pins to their soldiers who have completed their medic training.
“To be a medic is not a simple job. It requires incredible amounts of effort around the clock. I wish that every soldier will have someone there to help them and understand them in their time of need. At times, even to understand each other without words, as Gal and I understand each other” said Corporal Carole.