Pdaya Mark, who fell in the battle against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, sent his family a bouquet of flowers after the death of his cousin Elchanan Kalmanson, along with a letter in which he promised, "We will meet soon."
Kalmanson fell on October 7, while fighting the Hamas terrorists who invaded and occupied Israeli communities near the Gaza border.
Mark received the message about Kalmanson's death, but refused to leave for the funeral, instead preferring to stay and fight with his soldiers.
"Beloved family! These are challenging days for the nation and for our family in particular. We are strong! The people of Israel are strong, the IDF is strong!" he wrote in his letter to his family.
He added: "I’m looking after you and you are with me in my heart. We are going to wipe them out." Mark then quoted the verse, "I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till I destroyed them."
He signed the letter, "We will meet soon, please God. 'Am Israel Chai.'"
Mark was killed while battling Hamas in Gaza, when an anti-tank missile hit his army vehicle. His death brought the number of casualties in the incident to eight, in addition to two tank fighters who were killed in another incident.
At the age of 15, Pdaya was driving with his family when terrorists opened fire at the family's vehicle. His father, Rabbi Michi (Michael) Mark, was murdered, and others in the family were injured. The terrorists' bullets hit all the family members other than Pdaya, who was hit just by shrapnel.
Three years after the attack, Shlomi Mark, Pdaya's brother, was killed in a car accident on his way to work at the Ministry of Defense.
His sister, public media figure Orit Mark Ettinger, mourned: "Padushak, my little but big beloved brother, a man among 5 adoring daughters-sisters, survived the attack. He went and joined Givati because that is Pdaya, he fought to become an officer, and he fell bravely in battle together with his soldiers in Gaza. Our heart, what about it? Dad, Shlomi, Elchanan - they are all welcoming Padushka there, and us? We are left empty and lacking. I no longer have the words … 'Let the earth not cover their blood,'" she wrote.