Assaf ramon biography of barack

JERUSALEM Sept. 14, 2009 — -- Every Israeli mother fears what Rona Ramon experienced Sunday: the news that her son has been killed during his mandatory military service.

Assaf Ramon was 21 years old, killed when his F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training exercise.

Assaf's death is a national tragedy, coming just six years after the death of his father, Ilan Ramon, who was considered a national hero for being Israel's first and only astronaut.

Ilan Ramon was killed in the Columbia space shuttle explosion six years ago, when Assaf was 15 years old.

Shortly after his father's death, Assaf announced his dream of becoming a pilot. "I would like to share with him what he went through and how he felt.

I believe it will make me feel closer to him," Assaf said in a 2004 interview with Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot.

Assaf will be buried next to his father today in the military cemetery in northern Israe