Samuel Hanovice was born on October 2, 1919 to Rivka and Yisrael in Houston, Texas and made aliyah with his family in 1922. He attended the Ahad Ha’am School for Boys in Tel Aviv. Afterward, the family moved to Pardes Hannah and he managed the family orchard.
Sam was active with the Haganah and trained under Orde Wingate, head of the “Night Brigades” combating the Arab terrorists in Palestine from 1936 to 1939. During WWII, his Haganah unit was attached to the British Royal Navy Commandos and trained as “seals” in underwater demolition. In May 1941, the 23 members (known as the Yordei HaSira) were sent on a mission to destroy refineries and fuel storage installations in Lebanon and Syria. The area was governed by the French Vichy regime that collaborated with Nazi Germany. To this day they are MIA and their boat “Sea Lion” has not been found. In 1957 a monument was erected on Mount Herzl in their memory.
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