Micheal Lanier telling us about the battle for Ammunition Hill
My friend Cliff and I visited the Ammunition Hill Museum and Memorial in Jerusalem. It preserves the site of one of the battles in the 1967 Six-Day War that led to the capture of Old City of Jerusalem where Cliff and I are staying for the week.
We toured the museum which follows the battle hour by hour in film and pictures. Both of us have previously walked the grounds of the site and climbed in and out of the trenches. At the end of the museum visit we were going to watch a documentary of the battle, but one of the staff members said we can hear from a veteran of the fight for Ammunition Hill. We went for the veteran.
Michael Lanir (מיכאל לניר) was a 26-year-old lieutenant leading an infantry platoon when the battalion got orders to attack the Jordanian stronghold at Ammunition Hill. It was held by a detachment of the elite Arab Legion.
Lanir was born in Jerusalem in 1942. He was six years old when Old City Jersalem was besieged by the Jordanian Army and shelled. He told us of water and food shortages and that many civilians were killed and wounded in the siege.
Returning to the battle in 1967, Lanir was a reserve paratrooper called to active duty three weeks before the war began. He and his troops trained to fight in the Sinai, but that battle was won so fast that his unit was redirected to capture Old City Jerusalem. Lanir led his men into the trenches. He made a point of telling us Israeli officers lead from the front.
Michael Lanir next to the rock he took cover behind when he was shot
Shortly after the battle began, Lanir was shot in the neck. He showed us the rock he was taking cover behind when he was shot. His men thought he was dead. They covered him with a blanket and continued the fight. An alert medic saw movement in Lanir's fingers and sent him to the hospital. He recovered and today is a 78-year-old member of a group of veterans who talk to visitors to Ammunition Hill about their part of the battle.
Lanir and the commander of the Arab Legion company opposite him in the battle
He told us about a reunion of veterans on both sides that happened in the 1990s. He met the Jordanian commander of the unit they were fighting. They discussed the battle in detail and the Jordanian leader was sure it was one of his men who shot Lanir. They left the event friends, both men who were doing their duty in the battle and both were happy they survived.
