Aaron David Herschman and Daniel Smith have been friends for decades. In the wake of the October 7 massacre of 1,400 people in Israel at the hands of Hamas terrorists, the two friends decided they would come to see how they could help.
Both men served in the US Army and had stints in Iraq in 2005 and subsequent years. They are both trained as combat lifesavers, meaning they have training as medics.
“We saw what happened on October 7 and it violated the code we live by,” says Herschman. He describes that code as the military code against killing civilians, such as women and children, as Hamas did.
“Some think I came because I’m Jewish, but it was more personal. If you came into my home and did this [what Hamas did on October 7] you’d get a serious reaction. We wanted to help, whether volunteering at the hospital or holding a rifle.”
Herschman was born in Gary, Indiana, and lives in Maryland. He is married and has two kids. His friend Smith was also born in Maryland and has lived in the state his whole life.
In the early days after October 7, the US helped arrange for Americans stuck in Israel to leave. Some left on a ship from Haifa, bound for Cyprus. At the same time, many Israelis returned to Israel to serve in their reserve units.The two American volunteers stuck out in their decision to come. However, they wanted to show support in any way they could.
“We got on a plane and came here... and we didn’t have a return ticket,” Herschman recalls. “We thought we’d come until [it ends]... We didn’t know what to expect. We knew a war was coming, the news was speaking of 4,000 rockets being fired from Gaza, and the US was sending [aircraft carriers]... We didn’t know what to expect, but we were willing to help.”
They got to Tel Aviv first. The city is an hour’s drive from Gaza and even though it has been targeted with rockets, it didn’t feel as impacted by the war as one might expect.
So the men headed to Ashkelon, the closest city to Gaza. In the early days of the war, the city’s Barzilai hospital had received hundreds of wounded.
However, the situation in Israel did stabilize in the weeks after the massacre.
By the time Herschman and Smith had arrived in Ashkelon, there wasn’t a major need for medics.
“They didn’t know if they needed help, but they asked what skills we have; we offered to dress rooms or empty trash cans,” recalls Herschman.
Herschman had never been to Israel before, but Smith had served in the Multinational Force and Observers, or MFO, a mission in Sinai that dates back to the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. The force supervises the security implementation related to the treaty. The experience gave Smith the ability to travel to Israel because he was stationed nearby.
“We’d go back and forth to Egypt, I was stationed near Eilat. I loved it. It makes me want to move here even more,” he says.
Finding volunteer opportunities has been difficult in Israel. But the men have been impacted by their experience so far. One woman at a hospital, upon learning of their desire to help, thanked them for coming, and this meant a lot to Herschman.
Both men have experience in the military and served in Iraq. They often contrast some of what they see here with the experience the US had in Iraq, or after 9/11. For instance, after 9/11 there wasn’t a huge rush of people to join the army, the way that people rushed to go back to their reserve units in Israel.
Both men had experience in the Gulf War in 1991 and then were called up to go to Iraq in 2005. Herschman recalls scrambling to find a way to go to Iraq in 2005.
They both served in the key years of the war as terror attacks grew in Iraq against US forces and the US launched the “surge” to defeat the insurgency. This was a difficult time. US forces were kept very busy in the country amid a plethora of threats.
Herschman recalls experiences in Taji, Al-Asad base, and Anbar province. Smith recalls being in Tel Afar and conducting long-range surveillance missions. The Iranian threat that today empowers Hamas and Hezbollah was present in Iraq against US forces.
For instance, the use of EFP explosives, a particularly deadly device that targeted vehicles and soldiers, is one of the many ways Iran targeted Americans. The same weapon system has been used by Hezbollah, and Iran tried to encourage Palestinian terrorist groups to use it.
A war in our backyard
In Ashkelon, the war in Gaza is ever-present.
The bombing and artillery fire, as well as naval ships firing, can be heard.
When I met Smith and Herschman we were at the Ashkelon Marina. It was quiet and most of the shops were closed. Many people have left the city as it has been targeted by hundreds of rockets from Gaza.
I drove the two volunteers to get a look over Gaza from Sderot. Sderot has also been evacuated and is a ghost town. As we looked over Gaza and could see rockets being shot at Ashdod, the men discussed what Israel might learn from America’s experience in Iraq.
They discussed the battles in Fallujah and Ramadi. In those cities, there were challenges because the US didn’t send enough forces and also let terrorists escape. In Fallujah, US forces “didn’t surround the city... so terrorists squirted out; and then in 2005-2006 there was the second battle of Ramadi,” said Herschman.
They also note the difficulty that is faced by modern armies fighting in urban areas with civilians. Israel has called on Gazans to leave northern Gaza for weeks.
Herschman notes that “war is not a scalpel... armies are sledgehammers.” And that means civilians will suffer when they remain in these areas.