Who was Joe Alon?

Joe was born at Ein Harod in 1929. His parents were forced to return to Czechoslovakia in 1931, and in 1939 they sent Joe to England to escape the Nazis. He came to Israel in 1948 and joined the Israeli Air Force's first pilot's training course. In 1953 he became one of Israel's first jet pilots and in 1955 was appointed squadron leader of the latest jet fighters, the Ouragan. Joe was also the first squadron leader of the famous Mirage fighters, and afterwards established the Flying Safety Branch at IAF.
The peak of his career was to serve as the first commanding officer of the first air force base built from scratch by the IAF, a task in which he took great pride.

In the words of Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Hod, IAF commander at the time: "Joe knew every corner of the base, every road, every building, every bush. He turned the area of the base into a nature reserve". His deputy, Col. (Ret.)Yoel: "Joe was a warm person and an outstanding pilot". "Joe was stubborn and strict in the air" said his successor, Gen (Ret.) Bareket "and a warm family man on the ground". He was devoted to his wife Dvora and his three daughters. Dvora's hospitality and cooking were a legend in the IAF.
Joe's love of nature and the country were well known, and he often took the family by car to see places of natural beauty he had first seen from the air.

In 1970 Joe was appointed Air Force attacי to the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Along with his formal duties, he often gave lectures to Jewish youth and made an outstanding impression.
On July 1st 1973, a month before the end of his tour of duty, Joe was murdered in front of his home in Washington. The case has not been solved to this very day.

The road from Be'er-Sheva to kibbutz Hazerim and the Hatzerim base is named : the "Joe Alon Road" and the Study Center at Kibbutz Lahav is called "the Joe Alon Center". The center operates in the fields of folklore, archeology, and nature, educating towards love of man and nature and co-existance - a fitting memorial to a wonderful man.