Thursday June 10th, 1982. Around midnight.

Hundreds of Israeli, Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinians were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The battle of Sultan Yacoub broke out in the area known as the Toblano Triangle crossroad (red triangle on the left), in the eastern part of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The battle spread along the road codenamed "Micha" leading North, about 10 kilometers from the Beirut-Damascus highway. The village of Sultan Yacoub (blue circle) is perched above the road.

I was there that night. And though I buried it deeply for over 30 years, I always longed to go back to that brown field on the left, near that cluster of trees where our tank was hit, to recover fragments of memories, and scatter the ashes of what was lost there. A longing that brings to mind a verse from a poem by R.S. Thomas :

Let me go back

On my two knees

Slowly to undo

The knot of life

That was tied there

From a report by Maj. George C. Solley, USMC Command and Staff College:

"Lacking intelligence concerning Syrian deployment in the area, the brigade was actually moving into the forward positions of a relatively fresh Syrian mechanized brigade. As the lead battalion, a reserve unit, approached the village, it was attacked by Saggers from both sides of the road. Most of the Saggers having been fired from too close, the damage was negligible and the battalion sped through the village. On the other side, now inside the narrow valley, the battalion commander discovered that only three of his companies had made it through the village and decided to wait until light. Unknown to him, he had halted in the middle of the Syrian positions, and during the night the Syrians realigned themselves and closed in toward the force without opening fire. Aware of Syrian presence but unable to pinpoint its location, the IDF tanks and APC's kept up a reconnaissance by fire throughout the night. At dawn, the force began to draw Sagger and armor-piercing fires from the hills, as Syrian commandos approached closer with RPG's and Saggers. An IDF attempt to relieve the force was halted to the east, and the situation began to grow desperate as a result of dwindling ammunition and increasing losses. After seeking help from higher headquarters, the commander coordinated artillery support for a breakout. Supported by some 11 battalions of artillery firing both on Syrian positions and in a box around the withdrawing companies, the Israelis buttoned up and raced the five kilometers back to safety, losing a tank and four men killed in the escape. The engagement had cost the Israelis some eight tanks and 35 men killed or seriously wounded. The tanks, containing equipment innovations and classified materials, were neither recovered nor destroyed, and the next day the Syrians towed them away."