Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan awarded a medal of honor and a special letter of appreciation on Tuesday evening to Col. (ret.) Golan Vach, who led Israel’s Home Front Command search and rescue teams following the devastating earthquake in southern Turkey in February.

The Israeli rescue mission was one of the first to arrive in Turkey after the earthquake and succeeded in extricating 19 people alive from the rubble.

YWN readers may recognize Vach from his incredible accomplishments in Surfside, Florida after the collapse of the Champlain Towers. Vach led the IDF’s National Rescue Unit, which recovered 81 of the 98 victims at the site, with Vach personally locating 20 of the victims.

Kikar H’Shabbat photographer photographed Vach davening Shacharis on the first day of the mission in Turkey, as seen below:

מדהים. וזאת התמונה הראשונה שצילמתי ביום הראשון של המשלחת בטוריקה, אל״מ גולן ואך בתפילת שחרית pic.twitter.com/Q3H0gTx7Uv

— חיים גולדברג (@haim_goldberg) April 25, 2023

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)