The Buzz | On Memorial Day, Israel mourns, reflects on vets’ trauma

Israel marked its national Memorial Day for fallen soldiers yesterday, in a year when national attention has been focused on the plight of veterans suffering from psychological trauma.
Memorial Day is the most solemn day on Israel’s national calendar. Bereaved families visit cemeteries and attend memorial ceremonies, and television and radio shift programming to somber music, broadcasts of memorials services and documentaries about slain soldiers.
The sounding of a two-minute siren around the country brought people to a momentary halt, with pedestrians standing still in the street and motorists stopping on the highway and standing with heads bowed.
Israel has fought half a dozen wars with neighboring Arab countries, battled two Palestinian uprisings and endured scores of deadly militant attacks since its establishment in 1948. On Memorial Day, Israel honors 23,928 fallen soldiers and over 3,100 people killed in militant attacks.