Tanks alot and Mini-Israel

we dicided to take an adventure and get ourselves to Latrun. Instead of a taxi, we went to the Central Bus Station and found a bus. We got there just fine. One attraction to see there is the Museum of the Israeli Tank forces. There are hundreds of different tanks including many that were captured from the Syrians, Lebanese, and Egyptians. Some of the Syrian ones were originally Nazi built, captured by the Russians, and given to Syria only to be lost to Israel. This one is a medical evacuation tank. The gun turret has been removed to make room for two stretchers. Notice the IV bag hanging.

Similar to the Vietnam War Memorial in DC, here is a wall containing the names of fallen members of the tank corps.

In the center of the arrangement of tanks is an old British police station. This building was originally built by the Turks and abandoned by the British in '48. It was occupied by the Jordanians untill '67. Inside are meeting and training rooms, a very beautiful synagogue, art exhibits, and a tribute to Jewish soldiers who have served in many of the world's militaries. The inside has been nicely restored and there is an observation deck on the roof.
Although this is a difficult picture to understand, I included it anyway. Inside the museum is a room called the wall of tears. The walls are made of tank steel. They are constantly wet to symbolize tears shed for lost soldiers. The floor is glass and reveals a pool of hope for peace.

As we walked through the displays and saw the cold, hard, heavy steel of the tanks, we kept thinking of how sad it was that we must keep sending young soldiers off to fight.
Also in Latrun is a display called Mini Israel. It is a model of interesting parts of the country that you can walk throug. It covers a few acres and we spent a few hours there. Many of the buildings reflected corporate sponsorship. I would not make a special trip there, but it was fun.
We took the Egged back to Jerusalem. Our bus was full of soldiers returning from some camp or other. I sat among them, some alone and some talking with friends but all looked very tired. As we got into Jerusalem, the one next to me, who had been sleeping, woke up and took out his phone. I heard him talking to his mother and telling her that he was back in Jerusalem. A little while later I heard the young girll in front of her call her abba to tell him the same thing. They are so young.