A 27-year-old Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduate, who now lives in Israel, currently is a medic supporting a paratrooper unit as that country wages war against Hamas.
For security reasons, his father, Mitchell Bard, asked that his son’s name not be used in the article.
Bard, of Chevy Chase, is executive director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise and a foreign policy analyst.
His son attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School before going to B-CC and one year at Montgomery College.
Following Montgomery College, he spent a year in Israel, learning the language and the culture. “He really got attached to Israel,” his father said.
When he told his parents he wanted to live in Israel and enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, “We were shocked and also thought he was probably just talking,” Bard said. But a few months later, his son was living in Israel and preparing to start serving in the army. “He became a paratrooper and a combat medic.”
He finished his IDF service and spent time managing a pepper farm. He had planned to travel but put that off during COVID.
When he was called up as a reservist, he once again set aside his travel plans, said his father.
He has called his parents often but remains vague about his location and duties. “Just hearing from him every day is important,” Bard noted.
“He sounds very confident and committed. He is defending his country, and he wants to do all he can.” Bard added, “He admitted he has some fears, but I think that is a healthy thing.”
While his father is extremely proud, he also is experiencing “sheer terror that you don’t know what he is going to be doing and where.”
In a post on the JNS news service, Bard wrote, “I am proud of my son beyond words, but I confess that I never thought he would internalize my commitment to Israel, make Aliyah, and fight for the lives and future of our people.”
In his post, he admitted, “My anxiety is at 11.”
