Supporting the ‘lone soldiers’

Hewlett resident Stephen Krown called the Lone Soldier Center in Jerusalem a “life-saver” when his daughter Sara, who completed her Israel Defense Forces military service last October, needed leave time, medical services and help arranging her post-army benefits.

“Lone soldiers” are members of the IDF who do not have immediate family members in the Jewish state. That was the case with Sara Krown.

“They provide wonderful services to lone soldiers around the world that they are not able to get in Israel with no immediate family in Israel,” her father said of the center.

A group of former soldiers who were familiar with, and concerned about, the needs and struggles of the roughly 6,500 lone soldiers serving in the IDF founded the Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin in 2009. Michael’s parents, Mark and Harriet Levin, established the Pittsburgh-based Michael Levin Lone Soldier Foundation, which supports a number of organizations that assist lone soldiers, three and a half years ago.

The Lone Soldier Center claims to be the first and only organization dedicated to meeting all the physical and social needs of lone soldiers, and especially focusing on their mental health — a concern that has grown over the past few years. In the past year, 12 of the 27 deaths of active and former lone soldiers were determined to be suicide, and four were Americans, according to the center. The highest percentage of lone soldiers come from the Five Towns, the Long Island chapter of the Friends of Israel Defense Forces has reported.

“The Lone Soldier Center makes you feel like you’re home,” Stephen Krown said. “They help with everything from housing [to] meals, and, more importantly, when your kid is sick, they make sure they get the help they need, which is no small feat, as the army is a huge bureaucracy. The Lone Soldier Center cuts through the red tape for services, and makes sure that our children get time off in a reasonable time.”

Stacie Stufflebeam, executive director of the Lone Soldier Foundation, has been on the job for only five months, but she is well acquainted with the organization: She worked as a volunteer for several years before taking on a leadership position. Stufflebeam is also very familiar with the challenges lone soldiers face, because all four of her sons have served in the IDF. One remains active.

“There are serious conversations in the lone soldier community about mental health — there is no sweeping it under the rug,” Stufflebeam said. “About the unique needs of lone soldiers, how best to serve them, providing them with native language speakers and helping commanders look for signs that there is a problem. It’s not just talk; there is a call to action.”

The IDF opened a new support center late last year to address the needs of lone soldiers, after issues such as commanders not approving leaves were reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. It was reported by i24News that the typical lone soldier spends only six days a month off base. Other needs range from washing machines for their living quarters to having Shabbat meals to getting winter gear.

“I’m not an expert, but I have friends who lost children to suicide who were not soldiers,” Stufflebeam said. “It’s never one reason. Often there are a lot of underlying causes. [Helping them is] a matter of recognizing the signs and intervening with the appropriate help.”

Krown said that the Lone Soldier Center — and its chief operating officer, Michael Meyerheim — were especially helpful when Sara needed to have knee surgery, making sure afterward that she received physical therapy close to where she was stationed.

“Being a lone soldier can be very difficult, especially when you don’t have any relatives in Israel,” Sara said. “I’m proud that I was able to serve in the army for Israel and was able to turn to the Lone Soldier Center when I needed to. I hope we can help future lone soldiers so they can also have the resources they need.”

To learn more or to donate to the Lone Soldier Center, go to https://lonesoldiercenter.com/.