Family says New Jersey native killed in Israel died a hero
BERGEN COUNTY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A family is in mourning after an IDF soldier originally from New Jersey was killed in Israel over the weekend.
Itay Glisko, 20, was killed on base in Israel when it came under attack on Saturday.
It was a day he wasn't scheduled to be there.
His family said he was so helpful and never said no if anyone needed anything.
"He replaced the shift with his friend because his friend probably couldn't go to the base at the moment and Itay is Itay," his cousin Dana Glisko said.
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The New Jersey native was living in Israel with his family and had been serving in the IDF for only eight months.
He sent a text message to Dana's brother to tell him he was in a gun battle around 11 a.m. and that he was fine but there were a lot of terrorists in space and all of his friends were dying.
His final moments are still unclear, but his cousin said the family knows he held of Hamas for 12 hours until he was the last man standing - fighting alone until the very end.
"I want everyone in the world to know what he was, how he acted, what he did in his last moments, in his last breath he fought like a hero, he didn't give up, even when he knew he was going to die, he wrote it to my brother...I'm afraid but I'm staying and will fight like a hero," Glisko said.
The victim's cousin said after completing his service in the IDF, her cousin wanted to move back to New Jersey to build a life here and become a chef.
On Thursday afternoon, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also announced the death of 20-year-old Hopewell native Lior Abramov, the second state resident killed in the Israel attacks.
He had moved to Israel to follow in his father's footsteps to become a DJ.
ALSO READ | Upper East Side resident returns to Israel for IDF active duty as war continues
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