Nachman developed and matured within the Hagana ranks. He was sent to Commanders Course, and soon after was sent to command a company in the War of Independence. 
His good and very close friend, colonel Ram Ron , served with him as a cadet in the same course, and there after they were both sent to the same battalion (gdud 32), the Alexandroni Brigade, each in command of a company.  

Ram Ron on 16.8.78 

     We are gathered here tonight to remember Nachman. All of us here and many others who are not here, have met Nachman at different periods of his life. There are friends here tonight who have met him only during the last years of his life; others who have known him since the the establishment of the Israel Defence Forces. I met him for the first time in the middle of 1947, on a hot steaming summer day– when we found ourselves on a crowded bus, going to the Commanders Course of the Hagana, in the woods around kibbutz Ganigar. Nachman was standing in the middle. My eyes caught sight of him immediately. He was dressed in a blue shirt and Khaki trousers; dark- haired and handsome, looking curiously, yet shyly, around him. I tried to strike a conversation with him, but it seemed almost impossible. His answers were short and evasive. I didn’t know then whether it was out of pride and aloofness or out of shyness.

     During the course I was to meet him quite often. The course consisted of 99 boys and one girl. Most of us in our early twenties. Some came from the Palmach – like Gandi, Sikko, Uri Baratzon and others – like Yosh Harpaz, Kutti, Nachman ,myself, and others came from the HISH (the field units). There was a positive tension between the two groups. The Palmachniks, naturally, made fun of us, the HISHniks, and Mundek, the course commander was laughing at us all. 

     Nachman used to speak about the course to his last day. He remembered and reminded us all of the hard, beautiful months in Ganigar and later in Jouara. He was one of the few cadets of our course that continuously dreamt about gathering the survivors of the course socially. It is so very sad that when the gathering did take place few months ago Nachman was already not with us. 

     Whenever we spoke of this course and the period before the establishment of the State, he remarked, more than once, that many have the tendency to paint that past nostalgically in pink, as if all the young people were taking part in the struggle against the British; were all volunteers in one of the Undergrounds. When the truth was, that only a small percentage of the youngsters volunteered; most didn’t participate at all before the establishment of the State. Nachman was one of the few who found their way from the age of 13-14 within the Hagana ranks, and later, as commanders in the Hagana and the IDF. Nachman admired the volunteers to the Fighting Field Units. He admired the courage and the spirit of sacrifice of all the soldiers and commanders of the army at all times, but did not elaborate on his own actions. The truth is that there are those who volunteer to one mission, and those who volunteer for a period and then go on with their lives. Nachman was one of those who volunteered for life and his whole life was one chain of constant giving, for the nation, for the people, for the State. 

     I remember Nachman after our graduation from the course, in September and October of 1947, before the United Nations Decision on the division of the land and the establishment of the State of Israel. In those days we were not yet sure that there will be a positive decision on the Establishment of Israel, and that it will come so soon. But we knew, and felt it in the air, that war was looming. And we remembered Ben-Gurion’s words in our course: “There is going to be a terrible war, in which we will have to fight against all the Arab States that will invade our land, and it will be up to you– the Commanders of the Platoons and Companies – to bear most of the load.” 
In those months, we were three Company Commanders in Battalion 32 of the Alexandroni Brigade – Asher Levy (senior to us), Nachman and I. 
Our Headquarters was in the Fire- Brigade Cottage in Hertzelia, which was hidden from the eyes of the British. There we would meet with the Battalion Commander - Zvi German – to discuss the problems of the Battalion and the Companies. Nachman never spoke much. Would give a short report about his Company. Take his leave, climb his motorcycle and hurry back to the training of his Company. When the war broke out, he and his Company participated in bitter battles, in one of which he was severely wounded and lost his right arm. He would not accept the fact that he cannot return to a fighting unit, and succeeded in accepting the post of deputy Battalion Commander of Battalion 52.  

     He was what is called a “professional soldier”, as he remained in the regular army almost all his life. But in Israel the verbal coinage “a professional soldier” has a connotation of its own. While in other countries it denotes an image of squareness, anti-intellectualism, showiness, pomposity, officiousness, even tyranny. Here Nachman was what should be called an anti-soldier. There was no official vanity in him, no officiousness, and no pretence. He was modest in the execution of his duties, responsible, serious, almost a perfectionist – so it was in the fighting units, so it was in the Intelligence Corps, so it was in all his other national tasks. 
Nachman, the anti-soldier, who was essentially an intellectual and a scholar, found himself,under the circumstances that ensued, a fighter in the field units, a soldier and commander in the Defence Forces of Israel. 

     It may have been fortunate for the State of Israel that the spine of her Defence Forces when established ,was made up of such anti-soldiers. It was they who forged the image and character of the IDF for generations to come in the spirit of those tallented and excellent young Israelies of those days. 

     I remember Nachman of 1947-1948. A young man of 21 and 22, shy, introverted, almost too withdrawn to be able to strike a conversation with a stranger. It probably sounds strange to most of you sitting here in the hall, when the Nachman you knew was so garrulous, so much the center of any get together, fluent, charming, full of humour and wisdom, but I assure you he was so at the beginning. I have read some of Nachman’s memoirs before his death, in which he admits to his innitial shyness and to the difficulties he had in striking conversation with strangers. It was only with his great willpower and his unbounded determination that he succeeded in bursting out of himself, and from that moment on there was no stopping him. He was one of the few men I knew that had the rare tallent of communicating with any person. He established friendships and relationships with numerous people, of all ages, and of all nationalities; common people , aristocrats and leaders of nations. He had a warm heart and a great understanding for the Jewish People in the world. He loved them, and they loved him back. One of them said to me: “Nachman is the beloved of the Diaspora Jews”. 

Nachman was a good friend. He had the talent and the patience to listen, to establish trust, to react wisely with tact and understanding. He was not a demanding friend. He never found fault, he was always ready to assist quietly and modestly help. 

     He had many virtues, some of which I mentioned; virtues that can be painted in strong colours; they were as prominent in his last days as they were seen in his bloom. I met him in New York, when the disease was devouring him, and he was, as always, noble of spirit, optimistic, balanced and wise. This is how he lived. This is how he died. This is how we shall always remember him.