Early in the morning of Oct. 7, Sagui Dekel-Chen (Sagui ben Naamit), 35, of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was working in the kibbutz machine shop when he spotted Hamas terrorists attempting to invade the kibbutz. He climbed to the roof of the communal dining room and issued a warning to the kibbutz. He then ran home to his wife Avital and their two daughters. He was taken captive, along with 80 other kibbutz residents while attempting to fight off the terrorists.

Sagui, who has Israeli and American citizenship, grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey. For the past 10 years, he has worked on a project to convert old buses into mobile technological classrooms for underserved communities in southern Israel.

He became a father for the third time while in captivity. “She’s beautiful, her name is Shachar, which in Hebrew means Dawn. She’s the brightest light in our horrific darkness right now,” said Gillian Kaye, Sagui’s stepmother.