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Reminiscing just before Yom Yerushalayim — Jerusalem Day, June 4 — about his military career and on the city's future, Narkiss believes this early threat to his existence has shaped the rest of his life.

This year, Jerusalem Day corresponds with the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Six-Day War, the lightning battle in which Israel recaptured the Holy City.

Narkiss is the eldest son of Polish immigrants who arrived in Jerusalem soon after World War I. He was born there on Jan. 6, 1925. He attended school at Gymnasia Rehavia, which was strong on inculcating a knowledge of and love for the land.

"We were all dedicated to the establishment of a Jewish state," Narkiss says. "That was our raison d'etre."

At age 13, like so many other youngsters of his generation, Narkiss joined the Haganah (the pre-state underground army) as a courier. Inducted into the Palmach forces in 1941, he spent the next few years engaging in military operations from places as far apart as Kibbutz Negba in the south to Kfar Giladi in the north.

Palmach chief Yigal Allon sent Narkiss to command the Dead Sea and Ezion Bloc. Narkiss then fought in the War of Independence with the Palmach 4th Battalion in Kiryat Anavim, outside Jerusalem, then in later conflicts on the road to Jerusalem and in the city itself.

As a youth, Narkiss visited the Western Wall every Shabbat.

"It was a common denominator for all of us, secular and religious. The British never let us go up to the Temple Mount, but we could go to the Wall and to the Jewish Quarter. So we went from the Western approach to the Wall every Shabbat — not to pray, but to say `Shalom,'" he recalls.

For Narkiss, the Six-Day War closed a circle. During the battle, "we no longer needed the permission of the British. We came to the Temple Mount and a small Arab boy showed us the way to the Western Wall."

The memory of the magic of that brief conflict which changed world perception of the state of Israel brings a twinkle to his eye and a new cadence to his speech.

"We never planned to do what we achieved in the Six-Day War. We're proud that in no time and without plans we came to the Western Wall, and conquered eastern Jerusalem in eight hours of fighting."

It all could have ended differently. When news first reached him of sporadic shooting and some shelling by the Jordanians, Narkiss had to decide whether this was merely another incident or the outbreak of war.

It took him two hours to make up his mind. The Jordanian seizure of the United Nations headquarters and the attempt by Jordanian forces to break through to the south of the city convinced him.

"I decided that this was war and that we had to retaliate and take advantage of the opportunity to reunite Jerusalem."

Narkiss then had to switch into high gear. He was concerned that the U.N. Security Council would order a cease-fire if convened.

"I didn't want to see myself again as in 1948, standing in front of a closed gate."

The Jerusalem Brigade, the Harel Brigade — which Narkiss had fought with in 1948 — and the Paratroop Brigade, all of them reserve units, share the credit for the city's reunification.

"They fought in an indescribable fashion and with tremendous dedication. They were all totally committed because they understood that this was the battle for Jerusalem," he says.

Narkiss has often been asked to describe what he felt when he finally touched the Wall. He has never found the words.

"What could I say? It was great. But what is great? Only a poet can put it into words — and I'm not a poet."

Nor is he a prophet. He is only too painfully aware of how erroneous the forecasts were in the euphoric aftermath of the war. "We thought that with that brilliant victory we had overcome all our problems with the Arabs," he said.

It took only two days for Israel to realize that such wishful thinking was premature. Yet he cherishes the dream that he may yet see "a quiet and tranquil Jerusalem, open to all who want to live here."