Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran A Jewish Voice for Veterans and a Veteran’s Voice for Jews

Congratulations to incoming Jewish Cemeteries In Distress JWV & JWVA Officers By M. B. Kanis and customs are observed. The creation of cemeteries For Jews, a grave site as a final location is as old is permanent and once es- as man-kind. The creation tablished should not be of Jewish Cemeteries is violated. unique, as Jewish religious The religious duty of customs require that Jewish burial is the responsibili- burial sites be held in ty of a decedent’s children reverence. or spouse. If there are no Recent document- children or spouse, it is the ed incidents of desecra- responsibility of the closest tion, vandalism, and fail- relative. If no relatives, then ures to maintain multiple the community. As time Jewish Cemeteries in the passes, it becomes the re- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sponsibility of those alive to National Commander area, as well as occur- Har Nebo Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA respect the dead. Jeffrey Sacks rences in other cemeteries throughout the United States, prompt- tion, Jewish burial grounds are sacred How are Veterans effected? ed the following information in the sites and must remain undisturbed in From the earliest sunrise of birth to the desire to protect the deceased and pro- perpetuity. twilight last gleaming, members of the vide context for the greater good. A Jewish cemetery has physical Jewish faith, first as volunteers, then as boundaries that set the cemetery off conscripted, and once again as volun- What makes a Jewish Cemetery from its surroundings, marking it holy teers, have served to protect and defend Jewish? for Jews. Inner reflection is often ob- the United States. As veterans as well Establishing a cemetery is one of the served in a place of calm. A Jewish as citizens, the lives of people of the first priorities for any Jewish com- cemetery is considered consecrated Jewish faith are intertwined with ser- munity. According to Jewish tradi- ground where Jewish burial practices Continued on page 4

National President JWV’s First Virtual National Convention Natalie Blank By Cara Rinkoff from Secretary Robert More than 215 members, associate Wilkie of the Department members, and patrons registered for of Veterans Affairs. This is JWV’s 125th annual convention, which the second time Wilkie has Meet the also happened to be the first virtual appeared at a JWV National National Staff convention for our organization. The Convention, and he also Page 3 five-day convention, originally sched- spoke in-person at NEC in uled to take place in Jacksonville, February 2020. Service Dog Named Florida moved online due the corona- At our first business After Member virus pandemic. session, more than 100 Page 6 Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Due to the difficulties of holding members tuned in as the Ron Dermer votes online, the Convention Rules Israeli Ambassador to the History of Committee approved a measure mov- United States Ron Dermer the Middle East will find it vital to Confederate ing votes on all but the election of our joined us for a question and answer work with Israel in the near future. “I Installations new National Commander and Vice session. Dermer spoke about the re- think to the extent that you have lead- Page 10 Commander to the next in-person cent diplomatic breakthrough between ers in the Arab world who would like convention. Israel and the United Arab Emirates, to propel their countries forward and The Opening Ceremony on saying he believes this is only the be- to be a force for modernization, then I Monday featured a video greeting ginning. He thinks other countries in Continued on page 12

CONTENTS D’vrei HaShomrim ...... 2 JWV in the Community...... 12 Message From the National Ladies Auxiliary ....18 Commander...... 3 Museum News...... 20 On The Hill ...... 4 Taps ...... 22 Membership Corner...... 6 D'vrei HaShomrim THE JEWISH Coping with COVID through Camaraderie VETERAN By Chaplain Lt. Col. Yaakov Bindell The Jewish Veteran is the Official Publication of the New Jersey was one of the early states to get hit Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America with the coronavirus. As the disease spread across National Commander Jeffrey Sacks the state, the New Jersey National Guard was swift- National Editor Larry Jasper ly called to action. As the State Command Chaplain Managing Editor Cara Rinkoff of New Jersey, within just a few weeks, my job du- Graphics/Production Editor Christy Turner ties suddenly changed from training and develop- EDITORIAL OFFICE ing chaplains, to leading chaplains through one of 1811 R Street, NW • Washington, D.C. 20009 the biggest challenges this country has seen in over Telephone (202) 265-6280 x413 100 years. I quickly organized groups of chaplains Fax (202) 234-5662 E-mail [email protected] to go visit soldiers and airmen at COVID-19 testing Web Site www.jwv.org sites, field hospitals, mortuary affairs operations, The Jewish Veteran is published 4 times a year: veteran homes, and long-term care facilities across Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, by the the state. While I could share countless stories of Jewish War Veterans heroism during the early stages of the pandemic, I of the United States of America feel most inspired by how our service members 1811 R Street, NW helped their fellow veterans during the pandemic. Washington, DC 20009 During the early stages of the pandemic, there dents could see their family members clearly. You Periodical postage paid at Washington, DC, and at additional mailing offices. were many deaths at veteran homes across the could feel the excitement of that momentous day Postmaster: Send form 3579 to Jewish War Veterans, state. While soldiers tried to help in any way they from the firsthand account of one chaplain. “This 1811 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009. could, seeing our state’s heroes make their last mission was so encouraging to the soldiers and air- Subscription price in the United States is $5.00 per year, stand in the face of COVID-19 took a heavy toll on men. It was like they were walking on air. And for included in membership. Nonmember subscriptions: the soldiers assigned to the homes. In order to make good reason! The event wasn't scheduled to take $10.00. Single copies: $2.50. sure the veterans who died during this tough time place until the end of the day, but the whole day Photos and articles submitted to The Jewish Veteran shall be used at the discretion of the organization. The were properly honored, several soldiers working in was full of excitement and preparation.” opinions expressed in signed articles and letters in this a dementia unit called Old Glory provided flags in The connection between service member and magazine are not necessarily those of JWV. honor of the veterans. veteran has always been strong but this pandem- Advertising information and rates available from the But these soldiers and airmen didn’t just go ic has brought us even closer than we could have Editorial Office. JWV assumes no responsibility for products and services advertised in this publication. out of their way to make sure the dead received imagined. For instance, when Memorial Day ar- © 2020 by the Jewish War Veterans of the USA. rived after months of little human contact, the cer- their due honor, they also provided assistance for NPA#112285 • ISSN 047-2019. the living veterans at the homes. At the beginning emonies held at the veterans homes were powerful Reproduction without permission is prohibited. of the pandemic, for safety reasons, visitors were and emotional events for service members and vet- not allowed to see their family members in person. erans alike. As military members and veterans, we After several lonely months of not being able to remember the dead and fallen every year, but this passed away. By noon that same day, I had to make see their family and relatives, veterans were finally year is different. We have lost so many heroes to a shiva call to a friend of mine whose father had given a special day when they would be allowed COVID-19. However, the virus has not only taken passed away. That evening I got a call that a cousin to see family, albeit only from a window. This day our veterans. Many others have died in this most of mine had passed away. It has been a tremendous- was hugely important for the veterans. Until then, unusual and surreal war. Something that makes ly difficult year of death and sickness. I hope and their companions were their adopted military help- this war different than the wars we as service mem- pray that the Jewish New Year brings health and ers and staff. Despite only being able to see family bers are used to is that non-service members and recovery to our great nation. The High Holidays members through a thick window barrier, soldiers family members are in just as much danger as the are almost upon us. This year, let us pray for life and airmen stepped up to make it the best experi- servicemembers themselves. and good health. And at this year’s Yizkor service, ence possible. They helped veterans communicate I have also been impacted by the deaths this let us remember and honor those who have left us. with their families by making sure all cell phones war has caused. The morning I was asked to write Shana Tova and may you all be inscribed in the were ready and that windows were clean so resi- this article, I found out the mother of a soldier had Book of Life.

2 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDER National Commander Jeffrey Sacks The Tip of the Spear As I write my first article for “The Jewish Veteran” Director of Operations, he is responsible for She start- I realize that we have now suffered six months of overseeing all activities of the staff at National ed at JWV 20 the COVID-19 pandemic which has put the bulk of Headquarters and ensuring they have the resourc- years ago in the our organization into stasis. We no longer meet in es needed to complete their work. Greg works mailroom After person but via electronic means and we are not as closely with NED Herb Rosenbleeth to execute working in the engaged in the many activities that bring nachas the directives of JWV and museum leadership mailroom, she upon us. There is a small group which works every and keep them apprised of the daily work of the was promot- day to keep our organization on track and moving staff. He previously worked as JWV’s Membership ed to accounts forward - our National Headquarters staff. Several Coordinator and in the Programs Department, and payable clerk, and eventually the Assistant to the hundred of us just participated in our first virtual has experience planning National Conventions and Director of Operations. In her role she supports national convention which was also our 125th an- operating JWV’s development programs. He also many daily functions at headquarters. She assists nual national convention and it came about in a provides direct oversight to our headquarters build- Byrne to ensure we have a functioning work envi- short amount of time due to the tremendous efforts ing’s maintenance, Accounting, Development, the ronment. Members can contact her with any issues of our national staff. In the military, the small group editing of “The Jewish Veteran,” the Convention, involving supply orders, cap orders, or other gener- of individuals leading the way is called the tip of the NEC meetings, insurance policies, contracts, al questions. Her email address is mjackson@jwv. the spear. Twenty-five years ago, when I was new and Veteran Service issues. Greg can be contact- org and she is at ext. 410. to JWV and I needed anything from National, I ed with any questions or comments about the per- was advised by guys in the know to call Mrs. formance of the National Headquarters Staff. He Cara Rinkoff has Bailor. She was the go to woman who might take is also the point of contact for questions regarding worked as our Programs care of your issue or refer you to someone else who planned giving to JWV or the museum. He can be and Public Relations could help. As I have become a guy in the know emailed at [email protected] or at ext.408. Coordinator for the past (although the more I know the more I realize I need year. She was born and to know) I am often asked who to contact at Christy Turner is the raised in the suburbs of National Headquarters and how to do that. Let’s Executive Assistant to Milwaukee, Wisconsin start with the main telephone number (202) 265- the National before heading to Drake 6280. I also asked each staffer to write a paragraph Commander and University in Des of what they would like you to know about them- National Executive Moines, Iowa for college. selves and another paragraph about what they do. Director. She is also She graduated in 2003 with a BA in Journalism and Sometimes I used the information to write about our Graphic Designer. Mass Communications, majoring in both Broadcast them and sometimes I used their own words. She drafts leader- News and History. She worked as a television news ship’s correspondence producer and then a newswire reporter in Ohio, The National Staff and maintains records Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. Rinkoff re- Retired Colonel Herb Rosenbleeth is our National of correspondence, biographies, and pictures. She ceived a master’s degree in Communications for Executive Director and responsible for the overall coordinates scheduling for leadership and event at- Public Affairs and Advocacy (also from Drake management of our organization and the National tendance. She assists the NC in preparation of con- University) in 2019. She currently lives in Maryland staff. He is also the liaison with JWVA, all other gressional testimony. She is the initial contact for with her husband and six-year-old daughter. Veteran/Military organizations, and represents incoming calls and correspondence for the NED. As Programs and Public Relations Coordinator JWV at the Veterans Day National Committee at She handles information requests, complaints, she serves as the Managing Editor of “The Jewish the VA. Herb is also the liaison with the Israeli War problems, and JWV issues. She serves as the point Veteran.” She is also responsible for all direct mail Veterans Association, Tzevet. After retiring from of contact for Past National Commanders and you receive, including holiday cards and calen- the U.S. Army, Herb has faithfully served our orga- National Officers. Other projects that Christy dars. Rinkoff manages all of JWV’s social media nization for three decades. He has served as JWV works on are the yearly Post Liability insurance accounts, and puts together national press releases staff on three of larger missions to Israel. His broth- program, the annual Fidelity Bond insurance, and and the biweekly email newsletter. She plans NEC er Sam is a member of the JWV Tampa Post and his the Allied Mission trip to Israel. Aside from every- and the National Convention, oversees the scholar- cousin Dick is a member of a JWV Post in thing previously mentioned, she handles design ship program, Kiddush cups for Jewish graduates Philadelphia. He is married to Francie, who is a and layout of production, marketing, and informa- of military academies, and can be contacted about member of the JWVA, as is his sister Lea. Herb is tion materials for both JWV and the museum. making donations to JWV at [email protected] or also the Past President of the Military Coalition. He Finally, she is our photographer. In her off time she ext. 413. can be emailed at [email protected] captures images of nature that are a joy to behold. She can be reached at [email protected]. or at ext. 417. Ben Kane is the Greg Byrne is Programs Assistant. He Director of Operations Melody Jackson is the was born and raised in for both JWV and the Assistant to the Cherry Hill, New Jersey. museum. Director of Operations. He moved to the D.C. He was born in She is the proud moth- area in 2017 to begin northern New Jersey er to Janae and proud working for JWV. In this and graduated from aunt of Journee and capacity, he handles a va- Villanova University Richie. The military is riety of program and ad- outside of Philadelphia. very dear to her, as her ministrative tasks, and Following college, father and all his broth- can be contacted for matters relating to donations, Greg moved to Washington, D.C., and now lives ers served. She loves JROTC awards, and Eagle Scout congratulatory in Silver Spring, Maryland with his wife and two to learn about different cultures and religions, and certificates. He helps establish interested members young daughters. In his free time, he enjoys spend- how they make us similar in some areas and differ- as VAVS representatives at VA medical centers ing time with his kids, cooking, fishing, and fol- ent in others. She also loves to watch documenta- across the country as well as helping with “The lowing college football and basketball. ries and cooking shows, her favorite is “The Great Jewish Veteran.” Kane also works in tandem with Greg joined the staff of JWV in 2005. As British Bake Off.” Continued on page 8 www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 3 ON THE HILL

JWV Resolutions Committee The Resolutions Committee is one of JWV's most civilian counterparts. Female veterans are commit- placements are important committees. This committee provides ting suicide at a rate almost double their civilian hired. The civilian significant input for our National Commander's counterparts. The Jewish War Veterans of the USA communities will testimony to Congress and sets goals and objec- has long called upon Congress and the Department not fully address tives for the coming year's work. At this conven- of Veterans Affairs to increase funding and psy- this looming crisis tion, I heard almost every minute of each of its chological testing for every veteran to ensure they as many commu- three sessions. are not at risk for suicide. nities are under- This was the first time Resolutions Committee The Committee seeks more healthcare support served by health- Chairman, PNC Mike Berman, had the challenge in general for female veterans. There are approx- care professionals. of conducting each session as a virtual meetings. imately two million female veterans across the The committee COL Herb Rosenbleeth, USA (Ret) Chairman Berman handled this challenge mag- United States. Female veterans may require gen- urges Congress to National Executive Director nificently, keeping the discussions moving right der-specific medical equipment, medical special- pass legislation al- along, quickly counting the votes, and keeping ev- ists, space, and care. Not all VA medical centers lowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to utilize erything interesting throughout the three sessions. and Community Based Outreach Centers are able targeted hiring bonuses and student loan repayment Most of the proposed resolutions are submitted by to provide the gender-specific necessities to ensure programs to attract future employees for the VA. the Departments and are usually developed at the an adequate level of care. The committee's resolu- The subject of substance abuse and men- Department Conventions. Additional resolutions tion demands the VA immediately rectify its defi- tal health problems among veterans was of high may come from the national office and still others ciencies in the care and treatment of the increasing importance to the committee. A recent Rand may be written by the chairman himself. number of female veterans. Corporation study found that veterans are at a high The three sessions averaged around 60 attend- Of particular interest to our remaining World risk for simultaneously suffering substance abuse ees, with about half of those actually being mem- War II veterans is a resolution to eliminate the and mental health problems. The study found a bers of the committee. Only committee members means test for them. In 1996, Congress passed the nexus between substance abuse and mental health are allowed to vote on the resolutions. Veterans Health Care Eligibility Act which estab- problems (including post-traumatic stress disorder) Two of the resolutions the committee members lished a means test for some veterans. The legis- within the veterans' population. The study further felt very strongly about were repeats. These were lation exempted veterans of the Spanish-American found that these veterans have poor relationships resolutions concerning homeless veterans and sui- War and World War I. Today the veterans of World and difficulty obtaining the health they need. The cide prevention. There continues to be a serious War II are in the same age bracket and deserve the committee demands the VA provide treatment to problem of too many veterans throughout the coun- same courtesy as was extended to previous gener- all veterans who are confronting mental health and try being homeless. The Resolutions Committee ations of veterans. substance abuse. supported efforts to have homeless veterans desig- The committee passed a resolution concerning The committee members put in a lot of time nated as a special needs population so they would staffing shortages within the VA. The VA currently and effort preparing these resolutions and I have receive a larger portion of the funding allocation. has thousands of vacancies throughout the nation, covered only some of them. Our thanks and appre- Veteran suicide continues to be a significant especially health care professionals and administra- ciation to the members of the resolutions commit- and tragic problem. Male veterans are about 30 tors. The VA is facing numerous retirements over tee and especially to Chairman Michael Berman percent more likely to commit suicide than their the next few years. It is losing staff faster than re- for a job well done. Jewish Cemeteries In Distress

Continued from page 1 priestly class (Kohanim), were forbidden to go vice to family and the community in many forms. inside the gates of a cemetery because that would Our respect for our faith honorably distinguish- violate laws of ritual purity. According to Arthur es Jews as a guiding force during life and in repose. Kurzweil’s “From Generation to Generation,” their Over the millennia, the Jewish religion has codified gravestones usually bear the symbol of two hands customs and practices which we strive to live by with thumbs touching and fingers spread out in a out of respect for each other, the contributions each priestly blessing. person has provided, no matter how small or far With a request, and at no charge to the appli- reaching. When our time on this earth ends, we as cant, the Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes family, friends, or simply as strangers show a com- a government headstone or marker for the grave mon dignity to provide a lasting resting place as a of any deceased eligible veteran in any cemetery sign of remembrance for life. around the world, regardless of their date of death. According to the Family Research When purchasing a grave site, ensure the cem- Har Nebo Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA Organization, as of 2018 there were approximately etery owner is bonded or provides proof of operat- 22,000 known dedicated Jewish Cemeteries, of the lant, to say something, and to act to maintain the ing insurance. Upon research of the grave site to be more than 145,000 graveyards and marked ceme- grounds of fellow Jews for the greater good of the chosen, look at the overall appearance, and the look teries in the United States, Territories and foreign whole community. of maintained graves and entry. U.S. managed sites. When purchasing perpetual care, determine if With the aging population within America, What do we look for in a Jewish Cemetery? the people in charge of the perpetual fund are bond- there is also the aging of Jewish Cemeteries. More Different Jewish groups have different traditions ed or insured, which almost every state requires. often in recent years, cemetery owners and opera- about gravestones. Historically Ashkenazi Jews A perpetual fund is a separate bank account tors are facing higher maintenance costs. Grounds often have vertical gravestones and Sephardic and/or lawful saving instrument, that is used as appearance and paid perpetual care of individual Jews have horizontal stones. Sephardic stones of- the principal fund for maintaining the property. and community grave sites are not maintained by a ten have angelic figures and biblical images, while Owners or operators may and often do use the in- small percentage of operators. images were not permitted on Ashkenazi stones. terest earned from the perpetual fund to operate Each of us, when visiting a deceased member In the modern era, both groups make frequent the overall function and appearance of the entire or observing natural or wanton degradation, lack use of classic Jewish symbols: the Star of David, the Jewish Cemetery while maintaining the appear- of maintenance, vandalism, or visible Anti-Semitic Menorah, Tree of Life, the Book of Life, or a candle. ance of individual grave sites paid for that eternity. acts, have a duty and moral obligation to be vigi- Historically, families that belonged to the Continued on page 16 4 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org COMMITTEE REPORTS

BUDGET COMMITTEE Center (RC). Its main purpose will be to provide ac- It was suggested a number of years ago that By Alan Paley cess to ideas for programs, templates for brochures, JWV should sponsor two patches that could be and other best practices in all areas of JWV oper- worn on the scout uniform, not just on a patch More than 40 people joined the Budget Committee’s ations for members around the country. The next vest. These patches would honor two Jewish Medal virtual meeting on Sunday during the convention. steps on this program is to develop the technical of Honor Recipients, the Ben Kaufman patch for Before the meeting, the members of the bud- specifications for inputting and accessing materials Cub Scouts and the Tibor Rubin patch for Scouts get committee, Robert Nussbaum, Irwin Magid, in the RC, creating a marketing plan to make sure USA. These patches would have to be earned Larry Rosenthal, Barry Lischinsky, Elliot Donn, members know about the resources, and hopefully much like the Ner Tamid Award. The committee David Zwerin, and Stanley Rolnick, received cash launch the RC before NEC in January of 2021. asked National staff to develop the design and re- basis numbers through the end of the Fiscal Year I presented the results of our marketing survey. quirements for each patch, but this fell through the (06/30/2020) from Julia Lasher at headquarters. Those results will be available soon for everyone cracks. Right now there are no designs, and the This is a line by line listing of every revenue and to take a look at. The committee also plans to meet first attempt at developing requirements is sketchy expense category for both JWV and the museum. with other JWV committees, Departments, or any- at best. The committee is now looking for sugges- We compared these numbers against the budget for one else who wants more details and insight on the tions from all JWV members for patch designs and the 2020 Fiscal Year and noted any positive or neg- findings. appropriate requirements. ative variances. The Marketing Committee’s next projects in- Once we identified significant variances, we clude developing a brand awareness strategy and POST-9/11 COMMITTEE asked Julia to provide explanations as to why we coming up with the tools to implement the strate- earned more revenue or spent more money than we By Chairman Matthew Weinburke gy. There are a number of different audiences who anticipated. These explanations are kept on file in The virtual meeting during JWV’s convention last need to know about JWV and what we do, includ- case a member has questions when the numbers are month marked my first meeting as chairman of the ing legislators, prospective members, other veter- reviewed at both the NEC and museum meetings. Post-9/11 Committee. Jeffrey Blonder and Jennifer ans groups, and even our own members who may If you have any questions about the budget or Brande volunteered to be our committee co-chairs. not be aware of all that JWV offers, as well as the actual cash basis numbers, please reach out to me At the meeting we discussed our committee’s pri- public at large. at [email protected]. orities and goals, including increasing our social The committee will also start developing tar- media presence, holding virtual socials, and having get marketing programs, incorporating focused GULF WAR COMMITTEE presentations on various topics at our future meet- messaging with specific strategies on how to find ings. The committee plans to hold monthly meet- By Rochel Hayman and reach specific audiences and sub-sets of audi- ings starting in October. If you are interested in Many people, including some members from Israel, ences within each group. joining the committee, or having any questions or attended the Gulf War Committee meeting at comments, please email jwvpost911veteranscom- JWV’s virtual convention. We are working to at- SCOUTING/JROTC COMMITTEE [email protected]. tract members to leadership positions as well as to By Robert Nussbaum the emerging JWV Gulf War Vet Network. JWV has three new STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE In general, our committee is attempting to work ROTC achievement with a group that in most case's still in the work- The strategic planning committee has met multi- medals. Each in- force and may have young or youngish children at ple times since NEC 2020 in February. We are cludes a drape med- home. In addition to working with a wide range rewriting JWV’s mission statement, vision state- al and bar ribbon. of schedules, we need to work harder at making ment, and coming up with goals that have measur- The bronze is for people aware of the fact we exist. Short term goals able results for the next year, three years, and five JROTC, the silver include filling subcommittee leadership positions, years. for the first two recruiting, discussing what members of our com- Here are the results of our work thus far. years of ROTC, and mittee's era can contribute to JWV as a whole, and The proposed new mission statement: gold for the final the JWV Gulf War Vet Network’s development. The Jewish War Veterans (JWV) is the pre- two years of ROTC. The committee currently has its own email, closed miere voice for Jewish military and veterans in The color scheme of Facebook group, and is exploring more options. the United States. The JWV affirms that Jewish the ribbon is unique We would like to encourage every department men and women served honorably and heroical- to JWV. to have a Gulf War Committee Liaison. Michigan ly in the military forces of the United States of The commit- Chief of Staff Donald Schenk will begin speaking America during peacetime and war. The JWV de- tee discussed its with Department Commanders. fends the rights and benefits of all service mem- affiliation with the A lot of the Gulf War period overlaps with bers and veterans, fights anti-Semitism, and sup- National Jewish other service eras, even in the database of mem- ports the State of Israel Committee on bers at National Headquarters, so our committee The proposed new vision statement: Scouting (NJCoS). It is a replacement organization might not know you are out there. If your service The Jewish War Veterans will continue to be that is affiliated but still distinctly separate from time included the Gulf War, please contact us at a leading Veterans Service Organization in the Scouting USA. NJCoS is in the process of develop- [email protected] or RochelHaymanJWV@ United States, supporting and advocating for all ing its governing documents and defining its mis- gmail.com. military members, veterans, and their families. sion or role in providing support for and guidance The proposed slogan: to Jewish Scouts. MARKETING COMMITTEE A Jewish Voice for Veterans. A Veteran’s According to the 2020 statistics, there are Voice for Jews. By Chairman Howard Goldstein no units, Cub Packs, Scout Troops, nor Venture None of these items are set in stone at this The Marketing Committee, along with approxi- Crews, sponsored by any echelon of JWV. Five time. We plan to put together goals after a meeting mately 50 other members, met during the virtual other Veteran Service Organizations sponsor more with the Marketing Committee about their survey, National Convention in August. than 3,500 units. The American Legion and VFW which will take place in October. At this convention the committee introduced account for nearly 98 percent of those. A few JWV We are also looking for member input on the the Central Repository and gave results of the echelons support units but are not sponsors. In ad- work above, as well as possible goals for the organi- membership survey. dition to presenting Certificates of Achievement to zation. You can contribute your suggestions to this Committee Member Kim Queen of the Boy Scouts earning the rank of Eagle or Gold for committee by emailing [email protected]. Department of Wisconsin introduced the Central Girl Scouts, sponsoring a scout unit is an excellent Repository, which will now be called the Resource way to engage in community activities. Continued on page 17

www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 5 MEMBERSHIP CORNER The Membership Committee would like to take and a shortage of Jewish veterans. First, let me say Since the this opportunity and thank the JWV Convention there is no shortage in finding Jewish veterans. To last National Committee, as well as Executive Director Herb increase our JWV membership base, we have to Executive Rosenbleeth and the full-time staff for hosting our introduce ourselves to a lot of Jewish veterans. The Committee first virtual JWV National Convention. This year’s good news is, there are a lot of new Jewish veterans meeting in convention, despite being faced with the challenges we can meet. February 2020, of a global pandemic, was outstanding! The virtual The Membership Committee has identified our JWV Posts concept proved meetings don’t have to be held in a 12 different organizations to help supplement have made sig- traditional facility at the same location month after your existing recruiting plan. These are organiza- nificant contribu- month. With video conferencing, meetings can be tions where the current generation of Jewish vet- tions to the over- held to accommodate the needs of our membership. erans gather. We must remind our membership all JWV strength Members from across the nation can meet within that recruiting begins at the local Post level. The maintenance as the comfort of their homes and at the ease of their Membership Committee’s recommendation is of this reporting COL (ret) Barry Lischinsky monitor screen. The convention also gave us the that local posts visit these 12 groups and tell your period, despite Membership Chairman opportunity to listen, learn, and participate in an post’s story, as well as the benefits of joining the the restrictions exchange of ideas. If you were unable to attend, Jewish War Veterans of the USA. With today’s caused by the global pandemic. Retention of our please ask your Department's JWV National virtual meeting concept, each organization also most important asset, our members, continues to Convention attendees to update your membership has the potential of becoming an additional JWV be as important as recruiting the future genera- at your next virtual meeting. Post within your Department. If you did not attend tion of Jewish veterans. Commanders of all eche- Because of the coronavirus pandemic, PNC our virtual convention, you can view the different lons are reminded to continue to perform wellness Harvey Weiner and a select group of his leader- groups on the JWV website under the membership checks on your members. ship team made a series of wellness checks every tab. With your help we are hoping to expand on this Stay healthy, stay safe, and please reach out to two weeks to all JWV Department Commanders concept. Your thoughts are always welcome. someone who has served. and the lone Post Commanders that are not af- filiated with a Department. The purpose of the calls was to check on the health and safety of our membership. The goal was to have each JWV Department Commander check on their JWV Post Commanders, and JWV Post Commanders check- ing on their members. After about 12 weeks, the JWV Membership Committee continued the wellness checks, but asked an additional question. The committee asked Commanders of all echelons the following question: “Focusing on the membership process, what can JWV National do for your Post?” Their feedback gave us the theme for our Membership Committee presentation for the convention. The majority of Commanders were concerned about our inability to recruit the current generation of Jewish veterans

A Special Service Dog to Honor JWV’s Rochel Hayman A Reminder about Alpha Rosters By Cara Rinkoff Members and Veterans who have made significant By Robert Nussbaum The staff of Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) contributions to our nation,” said Alyssa Malaspina, Alpha lists are only as useful as the information met JWV Post 210 member Rochel Hayman during who coordinates WCC’s namesake program. they contain. For various reasons, much of the NEC in February. After spending time with “Learning from our living namesakes… is a rich data in the master file is no longer valid. Hayman and her daughter, WCC decided to name a tradition that honors their military services and Contact information is critical for echelon dog after her from one of its litters. WCC chose a helps keep their legacies alive." commanders and committee chairpersons. All dog from its Commitment Litter to carry the name WCC uses the concept of warriors helping post commanders and/or quartermasters Rochel. “WCC names all its puppies after Service warriors in their program. Veterans dealing with should, at their next meeting, even if virtual, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain in- ask each attendee to verify their alpha list juries, or other challenges, to train the dogs in their information and make corrections as necessary. litters. Once training is complete, the dogs are then For those members not in attendance, the post given to a veteran injured in combat. commander or his appointed delegate should Hayman said, “I know Warrior Canine call to verify the information and make the Connection, and I know the critical impact they necessary corrections. The post quartermaster have with what they do. When I heard they wanted should compile all of the corrections including to name one of their dogs after me, I was speech- new information and forward it to National less and overwhelmed.” She added, “I trust WCC Headquarters. Rochel will serve with love and kindness and to the best of her abilities.” Stay in touch with JWV! You can follow along with WCC’s Rochel as she grows up and becomes a certified service dog for a wounded warrior on a special Facebook page, www.facebook.com/wccscommitmentlitter/. For more about Warrior Canine Connection, you can visit their website at www.warriorcanineconnec- Facebook.com/JewishWarVeterans tion.org. twitter.com/JewishWarVets

6 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org 7 Questions with a JWV Member Member: Paula Steinbach home or abroad? While in the Navy, a thief used to break into my Post: North County Post 385 locker and steal my kosher food, but that could have been a statement about my gender, not my ethnicity. Military Service: U.S. Navy After the Navy, while attending New Mexico Member Since: 1974 State University on the GI Bill, I formed a Hillel group to change the name of the yearbook, which was called Swastika, a supposed reference to Native 1. Where and when did you serve in the military? Americans of the era, but totally unacceptable to I enlisted in the Navy in my hometown of Chicago us. Our local synagogue, JDL in Denver, and JWV under the delayed entry program in 1973 and joined us in our fight to change the name. I wrote reported to Naval Recruit Training Center in an article for JWV about the struggle for an issue of Orlando in May of 1974. “The Jewish Veteran.” After boot camp, I was assigned to Naval Air Several times throughout my 30 years of Station, Memphis. teaching high school history, students have written In Boot Camp, the detailer asked me what I ethnic slurs and drawn swastikas in their notebooks. wanted to do in the Navy. I thumbed through the I designed a Holocaust course in my district to ratings handbook and chose Torpedoman’s Mate. address this ignorance. The detailer said angrily, “That’s not open to 5. Why did you join JWV? women yet, but I’ll send you to a base that has a It was a safe and loving place to be Jewish! torpedo shop where you learn on the job.” So he sent me to a naval air station where there 6. How would you improve a current JWV program, or what type of program do you think wasn’t a torpedo. Finally, when I made E4, I felt I was accepted and JWV needs to add? While at Memphis, I applied three times for had proven to myself and the Navy that women I have no idea which members of my shul in Torpedo School. Twice my request came back, could do anything! “Request Denied - Rating not open to women.” Pomona, CA are veterans. I would like to be 2. Why did you join the military? Undiscouraged, I applied again and the able to swap sea stories. Maybe recruiting at I loved military and naval history. The first non- third time was the charm. The woman Personnel synagogues would be good project. I would like fiction book I read was in 4th grade. It was “The man who had become my friend called me at to connect nationwide with other female JWV Longest Day” about the D-Day Invasion. From the barracks. “Paula, you have orders,” she said members. then on, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to be excitedly, “You’re going to basic electricity school 7. What is your favorite Jewish food? sailor! at Great Lakes and then TM school in Orlando.” Challah. I am never without it on Shabbat! I became the third female Torpedoman’s Mate 3. How did your Jewish faith impact your time in in the Navy. the service? After finishing my schools, I was sent to the At Boot Camp, I attended Friday night Shabbat Mark 37 wire guided submarine torpedo shop in Services. A JWV member was there and signed us Groton, Connecticut. all up. I stayed there until I re-enlisted for SUBROC Upon orders to each new base, I contacted the school, becoming the first woman to receive this local Jewish community center to find a rabbi and training and finished my enlistment as a TM2 (E5) services. I kept Kosher as often as I could. The at Naval Magazine, Guam. Jewish Welfare Board provided me with canned Women were not on ships in my day. My kosher food and anything I needed. assignments were at shore torpedo intermediate Two Jewish Chaplains crossed my paths, maintenance facilities. Rabbi Bruce Kahn at NAS Memphis and Rabbi I was always the only woman TM, so I Botnick at Great Lakes. They nurtured me, constantly had to prove myself, but I was determined inspired me, and left an indelible spiritual treasury to earn the respect of my male peers. I worked hard in my life. and studied diligently for the advancement tests. 4. Have you ever experienced anti-Semitism at JWV 2021 Calendars NEW MEMBERS Have Arrived! DEPARTMENT AT LARGE Kreisler, Neal R. - Post 680 Lichter, Lester M. - Post 567 Becker, Jeremy R. - Post 100 Laffer, Sam - Post 680 If you have not already received DEPARTMENT OF MICHIGAN Milberg, Ronald P. - Post 100 Levy, Robert L. - Post 603 Reynolds, Gary K. - Post 474 one, please contact the Programs Millner, Daniel J. - Post 100 Morales, Nelson - Post 680 Department at 202-265-6280. Weingarten, Bruce - Post 100 Narrowe, Joshua A. - Post 680 DEPARTMENT OF MINNESOTA Yates, James Michael F., - Post 100 Paquin, Yishai - Post 680 Offutt, Lee - Post 354 For a suggested donation of $18, Yosfan, Benjamin R. - Post 100 Rizel, Shlomo - Post 680 Wireman-Offutt, Margret - Post 354 we will send you a calendar while Rodriguez, Yirmiyahu - Post 680 DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF NEVADA Rosenberg, Isaac - Post 680 supplies last. Abelkop, Guy S. - Post 385 Schwab, Meyer D. - Post 65 Schlesinger, David - Post 680 Barraza, Albert - Post 385 Todd, Einat A. - Post 680 DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK Cohen, Heftsibah J. - Post 185 Zagdanski Yoni, - Post 680 Perry, Bernard - Post 425 Cohen, Jason - Post 680 For JWV caps, call Keystone Cohn, Ahron - Post 680 DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TALO Comrov, Brian - Post 680 Cohn, Aharon V. - Post 681 Beal, Ervin - Post 256 Uniform Cap Corporation Danyiel, Shaul - Post 680 Fernandez, David - Post 243 Benjamin, Jack A. - Post 256 Phone: 215-821-3434 • Fax: 215-821-3438 David, Orel - Post 680 Kutter, Hans C. - Post 819 De La Concepcion, Jr. Luis, - Post 757 www.keystoneuniformcap.com/Jewish-War-Veteran Egert, Dovid - Post 680 Reiner, Robert L. - Post 631 Kruger, Adam - Post 757 -Caps.html Eyal, Mark - Post 680 Marne, Jonah A. - Post 753 DEPARTMENT OF ILLINOIS Finsley, Asher - Post 680 Miller, Allen - Post 757 Simon, Theodore H. - Post 710 Goldman, Danny - Post 680 DEPARTMENT OF VA - POST NC Hochman, Yitzchak - Post 680 DEPARTMENT OF MARYLAND Gerhardt, Eric M. - Post 765 Jones, Jerrod L. - Post 185 Blum, Bernard - Post 567 Kamzen, Daniel A. - Post 680 Krause, Israel S. - Post 567

www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 7 Message from the Commander Continued from page 3 also enjoy cooking and taking walks with her girls. grandpa (who is longtime JWV member and cur- the National Museum of American Jewish Military She started her career at JWV 20 years ago as a rent museum president PNC Michael Berman). History by providing tours to museum guests and Data Entry Clerk in the Membership Department. As a Veterans Service Officer, Berman assists helping coordinate educational trips that veterans Her current job includes sorting and depositing all veterans and their families with filling out claim make to schools throughout the country. Kane’s in-house checks and credit cards and distributing forms, filing for service-connected disability bene- family is a Gold Star Family that knows the price of background copies to each department head. She fits, assisting with military burials, and much more. war. He can be reached at [email protected]. also enters all new members into the database Her email is [email protected] and updates and processes all in-house renewals. Harrison Heller is the She makes adjustments and does all inquiries for The National Museum of American M e m b e r s h i p checks and credit card payments for the member- Military Jewish History (NMAJMH) Coordinator. He was ship department. You can contact her at aclark@ born and raised in Palm jwv.org. Staff Beach County, Florida. Michael Rugel is the He has traveled all Iryna Apple is our museum’s Programs & across the United States, C o m m u n i c a t io n s Content Coordinator. Canada, Western Coordinator. She was Prior to that he served Europe, Israel, Cuba, born in Kyiv, Ukraine on the museum's collec- Ethiopia, and most re- in 1969 and has a tions management staff. cently, Rwanda. Professionally, he interned in the Master’s Degree in Rugel has frequently U.S. House of Representatives and the Embassy of hydrogeology from written about Jews in Greece. He teaches 5th grade Judaic Studies at a National Taras the American military local synagogue. He is currently studying at the Schevchenko and produced a series of University of Oklahoma to obtain a Masters in University. She videos featuring Jews in the military including Global Affairs. worked as a hydrogeologist for the Ukrainian gov- American Jewish liberators of concentration camps At JWV, he ensures all posts are in good stand- ernment, assessing underground water reserves. describing their World War II experiences. He reg- ing with National and turn in all documents. Heller She moved to the United States in 2002 and be- ularly speaks about the history of Jews in the also distributes alpha rosters twice a year. He puts came a U.S. citizen in 2007. Apple started working American Military at museum programs as well as together membership renewal notices, answers for JWV in 2005. In her spare time she enjoys go- to local schools, synagogues, community centers, questions as they come in, ensures your contact ing for long walks, visiting new places, and laugh- and veterans groups. In addition to his work at the information is up-to-date, and distributes post and ing with her friends. museum, Rugel hosts and produces the “Uncensored department dues reimbursements. Heller can be As Communications Coordinator, she main- History of the Blues” podcast for the Delta Blues reached at ext. 414, or by email at [email protected]. tains, updates, and coordinates changes for JWV’s Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He lives with website and the JWV Foundation website. She is his wife and nine-year-old daughter in Dunn Julia Lasher is the the one to contact if you have any questions about Loring, Virginia. Accounting those sites. She also monitors the websites that Mike manages all of the museum public pro- Coordinator. She was JWV provides hosting services for, including the grams. He creates contents for the website, social born in England, but Department of California and several posts. Apple media, and other online platforms. He designed, has lived in Maryland also is responsible for maintaining our marketing built, and maintains the museum website. He man- for 50 years. She is a software for email campaigns. You can reach her at ages visitor services. He creates educational ma- proud U.S. Air Force [email protected]. terials for students. He coordinates all of the mu- dependent who lived seum’s development and membership programs. in many different Vincent Edwards is Contact him if you have any questions about muse- countries. Her father the Assistant Commun- um donations, membership, public programs, or a worked for the Strategic Air Command in a top se- ications Coordinator. tour at [email protected]. cret capacity so she knew very little about what he He joined the staff did. After graduating from a high school in Ankara, three years ago. He Pamela Elbe is the Turkey, the Air Force awarded her a four-year schol- handles mail receipts Collections, Archives and arship to the University of Maryland. She joined the and distribution. He Exhibitions Coordinator. JWV in December 2000 and considers the job her also handles banking She is originally from way of paying back the veterans who took good care deposits, printing, Wisconsin and has a BA of her and her family over the years. building maintenance, in History from the She tracks all financial transactions relating electrical issues, lighting, set up for special events, University of Wisconsin to JWV, its foundation, and the museum. She garden maintenance, repairs, painting, back-up and an MA in Museum reconciles all cash accounts, prepares reports re- security, and snow removal. His email is ved- Studies from George lating to investments, and analyzes the cash ac- [email protected]. Washington University. tivity of all major programs. You can reach her at She lives in Baltimore County with her husband [email protected] Raiana Berman is our Matt and dog Ralphie. National Veterans Service She has worked at the museum since 2002. She Andria Clarke is Officer. After completing is responsible for anything that has to do with the JWV’s Membership & her Bachelors in museum’s collections, including artifacts, photo- Accounting Sociology from Coastal graphs, and archival materials, as well as the ex- Assistant. She is the Carolina University in hibits. She handles potential donations and new ac- proud mother of two Myrtle Beach, South quisitions, cataloging and housing the collections, beautiful girls, Adia Carolina, she moved back incoming and outgoing loans, conducting research, and Alana. She loves to her home state of New and helping staff, scholars, and the public with their spending time with Jersey to finish a degree inquiries. She also maintains the archives for both family and friends - in Criminal Justice. A year later, she moved to JWV and the museum. Contact her at pelbe@jwv. they mean everything Washington, D.C. to work in our headquarters. org if you have something you are interested in do- to her. She is a devoted When Raiana is not working, she enjoys traveling, nating to the Museum or if you have historic re- Christian and loves studying the word of G-d. Clarke eating Chinese food, and hanging out with her search related question. 8 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

By the time you read this JWV’s press release Racism exists today in this country. However, of June 22, 1,508 about renaming U.S. Military bases will be histo- contrary to some popular beliefs, the vast majority people in Chicago ry, having been sent out on July 2. But the message of non-black people are not racists. We as a nation were shot, result- I am about to convey is relevant, pertinent, and need to work toward fixing the racial divides that ing in 491 deaths. needs to be addressed. do exist for the future of this great nation. This included When I first read it, I was outraged JWV Matthias Baldwin was an early abolitionist many children, should make a statement when no one asked for and argued in 1837 for African Americans to have including a one- the opinion of the members. No one asked my the right to vote. A statue of Matthias Baldwin in year-old boy and opinion, and to the best of my knowledge, that of Philadelphia was defaced. a three-year-old any other department commander, post command- An attempt was made in Washington, D.C. to girl. 75 percent of er, or member. As a result, I trashed it and moved destroy a statue of Lincoln dedicated to his freeing those killed were on for two reasons. Number one, because whether the slaves. black and 71 per- or not I agreed with the issue, I felt it was political Many war memorials have been defaced. Some cent of the sus- and JWV should refrain from engaging in partisan people are taking it upon themselves to destroy our pected shooters politics, and two, because I felt members were not history without knowing what these monuments were black. Blacks Larry Jasper, National Editor consulted on such a sensitive issue before a state- and memorials are about. And probably not caring. comprise only 33 ment was issued from the organization. Everyone, except perhaps White Nationalists, percent of Chicago’s population. Over the past de- Then I started getting emails and phone calls deplores the killing of George Floyd and feels cade over 5,200 people were killed in Chicago. But from members who were equally outraged. Many those responsible should be punished as the law we have not heard a peep from these concerned told me they were resigning from JWV over it. allows. Peaceful protests are a right guaranteed organizations. Some suggested they wanted to close their post under the U.S. Constitution. But some radical an- There are over 800,000 law enforcement per- and open an independent veteran organization in archist groups disgraced these peaceful protests sonnel in this country. There are a few bad apples place of the current JWV post. I implored them to by engaging in acts of violence, burning, looting, but well over 99 percent are decent, hard-working hold off taking such actions. That prompted me to and destroying our historical artifacts. Out of this people willing to lay down their lives for those write this editorial. I also did extensive research came the demand to rename these 10 military in- they are sworn to protect. into the backgrounds of the people the 10 posts are stallations. If the people they are named for do not 12 of the first 14 Presidents owned slaves. named for. An article on those individuals appears deserve this honor, then it should go to others who It was not illegal at the time. Do we change the in this issue of “The Jewish Veteran.” are more deserving and more honorable. name of our nation’s capital? Do we tear down The name changes are a political issue and as This current movement to erase our history be- the Washington Monument? Jefferson Memorial? previously stated, the JWV should not, and cannot, gan with radical anarchist groups, some financed How about Arlington National Cemetery? And we engage in partisan politics. We are an organization by foreign entities, with the express purpose of de- should remember that some slaves were captured of members with diverse opinions, we should all stroying this nation. The Antifa and Black Lives and sold by other black Africans. respect those opinions, and we are free to express Matter groups were at the forefront after the mur- Or, do we preserve our history and let future them as long as they are respectfully presented as der of George Floyd. We know what Antifa stands generations learn from it. an individual opinion and not that of the greater for. If groups like BLM are so concerned about Remember, the first line of the preamble to the organization. black lives, where were they when retired 77-year- U.S. Constitution states “…in order to form a more There are many monuments, memorials, cit- old black police Captain David Dorn was murdered perfect union…” The United States is a work in ies, airports, military installations, and other plac- on June 2. Police say his killer was a 24-year-old progress and if we forget our past, we are doomed es dedicated to those who fought on both sides of black man. The suspect took cell phone video of to repeat our failures. the Civil War. We fought over our differences and Dorn bleeding to death on the street and posted Always remember that freedom is not free. we all came back together. It is vital that we pre- it on Facebook. Where were they when Black As veterans, most of us know of someone who serve our culture, heritage, and history if we as a owned businesses were destroyed in Minneapolis has paid the heavy price. Let us continue the great nation are to endure. If we erase our past, good or and other cities? What about the black on black work of the JWV in a unified manner and avoid bad, and fail to learn from our mistakes, we are killings in Chicago and other cities? According to things that try to divide us. doomed to repeat them. the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times, as LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To The Editor, Jewish soldiers. To suggest that we find a “Jewish Everything we do is geared towards “getting it At Operation Benjamin we discover the graves of sounding name” and on such a flimsy basis request right.” If our research concludes that the soldier is WWII Jewish-American soldiers who were mis- a headstone change is to make a mockery of the properly buried under a cross, then that is a victory takenly buried under crosses, and work in cooper- holy work with which we are engaged. as well. It’s a great honor and heavy responsibility ation with the great people at the American Battle Every soldier we identify as a possible can- to work to correct errors of the past and bring these Monuments Commission (ABMC) to correct those didate for a headstone replacement takes months Jewish War Veterans back home to the fold of their errors. and months of intense research through primary heritage, where they rightly belong. We were taken aback by a well-intentioned let- and secondary sources by professional geneal- Shalom Lamm, Operation Benjamin CEO ter by one of your readers, who wrote, “it seems ogists. We require a high bar of evidence in our senseless to look for ‘very obviously Jewish names.’ research, which often runs to well over 50 pages Dear Editor, Many so-called "Jewish names" are of German or of the highest quality genealogical research and ev- Volume 74 arrived today, and I enjoyed it. Eastern European origin, and it might end up lead- idence gathering. In the end, no matter the quality Particularly, the story from your archives about the ing to mistakenly replacing a Latin Cross, with a of our research, we could never replace a headstone 1944 Seder aboard the IOWA, brought back mem- Star of David; for someone who wasn't even of the unless the family requests it following the presen- ories of my own 1944 Seder which was quite a Jewish faith. This would be the exact opposite of tation of our research to them. It is the family of different story. The IOWA Seder might be the first what they are trying to do, and I hope they do their the soldier who must advocate for the change, not shipboard Seder in WWII but since Seder comes at research better than that.” Operation Benjamin. And then the request and all the same time everywhere – and definitely so in the This is a serious misunderstanding of what we of the accompanying evidence is reviewed by his- Pacific – the one I attended had to be simultaneous. do and was likely prompted by an offhand remark torians of the ABMC, where the ultimate decision I was stationed in a Ship Repair unit on Adak in the about how we begin the process of identifying is made. Continued on page 13

www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 9 The Story Behind The Military Installations Named For Confederate Officers By Larry Jaser 2. Fort Benning, Georgia He was also a slave owner before the start The controversary over 10 military installations in At the request of the Columbus Rotary Club, the of the Civil War and owned a sugar plantation in the South being named after Confederate Officers Army honored Louisiana. continues to rage. The stories behind the people Brig. Gen. Henry He joined the Confederacy and served as a differ widely. Before the Civil War, most of the -of Benning when it general in the Confederate Army during the Civil ficers served valiantly in the U.S. Army and were opened Camp War. decorated for bravery. Benning in 1918. He was not popular with the Confederate Some owned slaves and some did not. Read It was renamed troops and ended the war as a military adviser to and decide for yourself if they are worthy of having Fort Benning in Confederate President Jefferson Davis. an installation named for them. 1922. In 2005, Historians generally rate Bragg as one of the In 2015 Brigadier General Malcolm Frost said, Fort Benning be- worst tacticians on either side during the war, "Every Army installation is named for a soldier came the home of and his losses were major contributors to the who holds a place in our military history." He fur- the U.S. Army Confederate States of America's (CSA) defeat. ther explained that the historic names chosen "rep- Armor Center and School. resent individuals, not causes or ideologies," and Benning led troops at the Second Battle of 4. Fort Lee, Virginia that “it was done in the spirit of reconciliation, not Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of General Robert E. Lee was a West Point graduate division.” Gettysburg. Prior to the Civil War he practiced law and the leader of and never served in the military. the Confederate 1. Fort Hood, Texas Benning served as one of Georgia's delegates Army. The U.S. The official opening of Camp Hood took place on to a convention of nine slaveholding states to de- Army named September 18, termine the South’s course of action if slavery Camp Lee after 1942. It is named were banned in the western territories. While the him on July 15, for the command- resolutions of the convention helped lead to the 1917 during the er of the Compromise of 1850, Benning introduced resolu- mobilization for Confederate Texas tions in Nashville that strongly defended slavery World War I. In Brigade, General and supported a state's right to secede. 1950 it was re- John Bell Hood. It At the 1861 secession convention, Benning named Fort Lee. was renamed Fort said, “What was the reason that induced Georgia Today Fort Lee is home to the Combined Arms Hood in 1950. to take the step of secession? This reason may be Support Command. Today it is the summed up in one single proposition. It was a con- Lee served the U.S. Army for 32 years, dis- largest Armored viction, a deep conviction on the part of Georgia, tinguishing himself during the Mexican American Post in the U.S. Army. that a separation from the North was the only thing War and as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Gen. John Bell Hood was a Kentucky native that could prevent the abolition of her slavery… If Academy. and graduated from West Point in 1853. things are allowed to go on as they are, it is cer- He was President Abraham Lincoln’s first In 1855, he served with the Second United tain that slavery is to be abolished. By the time the choice to lead the U.S. in the Civil War. States Cavalry in Jefferson Banks, Missouri. Hood North shall have attained the power, the black race Instead, Lee joined the Confederacy when his received a citation for bravery and promotion to will be in a large majority, and then we will have home state, Virginia, seceded from the Union. first lieutenant after an injury during a fight with black governors, black legislatures, black juries, Lee took command of the Army of Northern Native Americans. black everything. Is it to be supposed that the white Virginia in June 1862 during the Peninsula Hood resigned from the U.S. Army in April race will stand for that?" Campaign. 1861 and became a first lieutenant of cavalry in the After the war he returned to Columbus, Historians generally agree that Lee was less Confederate Army. He trained cavalry in Virginia Georgia, and his law practice. enthusiastic about the cause than many of his fel- before his promotion to Colonel. When his unit in low Southerners, but he did take command of the Texas expanded to brigade strength, he received a 3. Fort Bragg, North Carolina Confederate army. After the defeat, he spoke out promotion to brigadier general in 1862. Fort Bragg opened in 1918. The local chamber of in opposition to Confederate monuments, writing Hood fought in the Peninsula Campaign, the commerce named in 1869 that it is better, "not to keep open the sores Second Battle of Bull Run, and after the Battle of the Fort after of war but to follow the examples of those nations Antietam he became the youngest major general in General Braxton who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. His division also Bragg, the only strife." played a significant role in the Battle of Gettysburg general from in July 1863 where he suffered injuries. Hood even- North Carolina 5. Fort Polk, Louisiana tually rejoined his unit to lead a charge during the during the Civil Camp Polk opened in 1941 and was named for Battle of Chickamauga, after which he became a War. Since the Leonidas Polk, a lieutenant general for his bravery. U.S. Army was West Point gradu- Despite having his leg amputated, he returned concerned with ate, planter, slave to the battlefield in 1864 to try to stop U.S. General mobilizing troops owner, and Sherman’s march toward Atlanta. By July, Hood for World War I, they just let locals choose the Episcopal bishop had become commander of the Army of Tennessee name. It is now home to the U.S. Army Forces who began the and fought Sherman’s forces under a temporary Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, U.S. Army Civil War as a ma- promotion to full general. Special Operations Command, 82nd Airborne jor general in the Hood was the youngest officer on either side Division, and many other commands. Confederate of the Civil War to independently lead an army. He Bragg graduated 5th in a class of 50 at West Army. It was re- thought of himself as a career military man and did Point in 1837 and served in the U.S. Army until named Fort Polk not personally hold slaves but admitted slavery was 1856. Bragg was an American army officer during in 1955 and is now home to the Army's Joint the main cause of the war. the Second Seminole War and Mexican American Readiness Training Center. War, where his success made him a national hero. Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk was a North Carolina

10 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org native. He had no previous military experience, as the Third Seminole War. In 1851 he was promot- War. He returned from the war a hero after raising other than his West Point education before the war. ed to First Lieutenant. In 1855 he transferred to the the American flag over a captured castle during the He died in action during the Battle of Atlanta in U.S. Coastal Survey to work in the D.C. area while Battle of Chapultepec. Pickett also served on the 1864. still holding a commission. Texas frontier, where he was promoted to captain. Shortly after graduating West Point, Polk re- On March 1, 1861, Hill resigned from the U.S. Pickett resigned from the army shortly after signed his commission in the artillery to enter the Army and became the colonel of the 13th Virginia Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861 Virginia Theological Seminary. Polk was the bish- Infantry, commanding a unit at the Battle of First and started his Confederate service as a colonel in op of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana when the Manassas. On February 26, 1862, Hill received a command of defenses on the Lower Rappahannock Civil War started. He resigned that position to be- promotion to brigadier general. Following the pro- River. come a major general for the Confederacy. motion, Hill served at the Battle of Williamsburg By 1862, Pickett had earned a promotion to a Polk commanded troops in the Battle of and during the Peninsula Campaign. brigade command under General James Longstreet. Shiloh, the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Stones Hill was promoted to major general on May 26, He served during the Peninsula Campaign until a River, the Tullahoma Campaign, the Battle of 1862 and took command of the Thirds Corps after severe injury forced him to leave the battlefield in Chickamauga, the Chattanooga Campaign, and the a promotion to Lieutenant General. June of that year. Atlanta Campaign. On April 2, 1865, Hill was killed during the After a promotion to major general, Pickett Breakthrough at Petersburg. served in the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. He 6. Fort Gordon, Georgia is best known for Pickett’s Charge, a massive fron- Camp Gordon, named for Lt. Gen. John Brown 8. Camp Beauregard, Louisiana tal assault that ultimately failed. Gordon, a native Camp Beauregard, named for Confederate At the end of the war, upon learning that he was Georgian, soldier, Brigadier General being investigated for war crimes in North Carolina legislator, and Pierre Gustave over the hanging of 22 former Confederate soldiers b u s i n e s s m a n , Toutant- who shifted their allegiance to the Union, Pickett opened in July Beauregard, and his family fled to Canada. They returned 1941 as a World opened in 1917 to Virginia in 1866 after a letter of support from War II training and today serves General Grant ended the investigation. camp for the 4th as a training facil- and 26th Infantry ity for the 10. Fort Rucker, Alabama Divisions, and the L o u i s i a n a Fort Rucker, named for Col. Edmund Rucker, 10th Armored National Guard. opened in 1942, Division. It became Fort Gordon in 1956. The facil- Beauregard was and serves as the ity is now home to the U.S. Army Signal Corps and trained in military and civil engineering at West primary training Cyber Corps. Point and served with distinction as an engineer base for Army Gordon had zero military experience before officer in the Mexican American War. Aviation. He is the the war. He became one of Robert E. Lee's most Following a brief appointment as superinten- only Confederate trusted generals over the course of the war. dent of the U.S. Military Academy in 1861, and af- below the rank of At the start of the war Gordon was elected cap- ter Louisiana seceded, he resigned from the United general officer tain of a company of mountaineers and displayed States Army and became the first brigadier general with an Army fa- remarkable capabilities. He quickly climbed to in the Confederate Army. cility named after brigadier general in 1862, major general in 1864, He is best known for his defense of the indus- him. and lieutenant general in 1865. trial city of Petersburg, Virginia from Union troops After a basic education Rucker moved to A hero to Georgians at the age of just 33, in June 1864. Nashville in 1853, working as railroad surveyor be- Gordon returned to his home state and began to Following his military career Beauregard re- fore becoming an engineer. He was the city engi- practice law. There are rumors that Gordon served turned to Louisiana. In the early days after the war, neer of Memphis during the late 1850s. as a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, but Beauregard displayed the same antipathy toward When the Civil War broke out Rucker enlist- that was a different Gordon, George Washington freed slaves that most of his fellow Confederate ed in the Confederate States Army as a private Gordon, of Tennessee, who also served in the leaders had embraced, but by 1873 he'd had a in Pickett's Tennessee Company of Sappers and Confederate Army. change of heart and advocated for black civil and Miners. Sent to Kentucky, he was promoted to lieu- When the United Confederate Veterans orga- voting rights. tenant. On May 10, 1862 he was transferred and nization formed in 1890, Gordon was made com- At a meeting between white and black leaders promoted to captain of Company C, 1st Tennessee mander in chief, a position he occupied until his in Louisiana, Beauregard made a rousing speech in Heavy Artillery. death. In his memoirs “Reminiscences of the Civil support of racial cooperation. Rucker was transferred to the cavalry with the War,” published in 1903, Gordon admits slavery rank of major and assigned to enforce conscription was the true spark that ignited the war. 9. Fort Pickett, Virginia laws in East Tennessee. Fort Pickett is a Virginia Army National Guard in- In early 1863 Rucker was promoted to colonel 7. Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia stallation which and given command of the newly created 1st East Fort A.P. Hill is a training center which opened in first opened in Tennessee Legion. 1941. All branch- 1941 as Camp In November Rucker was appointed acting es of the U.S. Pickett and re- brigadier general, but his commission was never Armed Forces named Fort confirmed by the Confederate Congress. train there. It is Pickett in 1974. Rucker became far better known after the war named for Gen. Maj. Gen. George as an Alabama industrialist who helped build the Ambrose Powell Pickett was a state's substantial coal and steel industries. Hill. Virginia native. Ambrose After studying Powell Hill grad- law in Illinois, he uated from the attended West Point, graduating in 1846. Pickett United States finished last in his class of 59. Military Academy in 1847. He served with an artil- He entered the U.S. Army as a second lieu- lery unit during the Mexican American War as well tenant and served during the Mexican American

www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 11 JWV’s First Virtual National Convention Congratulations to All Continued from page 1 Award Winners think working with Israel is very important.” Dermer also spoke about how Israel is dealing Murray L. Rosen Award with the current coronavirus pandemic. He and Colonel Nelson L. Mellitz PNC Harvey Weiner made a friendly bet about Feureisen-I. T. Rockman Award which country will develop the first vaccine for Dr. Harvey Bloom Post 256-TALO COVID-19. If Israel develops it first, Weiner owes Dermer dinner, but if any other country has the Ben Kaufman Award first vaccine, Dermer will treat Weiner to dinner. Dr. Harvey Bloom Post 256-TALO Our second business session featured attor- Wolfson Award ney Amy Van Fossen. She discussed aid and at- Dr. Harvey Bloom Post 256-TALO tendance benefits, which is important because it National Commander’s Award “is tax free and can be used for a variety of pur- Jeffrey Sacks is sworn in as National Commander. Manhattan-Cooper-LTC Epstein-Florence poses… the intent of the benefit is for medical ex- Greenwald Post 1-NY penses.” Fossen said a common misconception is During the convention members also attend- that you cannot receive Medicaid and the aid and ed important committee meetings and participated Judge Lawrence Gubow Memorial Award attendance benefit. You can find her slide presen- in a leadership workshop. You can find informa- PNC Ira Novoselsky-MA tation with more information on VA benefits and tion on what happened at those meetings in the Joseph Demiany Memorial Award Fossen’s contact information in the convention Committee Reports section of this issue. Dept. of Massachusetts section of our website at www.jwv.org/programs/ Finally, on Thursday, JWV elected its new Post-9/11 Veteran Support Award building-membership/national-convention. National Commander and first-ever National Vice Manhattan-Cooper-LTC Epstein-Florence Approximately 100 members also joined our Commander. NC Jeffrey Sacks and NVC Alan Greenwald Post 1-NY third business session to hear a discussion on an- Paley both addressed the more than 100 members ti-Semitism with American Zionist Movement who attended the session which included their elec- Recruiter of the Year Award President Richard Heideman and U.S. Special Envoy tion. Sacks announced his new appointees for posi- PNC Maxwell Colon-CA to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr. tions including Chief of Staff and National Adjutant. Honorable Mention Heideman spoke about the rampant anti-Sem- Rabbi Ari Montana-CA itism Jews are experiencing around the world and Edward D. Blatt Award right here in the United States. He said, “We have Furer-Barag-Wolf Post 126-NJ seen a reemergence of such hatred, such intoler- ance, such bigotry, such anti-Semitism, anti-Zion- Brenner – Jaffee Memorial Awards ist, and Holocaust denial that we must go back and Best Monthly Publication reanalyze where we went wrong. What did we miss Dr. Harvey Bloom Post 256-TALO in training our young people? What did we miss in Best Quarterly Publication sending messages to our community and I mean Dept. of Florida – The Florida Veteran the community at large… How is it possible that Best Weekly E-newsletter anti-Semitism has become all too acceptable?” Alan Paley, National Vice Commander Dept. of Mass. - Shabbat Shalom The two men answered several questions from members, and Carr discussed the importance of the We hope to welcome all of you to our next Outstanding Email Newsletter Award convention in-person, which will be held in New Martin Hochster Memorial 755-TALO Orleans, Louisiana, August 15-20. Honorable Mention Albert S. Aronovitz Post 373-FL NATIONAL VETERAN ACHIEVEMENT Most Improved Online Engagement Award PROGRAM Facebook - Dr. Harvey Bloom Post 256-TALO Website - Dept. of Florida Robert M. Zweiman Memorial Award -$5,000 Ethan Leventhal Post Growth Award Small Posts - Fort Hood Post 795-TALO Sidney Lieppe Memorial Grant -$5,000 Nick Israel Medium Posts- Marsack-Feldman Post 145-WI Elan Carr, U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor Charles Kosmutza Memorial Grants -$2,500 and Combat Anti-Semitism Avrohom Yormark Large Posts - Major Gary Grant Post 680-CA International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Charles Kosmutza Memorial Grants -$1,000 Bountiful Posts- (IHRA) and the importantance of having countries Julia McCrory Atlanta Bicentennial Post 112-SE accept the group’s definition of anti-Semitism. But Max R. & Irene Rubenstein Memorial -$1,500 in addition to just defining anti-Semitism, Carr Kanaan Goldstein Museum Awards said, “It [IHRA] goes on to provide examples, 11 Post with the greatest number of of them to be precise, with an overarching addi- Leon Brooks Memorial Grant - $1,000 Nicholas Costigan museum members tional example that provides a window into the South Philadelphia Post 98-PA contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism.” NATIONAL YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT Post with the highest percentage of He added, “One of my top diplomatic asks when I PROGRAMS go overseas is that a country that hasn’t adopted it museum members Clifford Lee Kristal Education Grant -$1,250 Milton L. Finel Post 389-NY formally, adopt it. And we’ve had great successes Justin Speaker as more and more countries are lining up to em- Department with the greatest number brace the IHRA definition.” Bernard Rotberg Memorial Grant -$1,000 of museum members Carr also noted that while it’s obvious the inter- Matthew Kroscher Dept. of TALO net and social media did not cause today’s anti-Sem- Edith, Louis and Max S. Millen Memorial Department with the highest percentage itism, “It is carrying this contagion further and faster Athletic Grant -$1,000 of museum members than we’ve ever seen before and it is one of the chief Justin Speaker Dept. of TALO reasons we’re seeing anti-Semitism rise today.” 12 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org ANOTHER VETERAN HELPED BY JWV By Harvey Weiner when you come back here. I am going to order, I’m been spared jail time. Since this involved a veteran, Veterans appear in family court slightly more than not going to incarcerate you today. I need to see that since this is an issue applied somewhat dispropor- non-veterans do because a military career is not as you have a job and that you are doing something.” tionately to veterans, and since this potentially in- conducive to domestic tranquility as a civilian ca- Grullon attempted to explain he had been in volves significant constitutional issues, VLS asked reer. Deployment causes lengthy separations, and touch with the municipal veterans’ agent and his if JWV would file an amicus brief. JWV National people change during the absence. Post-traumatic child received funds. agreed and since it was a Massachusetts case, my stress disorder can destroy a marriage. Moving “She is fine,” he said, but the judge cut him off firm and I agreed to write the brief pro bono. from base to base every three years can disrupt and said “Well sir, if that’s your attitude, then may- After arguments, the SJC issued a 19-page family stability. Homelessness and incarceration be I’ll be rethinking what I am going to do today, opinion that said Grullon was deprived of his con- are other veterans’ issues that can negatively sir.” stitutional rights when the trial judge jailed him affect a marriage. Also, some spouses are not cut Grullon continued “Your Honor, I just want- without regard to his ability to pay and without out for military life. ed to say that she [the child] is well taken care of. providing him required procedural safeguards. The After serving five years in the U.S. Navy, I’ve been assured by Jaime Melendez, who is the contempt finding was expunged by the SJC, but Joshua Grullon, a partially disabled post-9/11 vet- Lawrence Veterans….”, but the judge cut him off Grullon could not get back his ten days in jail. The eran, became divorced and fell behind in his child again and said “Sir, you do understand you have a SJC said it did not need to reach the right to counsel support payments. At the time, he was attending child and this is your obligation.” He said he did, issue and decided the case on these other grounds. a tractor-trailer training program, which was paid but the judge continued “So telling me she’s fine The Chief Justice, in a nine page concurring for by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and his and it’s not a big deal, now I’m rethinking what I opinion, stated that unless the Family Court and child also received some assistance through the ought to do. Because that's a really poor attitude the Department of Revenue faithfully provided VA. His wife took him to family court to collect to come in here. I was giving you a break today.” sufficient protections to future defendants, a right the overdue child support payments. Grullon said “Yeah, I just stepped on my own.” to counsel, under both the federal and state consti- In this type of litigation, the Massachusetts The judge responded “You did. $500. Ten days in tutions, would be required to ensure these proce- Family Court has a state attorney from the jail.” “I just shot myself,” he said. “Yeah, you did, dural safeguards would be faithfully applied. Department of Revenue represent the individual sir,” replied the judge. Grullon completed his trucking program in that is owed the money. The other is not provid- Grullon immediately went to jail and served a spite of his ten days in jail, and is now employed ed counsel by the state. Family Court judges use ten-day sentence. in the trucking business without a record of con- the threat of imprisonment to purge funds from the Thereafter, Veterans Legal Services (VLS) tempt. JWV has helped another veteran, and likely defaulting ex-spouse. According to the transcript, appealed his incarceration to the Massachusetts helped keep other veterans out of jail in the future. the following took place in court between the judge Supreme Judicial Court, but VLS only received the The case is entitled Department of Revenue Child and Grullon, who was not represented by counsel: case after Grullon served the jail sentence. If he had Support Enforcement v. Joshua Grullon, 2020 WL “You need to get a job, sir, and I want to see counsel, there is little doubt Grullon would have 3467417 (Mass.).

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Continued from page 9 “What street?” Sam gave him the numbered pened to me. I was told by an Army doctor to Aleutians, and I dare say that was the first Seder street. change my dog tags from Jewish to non-denomi- ever held there! “What number?” national, because Saddam Hussein hates Jews. To I wrote about it in my book, “Making Sense of More and more excited now, Sam gave him the me, that word “non-denominational” disguises the My Century.” I am enclosing the story and if you building address. word “Judaism,” and why should my religion be are to use it you have my full permission. “Really? What apartment?” Almost smiling, “sanitized” for the sake of convenience in the mil- “I spent about ten months in the ship repair Sam told him. itary? For that reason, I was deadly opposed to the unit, and part of the time I was the only Jew in the The Storekeeper thrust out his hand. “Put it dog tag change (Where does the “stigma” lie? Why shop. We never had more than three. The third Jew there, pal. I’m from Alabama!” change them?) arrived just in time for Pesach. We got word that a The laughter that exploded all around him, Some people might disagree with me and Seder would be held in Army Town, on the other and the good-natured handshake he got broke the argue that the Army was trying to save my life. side of the island. So we got the necessary permis- ice. And I had reason to hang onto the memory of Others might say that the dog tag episode was a sion and proceeded to put on our dress blues – a that scene. Two years later in Cincinnati, my father “wake up call” to always keep the faith and never uniform we almost never wore in the Aleutians, returned from a lecture tour in the South, and he to sell your religion down the river, no matter how spending all our time there in dungarees – and told me he met a man who served where I did, in harsh the realities of war are. the three of us hitchhiked to Army Town: David, the Navy in the Aleutians. When he described him, As the saying goes, “fight to the death, if Sam (the new arrival) and I. The Seder was held and mentioned that they met in Dothan, Alabama, necessary!” in in [sic] elephant Quonset lined with long tables. I said that could only be one man. I told him the Thank you, All the benches were full. A chaplain from Seattle story. And my father laughed just as heartily as the Stanley Shallett, stood at the head table and conducted the Seder, men at the Seder table. Post 220, Peabody, MA with the enthusiastic support of a whole lot of guys Sincerely, who were suddenly feeling exceptionally far from Baruch Cohon home. We did our best to enjoy it anyway. Except Post 118 for our new arrival, who was sitting next to me. By the time we got ready for the matzo balls, he was Dear Editor, still sitting there with a long face, staring around In reading The Jewish Veteran Vol. 74, No. 2 of in silence. 2020, I came across an interesting article written “Come on, Sam” I said. “What’s the matter by Rebecca Bender about her father Capt. Kenneth Shopping on Amazon via with you? You look like you lost your last friend.” Bender, a decorated Army WWII veteran. What Amazon Smile helps the JWV. “I’m just looking for a familiar face. Isn’t there interested me the most was the fact that Capt. anyone here from the Bronx?” Bender along with his men walked away from Amazon will donate 0.5 % of the price of “You from the Bronx, mate?” This from a changing their dog tags from Hebrew to either your eligible Amazon Smile beefy baldheaded Navy Storekeeper seated across Protestant or Catholic, when given the opportunity purchase to the JWV Foundation. the table. to do so. Sam brightened. “Yeah.” In Desert Storm of 1991, a similar thing hap-

www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 13 JWV IN THE COMMUNITY

A special parade of cars in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Center helped Post 757 in Austin, Texas donated 12 wheelchairs to the Austin Veterans Administration celebrate the 100th birthday of Kansas Post 605 member and former Department Outpatient Clinic. The wheelchairs were donated by someone living in Coral Springs, Commander Mike Katzman. Florida who wishes to remain anonymous, but has since become a Patron of this post. From Left: VA Volunteer Services Specialist Mike Wittrock, Mike Miller, VA Center Volunteer Greeter Steven Mueller, Post Commander Charlie Rosenblum, and Volunteer Service Assistant Joshua Hope.

Post 41 Commander Gary Ginsburg delivered meals to several families in need on July 17, as part of a partnership with Jewish Family Services and the Jewish Post 373 members picked up lunch at Hooters and then delivered the meals to Federation of Rochester, New York. 60 residents of the James A. Haley VA Center’s SCI unit on July 2. From Left: Supervisor of Recreational Therapy Geoff Hopkins, Bruce Shur, Jack Rudowsky, Boris Stern, Larry Jasper, Jim Marenus, and Steve Falkowitz.

JWV Post 603 and Post 138 in California team up with the Sepulveda VA JWV’s Nassau-Suffolk Council donated 15 pizzas to the Northport VAMC on August 25. Social Welfare Department and the Glendale Elks lodge to buy food, and From Left: Eric Spinner, Ed Bram, Gary Glick, Steve Steinbaum, VA Director of Volunteer then pack and deliver lunches to veterans with food insecurity in the San Services Rich Kitson, and Mel Cohen. Fernando Valley every week. From Left: Earl Roth and Marc Thurston.

14 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org JWV IN THE COMMUNITY

Members of Post 54, 89 and 800 in Illinois attended an honor guard ceremony at Fort Sheridan in Highland Park, IL in memory of World War II veteran Melvin Levin. Congressman Brad Schneider presented Levin’s family with medals he earned in service but never received. From Left: Jordan Baich, Mel Wolf, Irwin Magad, Department Commander Howard Goldstein, and NC Jeff Sacks.

On July 17, Post 41 Commander Gary Ginsberg donated a check on behalf of the post to the Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester, New York. The money will support efforts to reduce veteran suicide and reduce veteran homelessness in the greater Rochester community. From Left: Veteran Outreach Center Senior Staffer Robin Gore and Ginsberg.

Interested in writing an article about veterans’ issues? Want to let everyone know what your post or department is doing? Send your articles and photographs to Managing Editor Cara Rinkoff at [email protected]. You can find more information about guidelines for article and photo submissions on www. jwv.org. The deadline for the next issue JWV Furer-Barag-Wolf Post 126 of Cherry Hill, New Jersey donated protective eye shields for all 65 of the EMT’s in their local fire department. From Left: William Roth, Sam Tilonsky, of The Jewish Veteran is December 2. Sterling Lightstone, and Cherry Hill Fire Department Chief Chris Callan.

Post 625 in Poughkeepsie, New York celebrated the 75th anniversary of V-J Day with a special ceremony at the Temple Beth-El Cemetery on August 14. The post worked with Bugles Across America (BAA) to honor one of its veterans, PFC Eugene Moser who fought in the U.S. Army in the Battle of the Bulge and received a Bronze Star. From Left: BAA Bugler Oliver Mackson and Post 625 Chief of Staff Martin Hochhauser.

www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 15 REVIEW Blind Bombing: How Microwave Radar Brought the Allies to D-Day and Victory in WWII

vanced warning of the approach of German air- used by the Royal Air Force. Each could contin- craft. Fine explains how a series of mishaps on uously bomb German military and industrial tar- both the German and British side led to the fail- gets day and night regardless of the weather. Fine ure of the Germans to figure out how it worked notes however, that the H2X radar system was and possibly the RAF’s victory in the Battle of used primarily as a backup to visual bombing us- Britain. ing the Norden bombsight by the U.S. Army Air Fine’s easy-to-read narrative describes the Forces. On average, visual bombing was possible research in both Great Britain and the United only nine days a month at best. States to seek ways to move to higher frequen- Interspersed throughout the book the author cies although the American efforts were stymied describes the wartime career of his uncle, Stanley without the new British invention. Scientists Fine. Initially drafted into the Army, he applied knew that higher frequencies produced a short- for Aviation Cadets and subsequently became a By Sheldon Goldberg, Ph.D. er wavelength, thus requiring a smaller antenna U.S. Army Air Forces navigator. Stanley’s neph- Since the beginning of time, war has fostered and smaller, lighter, and more mobile equipment. ew, the author, only serendipitously learned that technological innovation and inventions that Shorter wavelengths also could detect smaller tar- his uncle was in the very first group of 10 nav- changed the nature of combat: gunpowder in the gets with greater detail. igators to be formally trained on the newly de- ninth century; artillery and firearms in the 13th; Fine’s story continues on an afternoon in 1939, veloped H2X radar system, nicknamed Mickey, the ironclad and the machine gun in the 19th; and when two University of Birmingham scientists and set out to interview him. As a result, the the airplane, tank, radar, and atom bomb in the with no experience in generating high frequen- reader gets a first-hand insight into the training 20th. The marriage of the airplane and radar just cy power sketched out a new type of magnetron of these men and how they ran a radar, or path- prior to the British and U.S. involvement in World which would generate microwave frequencies at finder mission. The reader also learns of problems War II is the subject of this well-written history power levels never seen before. While American the initially uninterested Air Force leadership had by Norman Fine. systems were limited to 20 watts of power at in integrating both the men and the system, and This marriage, the result of a small British the 10-centimeter wavelength, tests on the new the changing combat tactics needed to arrive at invention made on the eve of the war, the reso- British magnetron generated 50,000 watts at the a place where they finally recognized the value. nant cavity magnetron, an item so small it can same 10-centimeter wavelength. Lt. Stanley Fine, who brought the first production be held in the palm of one’s hand, was the key The Lend-Lease Act, signed in 1941, signaled model of the H2X to Britain, carried out 32 mis- that unlocked the promise of the primitive radar greater cooperation between the then neutral U.S. sions, received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, of the time. The beginnings of radar in Britain and Great Britain. The British, under bombard- and a promotion to Captain. He subsequently go back to 1915 when Robert Watson-Watt, a re- ment and anticipating a Nazi invasion from occu- served as the Special Purpose Mickey Navigator cent electrical engineering graduate employed by pied northern France, decided to disclose to the for the 401st Bomb Group until the war in Europe the British Meteorological Office, found a way to U.S. a number of their highly secret technological ended. use radio waves to detect storms in order to warn advances, including jet engine technology and the As a former Vietnam/Cold War era navigator/ pilots of approaching bad weather. His next as- resonant cavity magnetron. From this point on, bombardier, I was fascinated to learn the not well- signment involved investigating the feasibility of the author ably describes the testing and develop- known history and development of the system using radio waves to destroy an aircraft in flight, ment by physicists on both sides of the Atlantic to that eventually became what I was trained on and which he found not only impractical but danger- operationalize this powerful energy source, ini- used with such precision during my Air Force ca- ous to the operator, so he proposed focusing on tially toward the successful detection of German reer. “Blind Bombing” will be just as fascinating aircraft detection. This led to the development of U-boats from the air with 10-centimeter radar and to military historians, historians of science and the “Chain Home” system of radars placed along then to develop a three-centimeter radar (H2X) technology, aviation buffs, and those interested in the English Channel coast of Great Britain and used in United States Army Air Forces B-17 history in general. used by the British throughout WWII to give ad- Pathfinders and the 10-centimeter radar (H2S) Jewish Cemeteries In Distress Continued from page 4 Representative, call your local politicians with the Memorial Day when individuals can place flags on Owners may not spend the actual perpetual fund same details. veterans' gravesites. without lawful order. On serious matters of overall neglect, a call or Armistice Day, now known as Veterans Day, is photograph to the local news station, newspaper, set aside as a day to honor living veterans and their What to do if you see degraded conditions or or regional Federation may also be useful. Anti- families. While not an official act, family members other serious lack of maintenance? Semitic postings or other vandalism requires a call and persons representing families of deceased vet- Call the cemetery owner, operator, or superinten- and or photograph to local law enforcement. erans often place flags upon the grave sites. dent and politely voice your concern with specifics. MLK Day of Service is a day to provide mean- Ask for action and an approximate date when the How do you maintain the implied right to review ingful actions to improve each community and problem will be resolved. If the date for resolution and provide service within Jewish Cemeteries? educate citizens, often utilized to educate children is longer than a few weeks, and you haven’t seen Jewish veterans often have standing, which is a le- and young adults as to the service provided by vet- any action taken, write a brief letter, addressed to gal term indicating members of a local or regional erans. As an option, veteran grave sites are often the owner or operator confirming your earlier at- Post have the implied right to maintain the site of cleaned or U.S. flags are placed as a sign of respect tempts and requesting reasonable action on their the graves of buried veterans and often the related by the community. part. Anything placed in writing will serve as a family members. By observing various legal hol- It is an honor and mitzvah for veterans to re- dated proof of concern. idays and other publicized events, Post members member each other for the sacrifice and service If no actions are observed and without a rea- often can establish a rapport and standing within provided to the general public and to the Nation, sonable cause for the delay, your next step is to each Jewish Cemetery. that no others experience. Together we served and call your local appointed or elected Consumer Often a stone or other veteran memorial erect- should be reposed forever in peace. Protection Representative, providing your de- ed within the property of the cemetery allows for tails and documentation. If there is no Consumer standing. An act of Congress set aside a date before 16 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org ABOUT FACE: Jewish Refugees In The Armed Forces By Ben Kane that he joined the fight because he knew someone “About Face: Jewish Refugees in the Armed would take his place if he didn’t sign up, and that Forces,” is a documentary that tells the stories of person could be married or otherwise important, Jewish men and women who left their homes and and could be killed, and so shouldn’t go. families to flee the persecution of the Nazi gov- Joining the military did not free Jewish ser- ernment. These immigrants then went on to join vice members from anti-Semitism. Jews were of- the military in their new homes, both to prove ten placed only in certain jobs, and received crit- they could be good citizens to their new country, icism when they tried to place themselves away and to restore peace to their homelands. from the so-called “Jewish Army”. Interestingly, The film begins by describing life for the av- a Captain who made a disparaging remark to a erage Jew under the Nazi regime. The film does an Jewish immigrant service member apologized excellent job exploring life before the Holocaust. for it that same day, a rare occurrence. One com- It shows that the number of dead was massive, but manding officer, unaware of the misery of being the dead were more than just a number. Those who a Jew in Germany, pulled aside one of the service were left behind were people. People like us, with members to ask for an honest answer to a “tough” fears, aspirations, and people who loved them. It question- “would they be willing to fight against explores how neighbors became enemies, and how the country of their birth?” The question was an- the state used divisive rhetoric to split the country swered, to the CO’s surprise, with laughter. apart. Its usage of primary source documents in- Israel, then British-owned Palestine, inspired by Some immigrant service members were re- cluding interviews with service members, record- the possibility of creating their own country. quired to change their European identities to ed speeches from Holocaust survivors, as well The documentary mentions the often over- prevent needless harm if captured, especially if as an interview with Holocaust scholar Michael looked, but historically interesting Evian they were going to be dressed as Germans and Berenbaum, makes it a solid educational resource. Conference. The Evian Conference was a gather- sent behind enemy lines. Some would try and One anecdote that stands out involves a ing of the future allied powers to determine which hold on to their family heritage in their own ways, Jewish family accosted by Nazi brownshirts at countries would agree to take in more Jewish ref- but argued little against shedding the things that a park. The family told the inquiring Nazis they ugees. Only the Dominican Republic agreed to had and would continue to make them targets of were Jewish, as was required, and so the fami- raise their quota. The governments of the world persecution. ly was harassed, brought to the Danube, told to knew of the plight of the Jews, but virtually none Towards the end, “About Face” recounts the face the river, and told that anyone who turned of them cared enough to act in any meaningful heroic amphibious invasion of Normandy on around would be shot. The Nazis then left. This way in defense of the oppressed. June 6, 1944, in which Jewish immigrants fought mock execution, understandably, did a fairly good War broke out shortly thereafter and prevent- alongside non-Jews, with many dying on the job convincing those caught up in them to leave ed many from fleeing the country. Those who fled beaches on their way to liberate their homelands. Germany. But leaving was not so simple. Germany for a nearby country sometimes found Jewish immigrant service members made good The film then briefly mentions the prereq- themselves back in the Reich, as their new homes use of their knowledge of the local languages, of- uisite in some countries that in order to relocate were invaded and captured within a matter of ten providing invaluable information as transla- individuals needed a relative to vouch for their months or a few years. tors, interrogators, and spies. character and agree to take them in. Those who “About Face” does not shy away from death, Lastly, the film explores the liberation of the tried to leave also faced an exorbitant tax. Fleeing nor should it. It shows the corpses in concentra- concentration camps. Holocaust survivor Gerda Germany would have meant they had to start life tion camps and an example of an execution of a Weissman Klein recounts the beautiful moment in their homeland nearly destitute. Those who group of Jews. It’s not detrimental, but it is some- that unfolded between her and her liberator. were able to leave had to consider their futures thing for educators to keep in mind when showing Instinctively, she informed her rescuer that she carefully. Many chose to pursue professions that this to their students was Jewish, expecting some form of hostility in could be useful anywhere, like plumbers, cooks, The documentary goes on to explain how return. To her surprise, he paused to collect his and carpenters. immigrants were labeled in their new countries thoughts, then said “I am too.” In November 1938, Kristallnacht took place, as enemy aliens and possible spies. The United It’s these anecdotes that perfectly relay the marking a turning point in Nazi policy towards States interned many immigrants, including Jews crucial role Jewish immigrant service members Jews. Previously, the Germans mainly sent po- who fled persecution. played during World War II. This documentary litical prisoners to concentration camps, but that Once the war broke out, immigrants were al- can be enjoyed by any WWII buff, and would also changed with the arrest and imprisonment of lowed to enlist. They looked forward to combat, serve as a good resource for educators to use to 30,000 Jews during Kristallnacht. Jews could to avenging their homelands, to be placed on the explore the impact of Jewish immigrant service only leave if their families began the paperwork fast track towards citizenship, and to prove to their members on the war effort. to flee the country, leaving their money, their new homes they would be dedicated to their coun- “About Face” will be released later this year. home, and their former lives behind. Many fled to try. One interviewee made the poignant remark

Committee Reports Continued from page 5 from our annual Night Out dinner. We will present ly earmarked for the Vietnam Exhibit and not the Our goal is to have this work completed by the discs to the museum during the next in-person general fund. So far only one person, PNC Harvey NEC 2021 in January. meeting, which will hopefully be in Orlando this Weiner, has submitted a list of Vietnam-related January. The museum will sell them and keep the items he would like to donate for the exhibit. If you VIETNAM VETERANS COMMITTEE profit. As editor of the project, Jerry Alperstein has have items you wish to donate, contact Bob Jacobs By Chairman Bob Jacobs applied for a copyright and ownership will go to at [email protected]. The committee welcomed more than 40 attendees the museum. Other discussion at the meeting included a pro- to its virtual meeting during the 2020 National We also discussed progress of our proposed posed committee Facebook page, return of checks Convention in August. Vietnam Exhibit in the museum. There are a cou- from the canceled Vietnam Night Out, and plans The committee discussed its disc project. ple of possible rooms but nothing is finalized. for next year’s dinner in New Orleans. The disc is finished and contains the stories of 90 We have raised some money to build the exhibit Jewish military personnel who served during the but more is needed. Donations should go to Julia Vietnam War. We paid for the project with profits Lasher at National Headquarters and be specifical-

www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 17 NATIONAL LADIES AUXILIARY of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A.

NATIONAL PRESIDENT NATALIE BLANK Dear Sisters, NECs, conven- CONVENTION REPORT tions and from Today we live in a different world, a COVID-19 Dear Sisters, reading our world turned upside down that presents us with a I want to take this opportunity to thank each and Constitution and way of life we never dreamed we would experi- every one of you for your wonderful and enthusias- By-Laws. ence. For me, as I am sure for many of you, it is the tic participation in our very first virtual convention. You have inability to perform the daily tasks I normally ac- Despite all the Covid-19 restrictions, the Sisters of honored me this complish in person that is most bothersome. But JWVA were not to be held back. We truly showed year by electing the telephone and the computer still function and if what we are made of. We were thrilled that so many me to serve as we can’t visit in person, we will meet or talk virtu- Sisters participated in this virtual convention. your National ally. If this is the case, the sisters of the Jewish War We successfully accomplished all that we set President; I ap- Veteran Ladies Auxiliary and I will still have the out to do; our business was officially conducted preciate your vote opportunity to meet and greet each other even by our outgoing NP Sandra Cantor. We thank her of confidence and I am privileged to represent you though we are unable to attend our usual NECs and for a wonderful year in spite of so many unusual this year. I hope to meet you virtually this year, at the National Conventions. challenges. least until it is safe to travel. Please remember, I am I am from a JWV/JWVA family, the young- Our Memorial Service recognized all our only a phone call away and I am happy to answer est of three children, with a sister, brother, three Sisters who have passed away and PNP Arlene any questions you may have regarding JWVA. nephews and one niece. My dad, Moe, was a Past Lodgen’s Memorial Address reminded us of their Hopefully during these trying times, your County Commander and my mom, Celia, was a achievements and gave us hope for our future. helping hands will safely continue to engage in Past Auxiliary President. Both of my parents loved Our Partner’s Virtual Happy Hour was a huge the programs for which JWVA is known. Keep up this organization and served locally for many years success and we thank all who participated. your good work! Let’s keep the love going to those until their deaths. The election and installation of our new National in need; we will be richer in our hearts for it! My In actuality I am a part of two families, the one Officers was accomplished without problems; and theme this year is “Helping hands across JWVA”. in which I grew up and the one I chose to join as an our new National President Natalie Blank presented I would like to close this message with a quote adult, my JWVA family. Who knew I would have her Acceptance Speech which gave us an excellent from Danny Thomas: so many sisters, some older and some younger? view of her vision for the future. President Blank “The takers may eat better, but the givers sleep During my years of service on the local, state and flawlessly guided us through the NEC, the election better”. national echelons I was always told to listen and of Boards and the first business session of her ad- ask questions (and ask I did!). Most of my JWVA Loyally, ministration. She closed the meeting with her best knowledge was gleaned from attending meetings, Natalie Blank wishes to all for a healthy and Happy New Year and her hopes for our next NEC to take place in person. A special thank you to AP Megan Bernstein Thank You who stepped in and helped with the computer when As a result of the COVID-19 virus, the Jewish War Veterans Ladies Auxiliary had to cancel its my computer was not cooperating with me. Also, in-person annual National Convention this year, which is the largest fundraiser for our organization, a huge thank you to Tracey Adler who sat with me and conduct our convention sessions virtually. As a result an appeal letter was mailed requesting and watched the chat box and my phone to help voluntary contributions to offset this major loss of revenue. with the calls and texts that kept popping up. We congratulate President Natalie Blank and Our thanks to those who responded and forwarded their much appreciated contributions. all her Officers and Staff and wish them a wonder- We wish to acknowledge the following donors and thank them for their generosity. ful and productive year. Petra Kaatz, PNP Rosalyn Portnoy, Auxiliary 425, NY Loyally, Rose Zucker Agrecio, Auxiliary 191, NY Golde Math, Auxiliary 425, NY Elaine Bernstein, PNP - Convention Chairman Joanne Blum, PNP South Philadelphia Auxiliary 98, PA Petra C. Kaatz, PNP - Convention Co-Chairman Gladys Simon, PNP Natalie Blank, NSrVP Norma Warner, Auxiliary 69, NY Rosalyn Rihm, Auxiliary 425, NY VAVS Elaine Bernstein, PNP Freda Rosenshein, PNP By PNP Petra C. Kaatz Charlene Ehrlich, PNP Sandra Cantor, NP Despite the fact that JWVA has lost its voting sta- Ethel Holiner, Auxiliary 256, TX Reina Greenbaum, Auxiliary 425, NY tus due to a decrease in the number of volunteers, Sandy Kuntz, Auxiliary 256, TX Geri Zweiman, Auxiliary 695, NJ those who remain are doing a yeoman’s job. I have Harriet Epstein, Auxiliary 167, MD Dallas Auxiliary 256, TX received compliments from the staff of the Jean Tolmas, Auxiliary 256, TX Rosalind Kaplan, Auxiliary 256, TX Brooklyn VA for the wonderful job their three (3) Arlene Lodgen, PNP Auxiliary 631, FL new VAVS members are doing, as well as from St. PNP Iris & PNC Edwin Goldwasser Judy Schulman, NY Albans where we also have VAVS volunteers They are serving as “Greeters”, welcoming visitors and MAJOR DONORS ($1,000.00 or more) patients and directing them to the service area where they want to go. They wear bright red vests Department of New York Ladies Auxiliary $3,000.00 and are easy to spot. This is a nation-wide program Department of Florida Ladies Auxiliary $1,500.00 so if you are interested, contact your local VA facil- PFC Fred Hecht Auxiliary 425, NY $1,000.00 ity Voluntary Service Department and sign up. It is Continued on page 19 HELPING HANDS ACROSS JWVA 18 National Ladies Auxiliary of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA Fall 2020 www.jwva.org DID YOU KNOW?  By: PNP Iris Goldwasser, Editor  Like most of you, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Congressman in 1938 and 1939, arranged visas for Brandeis and Chaim Weizmann as well as Abe subsequent lock-down produced hours of “alone- Warsaw Jews and oversaw the apparently illegal Fortas, the legendary Washington “insider”. time” and boredom which afforded me the oppor- immigration of Jews through Galveston, Texas. Johnson’s concern for the Jewish people tunity to increase my reading interests and hours. Also in 1938 he was alerted that a young Jewish continued throughout his presidency and in One of the most surprising articles that came Austrian musician was about to be deported and, 1963, shortly after taking office he remarked to across my desk concerned President Lyndon in secrecy, Johnson sent him to the Havana, Cuba an Israeli diplomat, “You have lost a very great Baines Johnson and his possible Jewish heritage. Consulate to obtain a residency permit. That friend (JFK), but you have found a better one”. Needless to say I had to investigate this tidbit and young man, Erich Leinsdorf, became a world At a 1963 dedication of a synagogue in Austin, find out more. famous musician and conductor who credited Texas which Johnson attended, his friend and According to articles I found, it appears Johnson for saving his life. member Jim Novy honored him by announcing, that President Johnson may have been of Jewish Before WWII when Johnson was warned that “We can’t thank him enough for all those Jews he descent through his maternal ancestors, the European Jews faced annihilation he provided got out of Germany in the days of Hitler”. Lady Huffmans, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 18th enough signed immigration papers to enable 42 Bird later described how, after the commemora- century, John S. Huffman and Mary Elizabeth Jews to leave Warsaw and subsequently used legal tion, many people approached her and comment- Perrin. Their marriage produced a daughter, Ruth and sometimes illegal methods to smuggle hun- ed, “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him”. Ament Huffman who married Joseph Baines and dreds of other Jews into Texas. She, herself, elaborated “Jews have been woven together they had a daughter, Rebekah Baines, According to Louis Gomolak in his doctoral into the warp and woof of all Lyndon’s years”. Lyndon’s mother. The ancestors emigrated from thesis, it was stated that Johnson accumulated suf- In 1967 Johnson blamed Egypt for starting a Germany and the names Huffman and Perrin ficient funds to purchase false passports and fake war with Israel by closing the Strait of Tiran to were common Jewish names in Germany. visas in Cuba, Mexico and other Latin American Israeli shipping and subsequently approved the Jewish law states that if a person’s mother is countries and ultimately smuggled boat loads and sales of arms and tanks to Israel. He commented Jewish that person is automatically Jewish, regard- plane loads of Jews into Texas, saving at least to the UN Ambassador in 1968, “I sure as hell less of the father’s ethnicity or religion. Therefore, 400-500 Jews who might have been killed in the want to be careful and not run out on little Israel”. with Jewish sounding names, it is possible that Holocaust. When asked at the Glassboro Summit why he was President Lyndon B. Johnson was Jewish! During WWII Johnson and his Jewish friend so supportive of Israel, he responded “because it How enlightening and explanatory that in- Jim Novy not only sold war bonds for the U.S. was the right thing to do”. formation was since it helped me understand but raised other funds for the Jewish underground As Robert David Johnson, a Brooklyn College Johnson’s actions on behalf of the Jewish people fighters in Palestine. Some sources claimed that Professor wrote, and history seems to concur, that and Israel, both before and after his presidency. Johnson had been secretly shipping crates labeled “President Johnson’s policies stemmed from his In fact, due to his efforts on behalf of Israel the “Texas Grapefruit” but containing arms to the friendships with leading Zionists, his belief that Jerusalem Conference there honored him with the Freedom Fighters in Palestine. the U.S. had a moral obligation to bolster Israeli title “Righteous Gentile”. After the war Johnson and Lady Bird visit- security and his conception of Israel as a frontier As a boy, Johnson was influenced by his po- ed Dachau and returned home horrified, shaken, land much like his home state of Texas…” litically active grandfather Big Sam, and his own stunned, revolted and horrified at what they had President Johnson definitely pointed father, Little Sam. In addition his Aunt Jessie seen. American foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. Johnson Hatcher was a major influence and she Ten years later as a Senator, Johnson blocked As history can recount, the American emergency was an active member of the Zionist Organization Eisenhower’s attempt to sanction Israel after the airlift to Israel in 1973, the constant diplomatic of America. Johnson himself often cited Leo 1956 Sinai Campaign. When he became majority support, the economic and military assistance and Frank’s lynching (a Jewish victim of blood libel) leader Johnson consistantly blocked anti-Israeli the strategic bonds between the two countries can as the source of his opposition to anti-Semitism initiatives and was influenced by two pro-Isra- all be credited to the seeds planted by LBJ. and isolationism. el advisors, Benjamin Cohen who himself had History has revealed that Johnson, as a young been the liaison between Supreme Court Justice

AID TO ISRAEL By PDP Marcia Jacobs, Chairman The Jewish War Veterans Ladies Auxiliary has AMERICANISM long supported the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in By DP Carol Adler, Chairman Israel. As a world leader in medical research, the Sheba Medical Center is partnering with the When we refer to Americanism or Patriotism Americanism, instead concentrating on our dai- National Institute of Health in the U.S. to find a what do we really mean? Americanism as we ly existence and remaining safe and healthy. We vaccine to fight the COVID-19. The Israeli medical know it means allegiance to the traditions, inter- must remember that our country has gone through center in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, signed an ests or ideals of the U.S.; patriotism refers to our many crises during its history and has always agreement with the Maryland NIH to conduct sci- love and respect for our country. Both are import- come out strong; so shall we overcome this pan- entific treatments in an effort to end this global ant assets for a devoted citizenship. demic also. pandemic. During these trying times of COVID-19 To demonstrate our Patriotism today we must Sheba has pledged to supply the NIH Vaccine many of us are finding it difficult to focus on our be creative! Use of technology for celebrations or Research Center with blood samples of COVID-19 National Holidays can be done more easily these virus from infected patients in Israel. In addition, days. I have participated, via video, in observanc- it will release other information from various oth- VAVS es arranged by various Veteran organizations and er clinical trials conducted by their pharmaceuti- part-time volunteering and in most VA facilities placed on social media for viewing by the en- cal companies as well as their own experimental you can select your time. tire state. Car parades arranged on July 4th and treatments. I am sure that there are other VA facilities on May Day were conducted throughout many We encourage JWVA Departments and where our JWVA members do an outstanding job. communities. Auxiliaries to help support the Chaim Sheba Please let me know so we can share that good news Be creative; be an American; be a patriot but Medical Center in their effort to stem the tide of with all our members. please remain safe! this coronavirus. HELPING HANDS ACROSS JWVA www.jwva.org Fall 2020 National Ladies Auxiliary of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA 19 MUSEUM NEWS By Mike Rugel • Program and Content Coordinator MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT I would like to thank the Board of Directors for Mike Rugel and Pam Elbe on our staff. raising opportuni- electing me the President of the National Museum As President of the museum and living in cen- ty. Simply call me of American Jewish Military History. We are a tral New Jersey, I will make it my duty and pleasure and I will do my unique museum. We are the museum that memori- to visit the museum regularly. I will try to attend best to attend and alizes the contributions of American Jews to the the wonderful functions held in the building. While speak about our military history of the United States. Our history I know some of the history of the various exhibits, I museum. pre-dates the establishment of the United States will attempt to learn even more. As a former grad- Again, thank and goes back to the refusal of Peter Stuyvesant to uate student in American history at a Washington, you for this vote allow Jewish residents the right and duty to stand D.C. university, I look forward to studying and of confidence. sentry and defend the colony. Clearly, we are the learning more of our American Jewish military only museum that exhibits the deeds of the Jewish heritage. men that were awarded America’s highest medal Obviously, no museum can keep its doors open for bravery, the Medal of Honor. Researchers from without adequate funding. I see one of my duties as around the country come to our museum to refer- President to help get donations. Therefore, I will try ence our archives. We are truly blessed to have to go to functions and events where there is a fund- PNC Michael B. Berman

We reopened the museum to visitors on July 6. We uncovered a lot of information. We have discussed are doing everything possible to minimize contact doing a second part of the program next year as and allow for distance. Masks and social distancing JWV enters its 125th year as well as some potential are required. It’s good to have visitors in our exhib- field trips. Stay tuned! it, but without programs or groups coming in, we On June 18, documentary filmmaker and jour- are still operating at a fraction of our capacity in nalism professor Boaz Dvir discussed his book, the building. We continue to make efforts to move programming online and make more museum con- tent available online. We are continuing with all our public programming virtually. Please continue to check our website and social media. Paul Darling discussed his book Taliban Safari: One Day in the Surkhagan Valley We’ve had three recent online talks. On June 11, we hosted researchers from the Shapell Manuscript Park, Kansas. He described the unique challeng- Foundation Roster Project. They’ve been research- es as an Army officer on the ground in the war in ing Jewish soldiers in the Civil War for years and Afghanistan. The book was written as a response presented some of their research on JWV pro- to his wife’s simple question over the phone: “What genitor, the Hebrew Union Veterans Association Boaz Dvir spoke about his book, "Saving Israel" happened?” Darling described how his work in (HUVA). It was a fascinating look at the Civil War highlighting the role of WWII veterans in creating Afghanistan was too complicated for a simple an- the first Israeli Air Force. vets who formed the organization in 1896. The in- swer. He had to deal not only with the Taliban, but dividuals had extraordinary connections to one an- “Saving Israel.” The book describes the American complicated politics, cultural issues, and more. other. Their camaraderie is clear even through cen- World War II veterans who created an air force in At the JWV virtual convention, we showed turies-old historic records. The research team has Israel in 1948. This played an important role in es- the documentary film “The Jewish 48’ers in the tablishing Israeli independence. The World War American Civil War.” Director Peter Rosenbluth II experiences of these men had shaped their at- joined us for a Q&A session. He described how titude. They wanted to improve the world. They many 48’ers had left Europe for America and felt the need to ensure there would not be a second brought the values of the 1848 revolutions with catastrophe that might destroy the Jewish people. them when they served in the Civil War. Hopefully, Assisting Israel’s first military was how they felt we can do more with Peter and the film. they could contribute. We also published the first of a planned series Paul Darling joined us on July 30 to discuss his of short videos last month. It is a two-minute vid- book, “Taliban Safari: One Day in the Surkhagan eo about the Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Valley,” which describes a single day on the ground Leopold Karpeles. You can watch it on YouTube or The Shapell Manuscript Foundation Roster Project in Afghanistan in 2009. His mission was to track Facebook. As always, we rely on you to spread the team joined us for a presentation on JWV progenitor down and kill Taliban insurgents in the Zabul word about the museum and our work. Tell your organization, Hebrew Union Veterans Association. Province. Paul is a JWV member from Overland friends, family, and neighbors! • Upcoming • Watch our short video November 5th, 2:00 PM ET – George Johnson - When One’s Duty and the Right Thing are not the Leopold Karpeles: Same: A Jewish Vietnam Veteran looks back 50 years on the moral journey that changed his life. Medal of Honor George E. Johnson, a retired Washington attor- on YouTube ney and former research director of a Washington Jewish think-tank, currently is a senior editor at or Facebook. Moment Magazine.

20 National Museum of American Jewish Military History Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.nmajmh.org www.nmajmh.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 National Museum of American Jewish Military History MUSEUM NEWS By Pam Elbe • Collections, Archives, & Exhibits Coordinator We Want You! Jewish Women in the U.S. Military The museum is working on an exhibition about women in the military, but we need your help. If you are a woman who has served in the U.S. armed forces in the post-WWII era, the NMAJMH wants your story and photos. You do not need to be a member of JWV to be included (though we would love to have you as a member). I have created a form to make it easy for you to submit your information for potential use in the exhibit. You can also visit the museum’s web- site, www.NMAJMH.org, to complete the form online. Please help preserve the stories of Jewish women’s service in the U.S. armed forces.

Women in the US Military The NMAJMH is working on an exhibition on Jewish women in the US military. We need your stories, photographs, and memorabilia to show that Jewish women have served and continue to serve in the American military. You do not need to be a member of JWV to be included (though we would love to have you as a member). Please help preserve the stories of Jewish women’s service in the US armed forces.

Name: ______First Name Middle Name Last Name Maiden Name

Address: ______Street City State Zip Code

Phone: ______Email: ______May we contact you for more info? Yes  No

Date of Birth: ______Place of birth:______City State

Occupation (if retired, list former occupation):______Education: (Circle highest level of education) HS college master’s doctorate other

Schools attended (certificate or degree, school name, year awarded) ______

______

Marriage(s): Married ______on ______at ______First Name Middle Name Last Name Date Place

Death of spouse or divorced (circle which) on ______at ______Date Place

Children: (Indicate in birth order—son/daughter, name, date of birth, place of birth) ______

______

Inclusive dates of military service: ______Branch of service ______Highest rank ______

Battalion, Regiment, Division, etc. ______

Stationed at the following locations: ______

______

Did you sustain any service-related injuries?  Yes  No Did you experience any anti-Semitism while in the service?  Yes  No Sexism?  Yes  No

Why did you join the military? How did your family react? ______

______

Were you ever stationed in or near a combat zone? What were your experiences there? ______

______

Military record: (You may want to answer this question on another sheet of paper. Tell about significant events in your service career, including battles, injuries, experience as a POW, or occurrences of anti-Semitism or sexism, etc..) ______

______

______

Awards and certifications ______

Are you a member of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA?  Yes  No Post # ______Highest position held in the JWV ______

I hereby declare that this information is correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that this information could be provided to researchers or used in projects at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History. Current addresses and phone numbers will NOT be released to the public without express permission. I further understand that photographs and/or documents submitted with this form become the sole property of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History and may be used to further the educational mission of the institution. I affirm I do own the submitted photographs and/or documents and to the best of my knowledge I have good and complete right, title, and interest to give.

Signature: ______

Print name: ______Date: ______Please send this completed form to Pamela Elbe, NMAJMH, 1811 R Street NW, Washington DC 20009 or [email protected]

National Museum of American Jewish Military History Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.nmajmh.org www.nmajmh.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 National Museum of American Jewish Military History 21 A Silver Star and a Monument for “Super Doc” By Harvey Weiner action was to treat the wounded on the battlefield. How does one tell the incredible story of a Jewish- He started flying with the medivac helicopters and American Vietnam War hero so that it is flew more than two dozen missions. believable? On at least one mission, he fought the enemy Melvin “Mel” Lederman was born in with his M-16. He was wounded on several occa- Brooklyn, New York and lived in Brookline, sions and received four Purple Hearts. Massachusetts at the time of his death in Vietnam. On one mission, he saved a wounded pilot’s He served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948 life, but did not receive the Air Medal because he in Alaska, where he contracted a virulent rash, was not on flight status. I, along with many others leading to his being on partial disability. After his in the Army, did not receive the Combat Infantry honorable discharge, he sought education under the Badge because we were not assigned to an in- G.I. Bill and earned a B.S. and a M.S. in Human fantry position. However, there is now a Combat Genetics from Michigan, an M.S. in physics from Action Badge for soldiers who engage in combat, Yale, and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. but are not members of an infantry unit. Lederman After a series of residencies and fellowships, in- was attached to HMM-364, known as the Purple cluding a chief residency in a VA hospital, he be- Foxes, and he got nickname “Super Doc,” which he came Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Massachusetts affixed to the naval identification tab on his flight General Hospital. In 1968, he was offered a surgery jacket. He also went out on missions with the Navy Melvin “Mel” Lederman partnership in California. He seemed to be every Seals, but these unauthorized missions do not ap- he left it. Upon his return to base, Lederman imme- Jewish mother’s dream! pear on his military record. diately counseled and treated one of the two other Alas – not every Jewish mother’s dream! He On November 29, 1969, shortly before his soldiers on that mission, who was suffering from was unmarried. He was a skydiver and a hunter. scheduled return to the U.S., Lederman was killed post-traumatic stress disorder. And, he turned down that job offer in California in action when his helicopter was shot down on a For that mission, Lederman and the two others to join the Navy at age 40 and to volunteer to go to mission. It took 47 years for the Navy to award him were recommended for the Silver Star by the elite Vietnam. a fourth Purple Heart, which they did in 2016. He Squadron Awards Board. It appears this recom- In one of the letters he wrote from Vietnam, was the only U.S. Navy doctor and the only Harvard mendation never reached the appropriate personnel Lederman said, “Someone has to do the job of tak- Medical School graduate killed in Vietnam. at the Department of the Navy. As it has done in the ing care of the kids, and it is obvious that I am it, so Two weeks before his death, Lederman was on past, will the JWV be of help? by conscience, I have been doing the best I know.” a medivac mission in the Qui San mountain range Opposite the Massachusetts General Hospital Although he already satisfied his military ob- northeast of Danang. A Cobra helicopter had been is the Esplanade on the Charles River where the ligation and was too old to be drafted, he joined shot down and, under hostile fire, Lederman’s he- Boston Pops gives its annual Independence Day the hospital ship USS Repose as a Lieutenant licopter landed in an attempt to save the two pi- concert. The playing field there is named Lederman Commander. Before deployment he earned his lots, who were believed to still be alive. Lederman Park, where a monument in his memory is planned. jump winds at Fort Bragg. and two others left their helicopter to search for the However, more than $400,000 must be raised to While treating the wounded on the ship, Cobra pilots, but found only their dead bodies. He fund the monument. Lederman realized the men were returning too helped bring them back to the helicopter, but then You can read more about Lederman and the late for any effective medical treatment to make a went back alone to the Cobra to retrieve their per- memorial project at www.ledermanmemorial.org. difference. He instead decided the best course of sonal gear. The Cobra disintegrated moments after TAPS DEPARTMENT AT LARGE Karchem, Alfred - Post 167 Weinstein, Paul - Post 125 Tobin, Marvin - Post 98 Douglas, Don - Post 100 Miller, Gilbert Hirsh - Post 167 Wishnick, Hyman - Post 125 Weiner, Isadore - Post 239 Shavitz, William - Post 167 Zeserman, Morton - Post 305 DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK Torchinsky, Irving Leon - Post 567 Bloom, Jean - Post 603 Ahrens, Murray - Post 717 DEPARTMENT OF SOUTHEAST Udoff, Richard S. - Post 167 Kaplan, Jack S. - Post 603 Cooper, Stephen A. - Post 258 Miner, Frederick - Post 121 Letraunik, Nat - Post 603 DEPARTMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS Eisenberg, Jack - Post 425 Ortner, Sol D. - Post 237 Miller, Philip - Post 603 Goldstein, Harold W. - Post 220 Erreich, Abraham - Post 69 Shaffer, Max - Post 112 Mann, Saul - Post 760 Kaplan, Arnold B. - Post 735 Feinstein, Jacob - Post 717 DEPARTMENT OF SOUTHWEST Sullivan, Richard R. - Post 760 Leavitt, Daniel C. - Post 220 Ferrarese, Anthony Michael - Post 41 Lieberman, B. Vern - Post 375 Weaver, Robert E. - Post 220 Gerstenblitt, Henry G. - Post 717 DEPARTMENT OF CONNECTICUT Sak, Aaron Steven - Post 210 Yonis, Ralph - Post 220 Helfant, Jack - Post 41 Hertz, Theodore - Post 51 Jaffe, Burton Franklin - Post 717 DEPARTMENT OF TALO DEPARTMENT OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA Kalter, Alan A. - Post 69 Blau, Norman H. - Post 574 Greenspan, Harold - Post 135 Arkin, Jason L. - Post 941 Katz, Leonard - Post 50 Corn, Gary - Post 574 Hozman, Murray - Post 474 Davidson, Allan - Post 941 Katz, Jacob - Post 425 Ehrlich, Richard A. - Post 757 Ritten, Donald E. - Post 474 Goldfarb, Burton F. - Post 606 Kazdan, Frank J. - Post 41 Gothard, Sol - Post 580 Kaplan, Leonard - Post 778 DEPARTMENT OF NEVADA Knoll, Stanley - Post 129 Greenberg, Marvin - Post 256 Kaufman, Bernard - Post 440 Margolis, Donald L. - Post 65 Madorsky, Stanley - Post 1 Hermann, Harry M. - Post 256 Kurland, Bert - Post 400 Nelson, Moses - Post 655 Isenberg, Cary - Post 256 DEPARTMENT OF NEW JERSEY Levine, Gerald A. - Post 440 Rosenthal, Robert - Post 129 Krom, Harold - Post 256 Abramson, Paul - Post 76 Newman, Marvin - Post 698 Sanow, Richard D. - Post 41 Kusin, Melvin S. - Post 256 Altman, Daniel - Post 63 Ratner, Fredric B. - Post 352 Schaefer, William - Post 69 Marcus, Stanley S. - Post 749 Deutsch, Leon - Post 609 Silverman, Walter - Post 41 Robinson, Irvin - Post 755 DEPARTMENT OF ILLINOIS Furman, Donald - Post 126 Tarkin, Mal - Post 655 Goldberg, Ted R. - Post 89 Gordon, Tobias - Post 63 DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN Perlman, Dave - Post 328 Halpern, Arnold L. - Post 125 DEPARTMENT OF OHIO Hirschberg, Joseph - Post 701 Lavroff, Richard E. - Post 972 Bernath, Stanley - Post 44 Mason, Ralph B. - Post 701 DEPARTMENT OF MIDWEST Miller, Myron E. - Post 126 Brenner, Nathan R. - Post 222 Sinagub, Max - Post 701 Fudemberg, I. D. - Post 605 Popok, Herbert B. - Post 125 Goodman, Arthur - Post 222 Green, Rudolf J. - Post 605 Potkewitz, Harold - Post 609 Harris, Dick - Post 44 We regret that Abe Ordman of DEPARTMENT OF MARYLAND Quentzel, Bernard - Post 76 Post 407 was mistakenly listed DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA Bulmash, Melvin - Post 167 Riskin, Sidney - Post 695 Baron, Ron I. - Post 98 in TAPS in the last issue of The Deitchman, Harry - Post 167 Tillis, Bernard - Post 125 Orber, Jack - Post 697 Jewish Veteran. We deeply regret Gerber, Theodore - Post 167 Weinberg, Harvey A. - Post 609 Stark, Sol - Post 575 our error.

22 The Jewish Veteran Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 www.jwv.org www.jwv.org Volume 74 • Number 3 • 2020 The Jewish Veteran 23 Happy Thanksgiving

We Wish All Good Health, In Memory of Art Goodman • Post 222 Norman Schnitzer, PDC Strength, and Happy Life! By Jim Gross In memory of Harriett

Allan & Sheila Abramson Alan J. Gould Post 105 Irv Schildkraut • JWV Post 440 Good Health & Happiness to All In Memory of Sam Gould, Post Cmdr. Good Health - To Life! PNC Lou & PDP Gloria Abramson Herbert L. & Beth Gopman From Strength to Strength Good Health & Happiness to All Arthur H. Greenwald • Post 321/69 PNC Dr. Barry J. Schneider Howard M. Barmad • Post 76 NJ National Adjutant • 2016-2019 PNC Lawrence & Judith Schulman Chag Sameach Beth Kane Wishes You Good Health Our Very Best Wishes to All We Wish All Happy Holiday! Good Health & Best Wishes Health, Strength, and a Happy Life Saluting the Veterans of Heritage Hills to all Veterans and their Families PDC Ed & PDP Louise Baraw Mazel Tov! Have a good year! Howard A. & Dorothy G. Berger Gloria & Mike Shapiro USF Austria/USASETAF Italy Jason A & Petra C. Kaatz Good Health to All! CH Murray Stadtmauer • Post 648 PNC Mike Berman & PNP Elaine Bernstein In Memory of Morty Kessler In loving memory of Clare Stadtmauer Remember PNC Paul Bernstein & PNP Shelly Berman Bell-Oak Post 648, Queens-NY Shalom & Mazel Tov to all Veterans PA PDC 697 Stan Bilker Corporal Shepard S. Kopp, USA 1917-19 Greta & Jerry Stoliar • Post 346 In memory of my wife, PDP Adele In Memory of All Korean War Veterans The Tarnofsky Family PNC Jerry & PNP Joanne Blum MA PDC Stanley R. Light In memory of Len Klanit - Post 440 Good Health & Happiness to All In Memory of my son, Joshua A. Light Norma & PNC Paul Warner, Ph.D. PNC Warren & Violet Dolny PNC Sheldon Ohren Health & Happiness to All In Memory of our daughter, Denise L’Chaim - To Life NC Harvey & Linda Weiner PDC Elliott & PAP Elissa Donn In Loving Memory of my wife, Virginia Thank you for All You Do for Veterans Best Wishes & Good Health to All Queens PCC Ron Peters In Memorial of Joan & Louise Weinstein 75th Anniv. Drizin-Weiss Post 215 Dr. Jack Porter In Memory of Philip & Jolin Weinstein VOTE by Mail or in Person-It's your Right In Memory of My Wife Raya Major Stuart Adam Wolfer Institute Drizin-Weiss Post 215 75th Anniv. PNC Ira & Shelley Novoselsky www.msawi.org Veterans serving Veterans & Communities Happy Holidays National Chaplain Shirley Zak Greetings • Gerald Elkan Herb & Francie Rosenbleeth In Memory of PDC Jon Zak Greetings from Post 409- Clearwater, FL Happy Holiday to You and Yours! Co-cmdrs Murray Zolkower / Stan Sarbarsky Jeri Zweiman PNP Freda & PNC Norman Rosenshein In loving memory of PNC Robert Zweiman In Memory of Carol C. Frank Good Health & Happy Holidays and Fred Heinrich David S. Zwerin, PDC In Memory of Howard Rosenthal Post 652 • Merrick, NY PA PDC 98 Donald Feldman Sgt. Marine Corps • Korean War In Memory of my wife, Edith Any Jewish WWII person captured, sent In Memory of Michael Rubin • Post 712-OH to Auschwitz, etc., and survived In Honor of all who have served! In Memory of Tibor Rubin MOH #786 In Honor of our Wedding Anniversary In Honor of WWII, Korea, VVW JWV Vets Chaplain Dov Cohen & Pink Lady Brookline-Newton MA Post 211 PNC/PNP Edwin & Iris Goldwasser Stephen & Helen Sax Good Health & Happiness to All! We salute those who serve Live long and prosper

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