Thursday, April 14, 2011

Jewish World War II Veterans Recall Fight-- Part 1

From the Nov. 10, 2010 Chicago Tribune "Jewish WWII vets recall fight against Nazis, Axis" by Robert Channick.

Four who had "H" for Hebrew-- on their dog tags.

"As Americans, they joined the Allied forces in defeating the Axis Powers. As Jews they fought to defeat Hitler, rescuing their European brethren from the atrocities of Nazi persecution."

An estimated 500,000 American Jews fought in American forces during the war. Four of these: Courtney Shanken, Howard Haas, Jack Heiman and Marshall Domash, spoke at Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois, November 12th.

Author of the book "GI Jews," Deborah Dash Moore, says that when people think of Jews during the war, they think of victims of the Holocaust, not those who served.

Howard Haas left his freshman year at the University of Chicago in 1942 and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He became a bombardier and in 1944 was a part of a B-24 crew stationed in Italy and bombing enemy positions throughout southern Europe, completing his required 50 missions from June to December of that year.

More to Come. --Cooter

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