Once the new headstone had been erected, Rabbi Schacter welcomed all who attended in a very emotional address relating the background of how he and his associates in this undertaking had come to this point.
Subsequently, Scott Desjardins, superintendent of the Normandy American Cemetery, addressed the group, describing how the authorities had gotten involved in this project, and now had the full support of all parties concerned.
Psalms were recited by members of the family and the family also addressed those present, telling about what they knew of the fallen soldier.
Keil Moleh Rachamim was recited by Rabbi Schacter, and members of the family recited the Kaddish.
Having served in the U. S. Army, although not in the European Theater, what I witnessed made a deep and lasting impression on me. It was a very emotional experience, and I want to express my sincerest thanks to Rabbi Schacter for having given me the opportunity to participate.
My experience only covers what I witnessed at Normandy. All the many hours, weeks and months that went into this project were related to me by Rabbi Schacter and with his permission, are summarized here.
As mentioned above, the first step was to realize that there must be numerous Jewish soldiers buried in all the military cemeteries who were not identified as Jews, for one reason or another, at the time of burial. Once a Jewish name was identified it became the responsibility of a genealogist to actually determine whether that specific soldier was Jewish, since it is not uncommon for non-Jews to have Jewish-sounding names.
When identified as being Jewish, further very difficult research is done to find someone from that family since the authorities will not give permission without specific agreement of some member of the soldier’s family. That is a serious problem since the majority of the servicemen entered the Armed Forces in their late teens or early 20s, with the majority therefore not having children or even being married. With so many years after the war, there would be no parents anymore and likely also no siblings. That limits a successful search almost exclusively to nephews and nieces. In the case of Benjamin, the genealogist was successful in finding both nephews and nieces who were happy to give their agreement to what was proposed to them.
Next was the problem of submitting the family’s consent to the American Battle Monuments Commission, for whom this also was a first-time experience, for the formal approval.
I look with awe on the accomplishments of the group so far. It is a tremendous undertaking, with each effort presenting its own problems.
So far, aside from the one I described above, two other markers were changed in April 2019, namely of two brothers, one who was killed and buried in Belgium and the other killed and buried in Normandy.
Five more servicemen will have had their markers changed in the Philippines on February 12. After Pesach, three additional markers will be changed in Europe, and there are many more to come. So far, every single one of the 12 submissions has been approved by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
I write these words with thanks and appreciation to Rabbi J.J. Schacter and his associates in Operation Benjamin for the great mitzvah they have undertaken.
Norbert Strauss is a Teaneck resident and Englewood Hospital volunteer.
