Belmont Village Senior Living’s Westwood center paid homage to the sacrifices of its Jewish World War II veterans on Nov. 9 with the opening of the permanent photo exhibition, “American Heroes: Portraits of Service,” featuring 37 portraits, mostly of Jewish veterans, accompanied by a brief biography or quote about the subject’s war experience.
An appeals court ordered further proceedings on a Jewish veterans group\’s challenge to the display of a cross at a San Diego veterans\’ memorial, saying it was unconstitutional. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that the cross on Mount Soledad was a \”government endorsement of religion.\” The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, backed by a number of Jewish and civil liberties groups, filed the appeal a year ago after a U.S. district court ruled that the cross was not unconstitutional because it \”communicates the primarily non-religious messages of military service, death and sacrifice.\”
Is \”living by your wits\” the same thing as \”witty\”?
A radio DJ might not be your idea of an innovative storyteller, but who can\’t relate to the desire to inflict your own personal interests onto the greater Los Angeles listening public? DJ Jimmy Kay does just this every Sunday night from 9 p.m. to midnight on KKGO 1260AM, where he hosts the program \”Sunday Night Folk.\”
An exhibit commemorating the American and Canadian volunteers who had fought in Israel\’s War of Independence in 1947-1949 and manned the \”illegal\” Aliyah Bet ships carrying refugees to the Jewish state.
Next Friday, as Tibor Rubin enters the White House, generals will stand at rigid attention. The president of the United States also will rise and then drape the Medal of Honor, the nation\’s highest award for gallantry in combat, around the neck of the 76-year-old Holocaust survivor and Korean War veteran.\n\nRubin and a legion of supporters have waited almost 55 years for this triumph of camaraderie and persistence over both bureaucratic lethargy and the prejudice endured by so many old-time Jewish GIs.
The paucity of Jews serving on front lines may explain the dwindling numbers of members belonging to Jewish war veteran organizations.
Approximately 550,000 Jewish Americans served in the armed forces during World War II, about 4.23 percent of the total number of troops. Both Roosevelt and General Douglas MacArthur praised their bravery specifically. During the war, 52,000 Jewish soldiers received an award or decoration of some kind and 11,000 were killed.
Now, close to 60 years after World War II, veterans of the conflict have aged and their numbers are dwindling, but despite current ambivalence toward American war-like nature, America\’s participation in World War II and relative success in making the world \”safe for democracy\” is never questioned.
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