While engaged in battle, he advanced too far along with his group. They were caught in a pocket that was surrounded by the Germans. Conditions were getting worse with food and water in short supply and shells falling on them.

A message runner’s bravery

Major Charles Whittlesey had assigned Private Herschkowitz as a message runner on the 29th of September 1918. His job was to report to headquarters the position of the battalion. Herschkowitz also had Lieutenant Arthur McKeogh and Private John Joseph Monson with him.

They had to break through the German lines while at risk from the enemy’s dominant position and shelling. During their efforts, a small group of Germans attacked them. However, they killed one of them and drove the others off. At night, Herschkowitz and his fellows crawled unknowingly into a German camp’s center.

They lay there undetected for three hours. Finally, when the Germans discovered them, they made an attempt to escape. Private Herschkowitz drew the fire of the enemy to himself deliberately in order to protect his fellow officer. This gave the officer an opportunity to escape.

Herschkowitz tried to get back to his regiment all night long. He only had a piece of bread in his gas mask to eat. Fortunately, he saw some Frenchmen in blue uniforms who helped him get back to his headquarters. Once there, he delivered his message.

McKeogh’s contempt

Herschkowitz narrated his experiences to author Henry Berry nearly seven decades later. He believed McKeogh disliked him. Herschkowitz said that he had this belief from the fact that McKeogh called him a button hole maker. That means a tailor, which Herschkowitz wasn’t.

He also believed that when the mission was successfully completed, he might’ve at least earned the officer’s respect. Herschkowitz was the one who killed the German soldier who had spotted all of them.

Croix de Guerre

Another extraordinary fact about Herschkowitz’s heroism is that he endured all this while suffering from flu. His body temperature had reached the level of 105. He collapsed right after completing his mission and reaching the headquarters successfully. He spent the remaining part of the war in hospitals.

Unfortunately, his battalion continued to advance after they received his message. In doing so, they cut themselves off from the rest of the 77th Division even farther. On the 19th of April 1919, he boarded a ship to the United States from France.

Before the ship left for its destination, Colonel Maurice Laurent from the French Army hopped on board. He gave the Croix de Guerre award to Herschkowitz along with Major George McMurtry and Benjamin Kaufman.

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He obtained his degree from the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. This was after his honorable discharge in 1919. Later, he raised three children and started a landscaping and greenhouse business in the city of Bronx.

Military valor

William Shemin had enlisted in the United States army on the 2nd of October 1917. He completed his basic training at North Carolina’s Camp Greene. Following the completion of his training, he was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division of the American Expeditionary Forces.

He served in France under Company G of the 47th Infantry Regiment. During his service as a rifleman between 7th and 9th August 1918, he showed exceptional bravery. Shemin had left the cover of his platoon to rescue the wounded. In this process, he was repeatedly exposing himself to the firing from rifles and heavy machine guns.

As many senior non-commissioned officers and several other officers had been killed, he took command of the platoon. He took all this initiative while under fire and was wounded on the 9th of August.

The Distinguished Service Cross

As a result of the wounds he had suffered while rescuing the wounded, he was hospitalized for three months. The injuries included the ones from a machine gun bullet and shrapnel. The bullet had pierced his helmet before getting lodged behind his left ear. After his recovery, he served on light duty in Belgium and Germany until the completion of his tour.

For his combat wounds, he received the Purple Heart. His valor in France won him the Distinguished Service Cross on the 19th of December 1919. The Distinguished Service Cross award was upgraded about 96 years later to the Medal of Honor.

Elsie’s efforts

Shemin died in the year 1973. About three decades after his death, his daughter came to know about a new review process for veterans. This was for the veterans from the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. They were the ones who might have been denied the Medal of Honor because of race or religion. Elsie Shemin-Roth wondered why the same process was not included for the veterans of World War I.

She then worked for years to expand the review process and get the case of her father revisited. Owing to her efforts, the William Shemin Jewish World War I Veterans Act was signed by President Barack Obama. This was done in the year 2011. Four years later, Elsie Shemin-Roth and her sister Ida Shemin traveled to Washington along with their other family members.

In a ceremony held at the White House, President Obama presented the posthumous Medal of Honor for William Shemin. Sergeant William Shemin’s story has been shared in museum exhibits since then. His story was also shared in a book about the winners of the Medal of Honor.

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These games have all the usual elements that you come across in online slot games. They include bonuses, special symbols, and a host of other features. All of them are designed to keep you hooked while you place your bets and go for the spin! Here we’ve listed the most fabulous online slots themed on war for you:

1. Space Wars

This online slot game has 40 paylines and 5 reels. Besides, it has some wonderful special effects that would make your gaming experience even more thrilling. Space Wars comes from NetEnt, one of the leading developers of online casino games. You’ll see some cute alien cartoons on the reels that are actually the symbols. If you are interested by online casinos, check this website, you’ll find the best platform to play real money.

In this slot game, you can wager between 1 and 10 coins on a payline. The sizes of the coins range from €0.01 to €0.50. The game offers a maximum jackpot of 10,000 coins to the players. This is truly a fabulous slot that’s suitable for beginners as well as the experienced players.

2. Battleship

Loosely based on the Battleships game, this online slot comes from IGT, a gaming company based in Las Vegas. It has 25 paylines and 5 reels. You’ll also find stacked wilds and 2 bonus features in the game. Players can either play this game for free or for real money.

The bets begin from €0.01 per payline and can go up to €5. The maximum you can bet per spin is €625. If you manage to get a reel of stacked wilds, you can get 250,000 credits on just one bet! The symbols to look out for in this game include the Battleship game logo, anchors, and maps.

3. Tally Ho

You’ll be delighted to play this online slot if World War II interests you. The game comes from Realtime Gaming or RTG and has 20 paylines and 5 reels. It offers a large random progressive jackpot, beginning at €1,000. You’ll find some other exciting bonus features as well.

The wild symbol is a Pilot icon, which you’ll find on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th reel. A Roundel icon represents the scatter. You’ll trigger the free spin bonus round if you manage to get five scatters on the reel.

4. Victorious

Yet another fascinating game from NetEnt, Victorious has 243 paylines and 5 reels. Wagers begin at €0.01 per spin and can go up to €0.50 for each spin. You can wager a maximum of €125 for each spin. With this game, players can expect 15,000 credits as payout.

The wild symbol in this NetEnt game is the golden eagle. This symbol also substitutes for all others to help players receive the winning combinations. The scatter symbol in Victorious is the golden wreath. You wouldn’t need this symbol on any of the enabled paylines to win.

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When the United States entered the First World War, he volunteered for military service. As a captain in the Army Medical Corps, he was assigned his duty station at Carruthers/Benbrook Field. Its location near Fort Worth meant that he was serving in his home state. He was one of the first clinicians who got to treat and work with aviators and related personnel.

At the hospital

The hospital had a staff of five officers and twenty-three enlisted men. It had a capacity of fifty beds and got 261 patients on an average every month. During their time spent at the airfield, Dr. Schwarz and his staff treated a total of 1,686 patients. About 1095 of them returned to duty and twenty eight soldiers died at the hospital.

A typical day for Dr. Schwarz began with sanitation inspection. He also conducted in-patient rounds at the hospital ward. This was followed by a sick call. It involved treating patients suffering from minor injuries and illnesses. Their illnesses ranged from common cold to pneumonia.

Later he would have a quick lunch. After this, he attended a clinic for aviators’ flight readiness evaluations and wellness examinations for all the other personnel.

Rescue and recovery work

When a DH. 9 fell to the ground, all the routine activities had to cease immediately. The entire focus of the medical team would then be on the rescue and recovery of the airmen involved. Stopping all his other duties, Dr. Edwin would rush to accident sites in an ambulance.

The road was bumpy and ridden with holes. As the ambulance passed through the rough roads and fields, it kicked up massive clouds of dust. At times, the fliers were set free using axes and wire cutters. As the second-seat aviator didn’t wear any seat belt, he often fell from the plane.

He’d stay balanced on a railing when he was manning a machine gun. The doctor would prevent further bleeding with tourniquets. Motion would be limited with the use of splints, thus preventing additional orthopedic, spinal cord, or neck injury.

Discharge from service

Dr. Edwin Schwarz discharged from service in the year 1919. He then went into private practice and became the first pediatrician of Fort Worth. He helped in establishing the first day nursery of the city. Dr. Schwarz also organized the children’s clinic of John Peter Smith Hospital. He later became the president of Fort Worth Pediatric and Texas Pediatric Societies.

Due to his excellent service to children and his community, he received many awards. They included the Gold Headed Cane Award. He also got recognition from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. This was for his contributions to various people of Fort Worth.

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He had taken many US soldiers to safety while serving in France during World War I. While commanding the remaining unit, he had to suffer from wounds caused by shrapnel and machine gun bullets. There have been many such solders in the American army who showed exceptional courage during wars. Here are some of the best books about Jews who served in the US military:

1. Goldfish – Silver Boot

Harvey S. Horn was a former Air Force flight officer. He had enlisted in the Army Air Corps to serve his country. The book talks in detail about war and the resilience of a human being. It also talks about the body’s ability to adapt to certain conditions that are beyond one’s control. This is a story that many prisoners of war would resonate with.

Flight officer Harvey S. Horn had endured some truly extreme situations. Every day was a harrowing experience for him. He was the part of 772nd Bomber Squadron based in the Italian city of Foggia. On the 20th of March 1945, he was assigned along with several others to Flying Fortress B-17G. Their mission was to bomb the marshaling yards located south of Vienna in Austria.

They got hit by flak over Zagreb in Yugoslavia. As a result, they landed in Quarnero Bay. The German Navy took them away as prisoners of war. During those times, being captured by the Germans itself was a great misfortune. Being a Jew among those captured was even worse. This book documents the 36 days of author, which he spent as a prisoner of war.

2. Admiral Boorda’s Navy

This is a biography of Jeremy Michael Boorda, who was the Chief of Naval Operations in the US Navy. He had served from April 1994 to May 1996. He was also a grandson of the Jews who had escaped the Czarist Russia. Admiral Michael Boorda was born in Indiana’s South Bend city. After dropping out of high school, he enlisted and was sent to officer candidate school after six years.

Later, he became the first Jew to become the Chief of Naval Operations. He had years of experience at sea and on shore during combat as well as peacetime. In this biography, author Malcolm Steinberg chronicles the history and politics during Admiral Boorda’s career. He was a caring and brilliant man who loved his family, country, and his country’s navy.

3. Jewish Aviators in World War II

During the Second World War, more than 150,000 Jewish personnel in US Air Force had served their country. Despite such great contributions, they had to face scorn and bigotry from their fellow servicemen. The Jews were seen by some as cowardly and disloyal. They had to face the accusations of taking up relatively easy assignments and thus sitting out the war.

In the book, author Bruce Wolk interviews over a hundred Jewish air veterans. The oral history detailed in this book features some intriguing recollections. They are from the Jewish air force personnel from all branches of service. The book also contains recollections from Jewish women who served in Women Airforce Service Pilots or WASP.

All of them talk about their combat experiences and the anti-Semitism that prevailed in the ranks. Among these aviators were the ones who had to endure some extremely tough times as prisoners of war.

4. Single Handed

Author Daniel M Cohen presents a highly inspiring story of Tibor Rubin in this book. It is based on eyewitness accounts and extensive interviews. The book gives the reader a stirring portrait of this true hero called Tibor ‘Teddy’ Rubin. He was a thirteen-year-old Hungarian Jew in 1944, when the Nazis captured him. He found himself in the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp.

For over a year, this teenager endured the concentration camp’s horrors. He did survive the Holocaust, but arrived penniless in the United States, barely able to speak English. He volunteered for the Korean War in 1950. During the war, he single-handedly defended a hill against enemy soldier. In another act of heroism in the war, he braved sniper fire for rescuing a comrade who was wounded.

He got captured and had to spend more than two years as a prisoner of war. Based on his experience in Mauthausen, he also helped his fellows survive this period of captivity. He returned to his home country in 1953. However, it wasn’t until 2005 that he got an invitation to to the White House. He was 76 at the time. President George W Bush presented him the Medal of Honor.

It took more than half a century for the United States to recognize Tibor’s contribution. His acts of bravery went beyond the call of duty. He became the only Holocaust survivor to have earned the highest military distinction of the United States.

5. Hope and Honor

This is the autobiography of Sidney Shachnow. A highly decorated Vietnam War veteran, Major General Sidney Shachnow had survived some terrible days as a child. He was sent to the notorious Kovno Concentration Camp when the Nazi forces occupied Eastern Europe. It was heavy manual labor that helped him survive the horrors of the concentration camp. He managed to escape from there and eventually journeyed to the United States.

Shachnow was able to work his way through school and enlisted in the US Army. He volutneered for the US Special Forces, serving for 32 years. It was his aim to save others from the terrible conditions he had endured. From Vietnam to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Shachow served in many special operations.

As the Special Forces grew, he rose to the position of Major General. Wherever he served, the lessons that he learned at Kovno always stayed with him. His will to live helped him get through the death camp in Kovno. In the end, it gave him immense strength of the body, mind, and soul.

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However, he felt the need for a growing military in the United States. The reason was the raging of the Great War in Europe. In an unofficial capacity, he started the recruitment of young American Jews and trained them for the military.

The Guard of Israel

As a member of Company H of the Fifth Massachusetts Infantry, he issued appeals in the Boston Jewish media. This was for the young men to join the ‘Guard of Israel’, an organization he had formed. It was headquartered in an ethnically diverse neighborhood in the West End. The neighborhood had a growing population of Jewish people.

One of the reports say that 75 men had enrolled in Riseman’s organization. His goal was to have 150 members in the Guard of Israel. He had talked about his earlier service in Texas during an interview. He said that he was willing to back the Jewish soldier against all for loyalty, sobriety, intelligence, and bravery. For over a thousand Jewish soldiers on the Mexican border, he had acted as a rabbi.

Having spent a considerable amount of time with these soldiers, he knew a lot about their abilities. They had responded well to discipline. These young soldiers had demonstrated this at the time of the Passover. They were given three days off for the Jewish holiday. All of them had returned at the end of the given time in sobriety and in good shape.

Riseman and family in World War I

The year 1917, marked the entry of the United States in the First World War. Bencin Riseman and his entire family stood up for the nation’s cause. He and his son Jay served in the 101st Infantry of the 26th Division in Europe. Another son of Bencin Riseman, Joseph, received his commission towards the end of World War I. Bencin’s daughter, Rita, was a nurse with the Red Cross.

In 1918, the 26th Division’s Jewish soldiers serving in Europe were in need of a Jewish chaplain. Riseman volunteered and was appointed chaplain for them. In his interview, he recalled getting the Jewish soldiers together in the woods. He had a shofar, some talaisim, and some prayer books. As soon as the prayers began, it started to rain.

At the end of the services, as he blew the shofar, the bugler sounded the Assembly Call. Riseman gave his blessings to the young soldiers, knowing that many of them probably won’t come back. When the bombs stopped, he went over in safety. When he looked back after crossing the section, he saw the bombs falling again.

Return from Europe

Towards the end of the war, Riseman returned from Europe. He continued the recruitments as Sergeant Riseman, but he had a broader focus this time. He ran the Lewiston, Maine recruiting station after joining the Army Recruiting Service. In the October 1920 issue, the U.S. Army Recruiting News acknowledged Riseman for his service.

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This led to the formation of Women’s Air Force Service Pilots or WASP. More than a thousand young women had to undergo training for flying B-26 and B-29 bombers. They also had to undergo training for testing new planes and flying shipments to the military bases from factories. Walt Disney’s creation of the WASP mascot appeared on the shoulder patch of these women.

Despite such a revolutionary thing happening, the records of the WASPs were never revealed for many years. This is why their contributions were inaccessible to historians. Very few people knew about about it. Here, we’ll discuss the contributions of two Jewish women who were a part of this historic event. They are Selma Cronan and Yetta Moskowitz.

Selma Cronan

Selma Kantor Cronan fell in love with flying airplanes from the time her mother took her on a kids’ airplane ride. In 1943, she received an invitation from Jacqueline Cochran, a legendary female aviation pioneer to join WASP. Her participation in flying competitions after the Second World War made her a competitive pilot.

During her interview at the age of 82, she said that all she cared about was her next flight. She expressed her disappointment with regards to discrimination against women in the days of her youth. While narrating the stories of women’s discrimination, she said that they didn’t even have a ladies’ room in the air bases.

Despite the discrimination that prevailed in those times, the women from WASP excelled in their pursuits. In the male-dominated society of the early 20th century, they made a name for themselves.

Yetta Moskowitz

In 1943, Yetta Moskowitz was fresh out of nursing school. She got enlisted as a flight nurse in the Army Nurse Corps. Before her deployment to the Philippines, she had to undergo training in the Air Force School of Air Evacuations. While serving in the Philippines, she helped in keeping about seven thousand troops alive. Later, this facilitated the transfer of these troops to the area hospitals.

The exceptional courage that she displayed under fire earned her a promotion . She became the chief nurse and first lieutenant of the 804th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron. She also received an air medal. This was for flying more than a hundred hours through combat zones.

Nurses were technically non-combatants even if they were serving in the war. So, they had to carry revolvers just in case they had to face the enemy troops. Moskowitz’s best friend was killed during one of the operations where wounded soldiers were being rescued.

The location of these combat zones were in New Guinea and the Philippines. Despite all the risks, Yetta Moskowitz brilliantly handled the evacuation of wounded soldiers in the Second World War.

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Early years

Kades was born in the Newburgh city of New York State on the 12th of March 1906. He graduated from Cornell University and Harvard Law School. Later, he began working at the law firm of Hawkins, Delafield, and Wood in Manhattan. He was a municipal bond lawyer at this law firm.

Kades helped in the implementation of New Deal policies. He served as the Assistant General Counsel for Public Works Administration and the treasury department of the United States. During his long career, Kades handled several complex issues. During his private practice in New York, he specialized in matters related to taxation, bonds, banking, corporate, and estate.

He had also advised Governor Hugh L. Carey on Municipal Assistance Corporation’s creation and operation. The Municipal Assistance Corporation was instrumental in supervising New York City’s recovery from financial crisis.

Supervising Japan’s transformation

Nothing compares to the contribution that he made in the transition of Japan’s monarchy into a modern democracy. The impact of this was more than the cases he worked on and the deals that he made. After the Second World War, the Japanese Government was under tremendous pressure from the Allies.

They began revising the Meiji Constitution in late 1945. The details of the work from the drafting committee was leaked out in 1946. There was an immediate outcry upon seeing that it was just a slight rework of the old constitution. The Supreme Allied Commander, General Douglas MacArthur, had to intervene in order to set things right.

According to his order, his Government Section staff comprising 24 members would draft a constitution. Before arriving in Japan, Kades was a part of the general staff of the War Department. He participated in the invasion of France in 1944. He arrived in Japan a week before the country’s formal surrender. Later, he was in charge of a steering committee for drafting the new constitution of Japan.

In order to accomplish this mission, he worked day and night and even resolved many debates. The document that he came up with stripped the Japanese Emperor of his authority. Additionally, it established an elected government and guaranteed various civil rights. They included full equality for women.

Adoption of the new constitution

Kades presided over the negotiations with the Japanese authorities. This ultimately led to the adoption of the draft, which was prepared by America. In the draft, Kades composed a part on renunciation of war with the help of the notes of MacArthur. The new constitution came into effect on the 3rd of May, 1947.

It was highly effective in laying the foundation for the re-emergence of Japan as an economic power. Kades became immensely popular in Japan and was decorated by the United States army. In 1976, he retired from his law practice in New York. He was 90 years of age at the time of his death in 1996.

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Many Jewish leaders were successful in making an impact on the political policies of major powers. At some places, the war also deepened hostilities towards the Jews. This was the case in parts of Eastern Europe and Germany.

The situation in Europe during the first World War

On the eastern front, the war went on between Russia and the Central Powers. The Central Powers included Germany and Austria. It’s interesting to note that the war on the eastern front was on territories with nearly four million Jews. During the years 1914 and 1915, Austrian Galicia was occupied by the Russian military.

In 1915, Congress Poland, Lithuania, Volhynia, and western Belorussia came under Austria and Germany. Under the Russian rule, there was great suspicion that Jews were collaborating with the enemy. The czarist army banished about 600,000 Jews from the front.

This was both an economic disaster and a traumatic experience for the Jews. One could see its after-effects even after the war. The Jews around the world established welfare organizations on a large scale to help their impoverished and displaced brethren.

Testing the Jewish loyalty

When the war broke out, the Jews were eager to prove their loyalty to their respective nations. They began to rally to the war efforts. Even in Russia, the Jews came out in large numbers to demonstrate their loyalty. However, with the implementation of the policy of deportation, many of them prayed for the victory of the Central Powers.

Despite this, nearly half a million Jews in Russia were in their uniforms. On the German side, there were almost 100,000 serving in the army. Even after such massive enlistment, the Jews were facing accusations of profiteering and evasions. They also had to face instigations of official investigations against them. The findings of these investigations were never made public.

Statistics say that the amount of losses suffered by the Jews was no less than the non-Jews. Many in England were also questioning the loyalty of Jews over there. They were mostly immigrants, who had arrived from Russia and refused to enlist. They had to sign public declarations of loyalty, which was quite humiliating.

Consequences in European countries

Most of the Jews encountered immense hatred and trouble in the European countries by the end of the war. This was even more apparent in Germany, where the Jews were facing a lot of humiliation. Across the country, people saw the Jews as traitors and back-stabbers. Nearly 100,000 Jews were killed by the Russians, Ukrainians, and Poles in the anti-Bolshevik campaigns.

The upheavals during the war changed the demographics of the Jewish population. During the war, there was a decrease in the intercontinental migration of the Jews. Large movements of refugees within Europe was observed around this time. When the war ended, the Jews began leaving Europe once again in large numbers.

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