To ease the burden on the postal system, V-mail was introduced during World War II for correspondence with service members stationed abroad. Stationery was photographed and transported on microfilm and then reproduced on small paper sheets at the destination. It was the primary way for soldiers and their families at home to communicate during the Read more about L’shana Tova: Rosh Hashanah V-Mail from World War II[…]
The National Museum of American Jewish Military History will be closed for the upcoming holiday observances: Thursday and Friday, September 21 – 22 – Rosh Hashana Thursday and Friday, October 5 – 6 – Sukkot Thursday, October 12 – Shemini Atzeret Friday, October 13 – Simchat Torah
Sometimes, there’s nothing better for your morale than a kosher salami sent from Mom. Our museum archives has many stories of young service members overjoyed at receiving a salami overseas. In 2007, Martin Sack wrote this recalling his experience in Korea in 1954: The 1st Ordnance Battalion was stationed in a former Japanese military base Read more about Save the Salami by Martin Sack[…]
The riflemen of Company E were having difficulty identifying where the machine gun fire was coming from. Sergeant Prager had a solution. Give the Germans a clear target. He stood in the window of the house providing the Germans something to shoot at.
A series profiling American Jewish service in the First World War Private Harold Epstein Wounded in Grimpette Woods Harold Epstein left Sheffield, Pennsylvania for the Army on February 25, 1918. Epstein was the son of a Russian-immigrant father, one of eight children. He’d graduated from Sheffield High School five years earlier and worked as a Read more about Over There: Harold Epstein[…]
A series profiling American Jewish service in the First World War Zadoc Morton Katz Baltimore Boy Killed in Action at Montfaucon The U.S. had entered the Great War. Friends of Zadoc Morton Katz suggested his education and training as an executive in the clothing industry might make him well-suited to contribute to the war effort by Read more about Over There: Zadoc Morton Katz[…]
Mon, July 10, 2017, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT Phil Wood is the host of Nats Talk Live, the official post-game radio show of the Washington Nationals. He’s a long-time radio personality in the D.C.-Baltimore area and an expert on the history of baseball. He’ll join us to discuss the history of Jews in baseball Read more about Jews and Baseball with Phil Wood – July 10[…]
Before the war, the “Savior of the Lost Battalion” was still an immigrant barber in the Bronx. Krotoshinsky came to New York from Płock, part of the Russian Empire in Poland. He’d left there specifically to escape military service. His attitude toward military service changed drastically in his adopted country.
Even before the first men had come ashore for the Allied assault on Normandy on June 6th, 1944, Lieutenant Robert Halperin of the U.S. Navy had been at work on the beaches. Halperin was attached to Assault Force “U.” His job was to mark the landing sites for the assault infantry. Halperin successfully helped the Read more about Robert Halperin on D-Day[…]
On October 27, 1918, German fire ignited an ammunition dump near Verdun. While exploding shells were seriously wounding his comrades, Private Hyman Silverman jumped into action. He began removing the ammunition even as more exploded around him. Silverman was hit multiple times by grenade explosions.