Bravery in Battle by Avi Heiligman

Forgotten Her es Bravery in Battle

by Avi Heiligman

Commander Gordon Schechter Dr. Merrill Feldman Second Lt. Sidney Goldstein

the most talked about medal awarded to American servicemembers is the Medal of Honor. The stories of their acts of courage under difficult conditions warrant front page news, although their courageousness in battle is often forgotten. Other awards such as the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Distinguished Service Cross are rarely brought up in news headlines, and their recipients are usually unknown to the public. Here are more stories of Jewish servicemembers who received medals for bravery during World War II.

Commander Gordon Schechter was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for air-to-air combat in February 1945. The Navy pilot was the commanding officer of a carrier air group flying off the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30). Schechter flew in a F6f-5 Hellcat. That day, his group was flying a mission north of Tokyo with the target being an important aircraft plant. The enemy installations were heavily damaged, and as they were getting set to return to the carrier, they were attacked by a large number of Japanese fighters. Air-to-air combat ensued, and the fighters and torpedo bombers in his air group accounted for twelve enemy planes shot down with no losses of their own.

The Silver Star citation he received cited Schechter’s leadership for this aerial victory. Schechter achieved the status of aerial ace by shooting down five enemy aircraft, but his plane was shot down in March 1945. He was listed as missing in action; later, his plane was recovered and buried in California.

Dr. Merrill Feldman was born in Massachusetts and was studying pre-med at the University of New Hampshire when he was called up to enter the army during his sophomore year in 1943. Feldman had been in ROTC up to that point and upon completion of basic training was assigned as a medic to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 377th Infantry Regiment of the 95th Division. During the invasion of France, it was moved from the Ninth Army to General Patton’s Third Army.

Allied troops had landing on five beaches on June 6, 1944, and the beaches were continuously used to land men throughout the invasion. In September, Feldman’s unit of the 95th Division landed on Omaha Beach – the site of the bloodiest landing on D-Day just three months earlier. The Battle of Metz, France, had started in late September, and by early November the Americans launched a new attack on the forts. The 95th was an integral piece of the new attack and right away became bogged down in mud, minefields and torrential rains. By the second day of the attack, Feldman came to the realization that he was the only combat medic left standing with his company. Despite being wounded by artillery shells, he continued servicing the wounded and refused to be evacuated. Desperate to give critically wounded soldiers urgent care, Feldman setup a makeshift hospital but needed help to carry the wounded. Using his best high school German, he rounded up a dozen German prisoners and used them as litter bearers to bring the wounded to the battalion field hospital.

Feldman was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions and a Purple Heart for his wounds.

He continued with the 95th Division through the Battle of the Bulge and their push into Germany. In April 1945, Feldman was shot in the hand by a sniper while running to save the life of a friend. Feldman arrived on the scene too late to help his buddy. After bandaging his own wound and refusing evacuation, he picked up a rifle of a fallen soldier and led a successful attack on a German-held farmhouse. For these actions, he was awarded the Silver Star and received a second Purple Heart.

A week later, he was with the division when they liberated a concentration camp, and the shock of what he witnessed stayed with him for the rest of his life. After the war, Feldman finished medical school and became a pioneer in cancer research.

In addition to the assault on German-held Europe through France, the Americans and their allies were fighting on a southern front in Italy. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called Italy the “soft underbelly of the Axis,” but for the troops on the ground, the going wasn’t so “soft.” For Second Lieutenant Sidney “Shimmy” Goldstein of Glen Cove, New York, it was an uphill battle against heavy enemy emplacements near Santa Margherita, Italy.

On September 21, 1944, the platoon leader from Company A, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Division was tasked with taken a hill with just a small force of 24 soldiers. Goldstein led his men up the hill against a numerically superior German force. They took some casualties as they advanced and reorganized their small force. Goldstein then had eleven men under his command and managed to capture four Germans in the process in a dugout on the slope. Then they reached a second enemy position and captured a German officer and two enlisted soldiers. The German officer, not wanting to continue the fight, then offered the surrender of the remaining Germans if only Goldstein would accompany them to the position. Even though he realized that it could be a trap, Goldstein accepted the offer and followed the German on full alert. Once they reached the enemy position, two more officers and around forty men surrendered to Goldstein and the Americans. From there, they captured another sixteen Germans that were fighting on the slope.

In total, Goldstein captured over sixty Germans who were in position that now enabled the Allies to continue with their advance through the Gothic Line. Goldstein was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and received a combat promotion to first lieutenant for his bravery in battle.

Individual stories of heroism on the battlefield are rarely told as the focus is usually on the main battle advances. Even Medal of Honor recipients’ stories aren’t often known, let alone servicemen and women who received other medals. As this author digs through more records, more information will surface and these heroes’ stories can be told.