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MAY 27, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Remembering the GI Jew Gold Star Mom Beth Agami Speaks about Her Son, Army Pfc. Daniel Agami, z”l BY SUSAN SCHWAMM
Pfc. Daniel Agami was a proud Jew who joined the U.S. Army after college. Unfortunately, Daniel lost his life serving his country. This week, in honor of Memorial Day, we spoke with Beth Agami, Daniel’s mother, about Daniel’s life and the sacrifices he made protecting American interests around the world. Beth, for many people in our community, Memorial Day is for barbeques and parades and maybe a half day of school. Perhaps if we speak about the sacrifice, and we really understand what it means to be living in this country like the United States with people who gave their lives for our freedom, it would help people understand what Memorial Day is really about. You know, it’s not just in the Jewish community. It’s the entire country. It really depends on where you are, where you live, for you to have a better understanding of what Memorial Day is. For those who have family that served, those people are more than likely to better understand what Memorial Day means. When it comes to Memorial Day, it is like a party day. It’s a weekend at the beach. There’s not enough understanding behind the meaning of Memorial Day. I always try to compare it to Israel because you know what they do in Israel for their Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron. There, you feel it. You feel the pain and suffering. There, everyone’s been affected, more or less, by someone who was killed in the military. Here, it’s not as likely that that’s going to happen, so that’s where the breakdown comes in. Children here aren’t being taught about Memorial Day. Out of respect – not just for the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives – but for those who served in all the past wars, when the country needed them to survive – it can be about putting a flag in your front yard or saying the Pledge of Allegiance on Memorial Day.… In this way, you can show kids and teach them about what Memorial Day is about. Your son, Daniel, heroically served in the U.S.
Army. Tell us about Daniel when he was growing up. Daniel went to the Hebrew Academy of Margate [in Florida] until the sixth grade. It only went up to sixth grade when he was young. After that, there were no other Jewish day schools so he went to public school. He was involved in the Jewish Cub Scouts, and he was involved in the Explorer Program from the City of Coconut Creek, where we used to live, which is a program for kids who are interested in going into law enforcement. He and his brother, Ilan, did that together. Itzhak, my husband, Daniel’s father, had served in the Israeli military, the IDF. My dad served in the U.S. Navy in the Korean War. So Daniel was brought up with a sense of military. He left high school early and got his GED and went to college early. After college, when he was 23, he decided to join the military. He didn’t even tell us he was going to do it. He went to the army recruitment office in Margate, and he signed himself up. When he came home and told us, we thought it was great. We were like, “That is awesome. Whatever you decide is good for you and your life, we think that’s a great decision.” He told us that he wanted to serve on the frontlines – he could have served in any position. When we asked him how he was going to maintain his Jewish values while in the army, he told us that he would “take it as it comes.” When he enlisted, he went to basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia. During that time, those eight weeks, we weren’t able to have any communication with him. Is that standard procedure? Yes. That’s a standard thing when people first enter the
