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Forgotten Her es
Jewish Medics During World War II By Avi Heiligman
Captain Ben Salomon
M
edical personnel are key components of a military unit. Medics are integrated in the frontline soldiers, and doctors, surgeons and nurses facilitate aid stations and hospitals that treat wounded and sick soldiers. During World War II, the medical staff worked tirelessly to save countless lives and their hard work was recognized by the soldiers. Thousands of Jewish servicemen and women served in the medical field while in uniform for the American military. The stories of these men and women are numerous, as they served with distinction and pride. The highest honor that could be achieved on the battlefield is the Medal of Honor. Ben Salomon received this honor posthumously for actions on Saipan, Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific. Ben Salomon was born in Milwaukee in 1914. He graduated from the USC Dental College in 1937 and began a dental practice. Three years later, he was drafted into the army and worked his way up the ranks.
President George W. Bush shakes the hand of Dr. Robert West in 2002 after presenting him with the Medal of Honor on behalf of U.S. Army Captain Ben Salomon
When his superior officers discovered that he was a dentist, they ordered him to become an officer in the dental corps. In 1942, he was commissioned as an officer, and in May 1943 he was assigned to the 105th Infantry Regiment, 27 th Infantry Division. Even though he was a dentist and was exempt from combat, Salomon chose to join the regiment in their field exercises. Right before the regiment was to land on Saipan, Salomon was promoted to captain. After the initial landings on Saipan, the 105 th advanced. When the battalion surgeon was wounded, Salomon volunteered to take his place. The battle was going badly for the Japanese, so General Saito ordered the remaining soldiers to carry out a banzai charge on the morning of July 7, 1944. The enemy gathered in front of the 105th’s line of defense. Early in the morning, the Japanese came out of the brush and advanced past the foxhole perimeter. The enemy began to advance on the aid station where Captain Salo-
mon was treating wounded soldiers. Soon he saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting a wounded American soldier and saw many more enemy soldiers crawling under the tent into the aid station. He killed the enemy soldier and killed two more at the entrance of the tent. Salomon received the Medal of Honor for his heroics. The citation for his medal reads: Four more crawled under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, shot another, and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear. Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and
rushed out of the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it‌ Captain Salomon was killed while manning the machine gun. In front of the gun, 98 enemy soldiers were found by other American soldiers. The fighting in Burma was intense, and the mountainous terrain made movement difficult. Battalion surgeon Captain Benjamin Leavitt of Massachusetts received an urgent call that a soldier was stuck on a mountain fifty miles away. The soldier needed an emergency appendectomy and was too ill to move from the mountain. Captain Leavitt then asked who the patient was and was told it was his own medical assistant, Sgt. Klepey. Since there was no landing area for a small plane, the captain took a jeep and then trekked up the mountain. It was getting dark but Klepey was in such a bad predicament that the surgery had to be done immediately. A signal corpsman held a flashlight while
