13 minute read
Jewish Medics in World War II by Avi Heiligman
Forgotten Her es Jewish Medics During World War II
By Avi Heiligman
Captain Ben Salomon 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
Medical 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. 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 105th 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 Salomon 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
Leavitt worked on his assistant. The surgery was successful, and the sergeant was soon back in action.
The first large land action the American military saw against the Germans was in North Africa in late 1942. Staff Sergeant Max Warshaw was attached to the 1st Infantry Division when they landed at Oran, Algeria. He was born in Poland, and his family moved to the U.S. ten years later. As a medic, he never carried a gun but was always with the soldiers on the tough missions. At Oran, he exposed himself to enemy fire while treating wounded American soldiers lying in the open. A few days later, he was wounded by shrapnel from an artillery shell.
Warshaw received the Silver Star for actions in El Guettar, Tunisia. The citation reads:
When a heavy enemy artillery barrage had compelled two drivers to abandon their vehicles, Sergeant Warshaw fearlessly entered this area and removed the vehicles, thereby saving valuable equipment from destruction.
Warshaw was with the division when they landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy and was awarded for
bravery. In November 1944, he was captured and spent five months as a prisoner of war before being liberated. In total, he received eleven medals for bravery in combat.
D-Day was the start of the famous amphibious operation that sent hundreds of thousands of Allied troops to penetrate the Nazi defenses in Normandy, France. There were five beach landings, although the American soldiers invaded the Omaha and Utah Beaches. The carnage at Omaha Beach was vast, and
the first waves struggled to gain a foothold. Two Jewish doctors, Major Benjamin Cohen from Brookline Massachusetts and Captain Samuel Horowitz of New York, set up a temporary field hospital while under enemy fire. Badly wounded soldiers were brought in by medics while the two doctors performed lifesaving surgeries even through earth-shaking mortar fire. They worked through the night by the light of just one flashlight.
Many stories are told of medics and doctor risking their lives to save the life of another. From braving enemy gunfire to working in terrible weather conditions and tough terrain, medical teams are there to answer the call.
The heroism of the medical teams under fire and challenging conditions during World War II make it history that deserves to be remembered.
Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.
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