Shalom Lamm’s career as a real estate developer spans more than two decades, including managing more than 9,500 properties. Shalom Lamm, also a military historian, successfully petitioned the government to have the grave markers of Jewish-Americans reflect their heritage through the Operation Benjamin project.

Operation Benjamin culminated in a program that would change the grave markers of Jewish-American soldiers who served in WWII to the Star of David instead of the Christian cross. The importance of honoring these soldiers is conveyed through Milton Feldman’s tale of imprisonment in the POW camps in Germany.

While Mr. Feldman was not a fatality of the war, the conditions of his capture highlight the sacrifice that many Jewish-Americans made-even in the face of Nazi aggression. In what would become the Battle of the Bulge, the troops set out on an orchestrated and organized march to defeat the enemy. The army of men were prepared to fight, even in miserable winter conditions and the low cloud cover.

However, one mistake led to complete chaos. The generals misunderstood the German retreat, and the soldiers soon were barraged by a counterattack. The once unified unit had unraveled, becoming a loose band of soldiers. A day or so later, Mr. Feldman and a few other soldiers walked upon a camp of German soldiers. Outnumbered and out rifled, the troops were captured.

The next couple of days they trekked through the German countryside. After a train ride, the soldiers were dropped off in front of German barracks run by both Allied and German soldiers. Faced with possible extermination, Mr. Feldman admitted to the officer checking him in that he was in fact Jewish. Although he did not suffer the brutality that most of the Jewish descent, his tale is a harrowing illustration of why honoring Jewish-Americans who served is very relevant, even almost 75 years later.