All posts by shalomlamm

Military

Jewish-American Soldiers Have Always Answered the Call to Service

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Shalom Lamm of West Hempstead, New York, is a military historian and a noted speaker. Recently, Shalom Lamm launched Operation Benjamin, a project that changes the grave markers of Jewish-American soldiers to the Star of David.

The project is in part to honor the sacrifice these fallen soldiers have made, but the operation also highlights the fact that Jewish-Americans have always answered the call to defend the United States. According to Mr. Lamm’s words in an American Battle Monuments Commission article, “Jewish soldiers have served with pride, courage, and conviction in the US Armed forces dating back to the colonial era…”

Jewish-American service was first documented during the Revolutionary War. Exhibits at the National Museum of American Jewish History document Jewish-American soldiers who lost their lives fighting for American Independence.

Nearly 100 years later, Jewish-American men served in the American Civil War. In response to an article that dismissed the service of these soldiers, Simon Wolf, a Washington, DC, attorney and head of the district’s B’nai B’rith, compiled a list of soldiers who served in American wars. The book, The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, says that approximately 10,000 Jewish-American soldiers fought in the Civil War – about 7,000 for the Union and 3,000 for the Confederacy. Jewish-American service was also documented in the War of 1812, World War I, and every American war since.

Military, Shalom Lamm

A Glimpse of Humanity in the Midst of Wartime Atrocities

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Entrepreneur and military historian Shalom Lamm has spent many years contributing to the Jewish-American community. Shalom Lamm’s recent work includes Operation Benjamin, a project that provides proper grave markers for fallen Jewish-American soldiers, including one who died following the Bataan Death March.

Most accounts of the Bataan Death March describe it as one of the most devastating events a soldier could experience. However, one soldier, Marine PFC Irvin Scott, lived to tell how an act of humanity by a Japanese guard saved his life.

Ill-trained and inexperienced Philippine and American soldiers were forced to retreat into the jungles of the Bataan Peninsula after a Japanese attack at Luzon. The Allied forces surrendered, but the Japanese marched the prisoners of war 66 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando in groups of 100.

Survivors witnessed their comrades dying from disease, lack of food, being run over by trucks or tanks, and being bayoneted. When they finally arrived at POW camps, PFC Scott and others were ordered to build a road to Tayabas, but Scott had contracted malaria and passed out while working. A Japanese guard secretly provided him extra food and medicine, which the guard hid in a banana leaf and dropped onto the ground. This act helped save Scott’s life.

Military, Shalom Lamm

An Overview of Manila American Cemetery

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For decades, Shalom Lamm has leveraged his success as a managing member of Lion and Lamm Development into good works for his local community and the Jewish community at large. In addition to holding membership with the Hevra Kadisha, Shalom Lamm serves as a tireless advocate for the recognition of Jewish American soldiers who died fighting in World War II.

To support his interest in this area, Mr. Lamm founded Operation Benjamin, a nonprofit that works to ensure fallen Jewish soldiers are buried with an appropriate Star of David grave marker. Recently, Operation Benjamin collaborated with the American Battle Monuments Commission and the US ambassador to the Philippines to place Star of David headstones over the graves of Jewish soldiers buried at the Manila American Cemetery.

Since its dedication in 1960, the Manila American Cemetery has served as the resting place for 17,184 fallen American soldiers who served in World War II. The cemetery, which is located in the Philippines, spans 152 total acres and includes a white masonry chapel, as well as mosaic maps that recognize the achievements of the American Armed Forces. In addition, Manila American Cemetery honors over 36,000 soldiers missing in action, whose names can be found on the Tablets of the Missing.

For further information on the Manila American Cemetery, visit http://www.abmc.gov/Manila.

Military

Operation Benjamin Coordinates Renaming Ceremony for Jewish POWs

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Based in New York, Shalom Lamm has an extensive real estate leadership background and has overseen a variety of successful property rehabilitation projects. One of the founders of Operation Benjamin, Shalom Lamm is part of an organization that recently coordinated successful efforts with the American Battle Monuments Commission in burying fallen Jewish American World War II soldiers under the Star of David.

The five service members honored at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in February 2020 served in the Pacific theater during the war. They included one who died of typhus, one who was a victim of enemy shell fire, and another who succumbed to a gunshot wound. In addition, two prisoners of war died of hardship and starvation within Japanese prison camps.

A common thread among these men was that they shared a strong sense of patriotism, as well as a robust Jewish faith, and gave their lives for principles of democracy and freedom. They were among a Jewish contingent that made up approximately 2.7 percent of the total number of soldiers who served in World War II. What Operation Benjamin’s research revealed was that only 1.5 percent of American WWII graves bore the Star of David.

With personal omission and clerical mistakes two major reasons why Jewish Americans might be buried under a Christian cross, the aim of Operation Benjamin is to ensure that this situation is rectified as much as possible. Coordinated with the American Battle Monuments Commission, the ceremony in the Philippines included a Mourner’s Kaddish recitation and provided a sense of closure to the families of the deceased.

It represents just one part of an ongoing process that requires ample proof to be provided of each soldier’s Jewish identity before the renaming ceremony.