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As an active duty Air Force officer currently stationed overseas, and as a Jew who grew up in the Bay Area, it is gratifying to see the overwhelming support the Bay Area Jewish community is showing for our current efforts to fight terrorism. We in the community, closely connected to Israel as we are, have understood the need to fight terror for a long time. Now, unfortunately, this need has tragically been brought home to all Americans. However, while I take great pride in the support the Jewish community is showing, a certain question keeps gnawing at me: Where are the Jews in the United States military?
Try this experiment at your next synagogue service or other Jewish gathering. Ask all the veterans to stand up. My guess is that the average age will be in the 70s as the proud veterans of World War II represent the majority. Then ask those who have a son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter who is a veteran or serving on active duty to stand up. Finally, ask those who currently know somebody serving on active duty to stand up as well. Sadly my guess is that the groups of people answering yes to the last two questions will be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Unfortunately, while Jews in the United States are over-represented in virtually every profession from law to medicine to science, they are few and far between in the armed forces of our country. Truth be told, nice Jewish boys and girls aren't raised to grow up and be soldiers, except of course in Israel. Throughout my career in the Air Force, I can't recall a single time that I didn't have trouble finding a minyan at any base I have been to.
Now some may think that this has always been the case, but this is simply not true. The oldest U.S. veterans' organization is the Jewish War Veterans. It was formed shortly after the Civil War, partly to counter the impression that Jews did not serve their country. Fifty percent of the first graduating class of West Point was Jewish: There were two graduates; one was a Jew. Jews can proudly take their place among America's war heroes like Admirals Uriah Levy and Hyman Rickover, or Congressional Medal of Honor winner John Levitow, an airman. Without a change in current trends of declining Jewish participation in the armed forces, this proud history may be at an end.
The reasons for this are many. Undoubtedly the Jewish community, primarily being upper-middle class, similar to most non-Jews of this class, doesn't see the military as terribly upwardly mobile. Today, those who have military-age children, the baby boomers, formed their impressions of the military in the 1960s and these impressions are generally negative. Others perceive the military as an institution as somehow anti-Semitic. From personal experience I can tell you that if anything, the military is rather philo-Semitic, perhaps owing to the great professional respect many personnel have for the Israeli Defense Force. There may be other reasons as well, but they pale when compared to the reasons we should serve.
No people owes more to America than its Jews. Without a doubt we are the freest, most prosperous, most influential Jewish community in the history of the world. We owe this to a country founded upon a set of principles, defended by the blood of patriots for over two centuries. Just as America has blessed its Jews, we Jews have blessed America. We are presidents of corporations, senators and congressmen, justices of the Supreme Court, doctors and lawyers, Nobel Prize winners and other achievers too numerous to mention. Given this wonderful history, it is clear that we also have a duty to our country to take our place beside others who are prepared to defend it. Do we really want to say, thank you America, but let others put their lives on the line? I don't think so.
Along with pushing our sons and daughters to medicine at Stanford or law at Harvard, we need to ask them to consider Annapolis or West Point, or for a really fine education, the Air Force Academy (my bias shines through). We also need to consider how we as a community support our armed forces. Do we commemorate Memorial Day and Veterans Day? Do we call the local military bases and find out if every Jewish soldier, sailor, or member of the Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard has a place to go for Shabbat dinner, Pesach, or the High Holy Days? Do we volunteer for the USO? Do our rabbis serve as chaplains (sadly this is a problem that is nearly a crisis)?
In the wake of the terrible events of Sept. 11, the call has gone out once again for America to defend freedom. As we proudly stood with those who fought to free the slaves and defeat Hitler, we must again answer: America's Jews are present and ready for duty!
The writer is an officer in the U.S. Air Force who grew up in the Bay Area and is currently stationed overseas. He can be e-mailed at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
For example there was no safety net at OTS when you are the only Jew. Its easy to just quit when you have nobody to confide in. There was nobody, not even a Jewish Chaplain to offer support.
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12/22/2011 at 07:49 PM
Yes Jews have gotten much from America, and America has gotten much of its glory from the Jews. However, Jews have not overcome antisemitism even in the present day. America’s leaders and other heroes have not hesitated to speak out and to promote their distaste of Jews. I include Mark Twain, Edison, Henry Ford, Lindbergh, and FDR. The major morning networkradio broadcaster for many years continues to spew antisemitism. For example he refers to “thieving Jews” and says the term is redundant. Despite Jewish influence in law and politics no Jew has been ever considered for national executive office. Senator Lieberman ran with Al Gore who, after losing, wouldn’t even endorse his Jewish running mate for a later elective office. American Jews and not indebted to America, nor does America owe anything extra to the Jews. We are a race not fully included in the American Image. Patriotism comes with acceptance and we haven’t achieved it here. Jews fought in World War II willingly and with good reason. But America has not done anything to inspire Jews to give up their lives for their country because this is not our country although we live here. I had relatives who served and felt like outcasts because they had to eat separately to get kosher meals or to celebrate the Saturday sabbath. To most Jews who are secular this would not be a prime complaint. But to be honest Jews still feel a fear of America and what can happen to them if the wind blows another way. This is why they vote almost unanimously for the Democrats and African Americans in particular. We will not achieve the love of our fellow Americans this way nor fair treatment in the bottom line.
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