in the 2nd Replacement Depot in place men killed and wounded in
the German winter drive. Any-
the European Theater.
thing that would make Christmas
* • *
a little more cheerful for them
JEWS VOLUNTEER
was worth its weight in gold.
(Continued on page 24)
A REPLACEMENT DEPOT is
one of the least cheerful places in
the Army. It might be roughly
compared to a railroad station
Chanukah Greetings
II
waiting room. The big difference
and Best Wishes to All t
is that men waiting there (usually
for days rather than hours) are
MEYER KAUFFMAN /9
not going home for the holidays
or on a vacation trip, but very
and
shortly will be moving into dan-
WALLY
FRIEDMAN
ger. The men are casuals, most
of them strangers to each other,
INSURANCE AGENCY
awaiting assignment to an organ-
ization up forward. They do not
have the close ties and esprit de
corps of men who have fought to-
gether in a unit.
CHerry 4172
Most of those in the 2nd Re-
placement Depot were due to re-
-
In .11VB Post
War Secretary Hails
the Jewish Chaplain
a
Rabbis Never Had a Moment of Rest
Since Troops Were Widely Scattered
By ROBERT P. PATTERSON
Secretary of War
OF THE BRIGHTEST
O NE
pages in the history of our
war effort is the story of the
chaplains who served our fighting
men.
I Aggressors who discard all spir-
itual values depend on brute force
alone to win their objective.- But
a nation fighting for survival,
fighting for a political and social
idea based on the sacred charac-
ter of the human individual, de-
pends on more. The things of the
spirit can be as important to it as
guns and ammunition.
We recognize 'that fact. The
religious life of our men was a
top priority. Every camp in this
country had its place for religi-
ous worship.
The ships that carried food,
ammunition and clothing overseas
also carried religious supplies.
And the chaplains were as essen-
tial to us as the officers on the
line or at headquarters.
Our chaplains were given all the
assistance we could give them.
They had a vital mission to per-
form — a mission which required
untiring efforts and, in many
cases, unfaltering courage. It
was our duty to help them to the
limit of our ability.
a
Friday, December 20, 1946
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
Page Twenty.two
■
*
DEMANDING TASK
I THINK THAT OF all the
chaplains, none had a more diffi-
cult or demanding task than those
of the Jewish faith. Because he
served a group that was widely
scattered throughout the armed
forces, never concentrated in one
place, the Jewish chaplain never
had a moment of rest.
In Europe, he was forced to
spend much of his time traveling
by jeep, and in the Pacific by
, duck, covering great distances to
reach his men.
In Sicily. for instance, in Sep-
tember 1943, after its liberation,
there were only two Jewish chap-
lains. To reach all of the .Towish
men for the fast of Yom Kippur
by jeep was a physical impossi-
bility on a mountainous island ten
thousand square miles in area.
Chaplain Earl Stone of the 7th
Army Headquarters and Chaplain
Irving Tepper of the 9th Infantry
Division took to the air, each of
them in a liaison plane. As a
result there was hardly a Jewish
soldier who did not have the con-
solation of religious services on
that day.
One group, whose base it was
impossible for either of these men
to reach, was able to attend
Chaplain Tepper's services in Lyk-
atta, because the Christian chap-
lains in their outfit chartered a
plane and had them flown there.
* * $
eral times joined them at dinner.
Conversation was at first car-
ried on in fluent Italian by the
priests, and in very faltering Ital-
ian by the chaplain. Finally, by
agreement, they switched to
French. Prior to his departure
for England, the priests, as a
sign of their affection for him,
presented Chaplain Tepper with a
Catholic religious medal and .. .
an Italian grammar.
He carried on for the men of
the 9th through the battle of the
hedgerows in Normandy and died
in combat in August of 1944 as
his division was choking off the
remnants of the Nazi 7th Army
at the Falaise gap.
He was a good chaplain, a pat-
riotic American and a heroic sol-
dier. His Army record well illus-
trates how the chaplains of all
faiths strengthened us in the
struggle for victory by making
a substantial contribution to the
spirit of our fighting men.
Neighborly tolerance is an Am-
erican trait. I think it is strong-
er than ever as a result of the war
which brought together in close
contact 12 millions of our young
men from every part of the coun-
try, from every group of our
people.
*
$
,
501 Book Bldg.
$
BELIEVE IN TOLERANCE
CONTACTS AND CLOSENESS
do not necessarily increase toler-
ance. Sometimes differences are
emphasized and prejudices fan-
ned into flame. The risk of this
is greatly abated if men in posi-
tions of leadership are themselves
imbued with tolerance and eager
to develop it among those they
counsel and guide. Such men were
the chaplains.
Situations such as that at Dan-
iel Field in Georgia illustrate
their attitude. The Methodist
chaplain there reported: "My as-
sistant is a Jew; the Catholic
chaplain has a Protestant for his
assistant; one of the Protestant
^haplains has a Catholic and the
other a Negro for his assistant.
Perfect harmony prevails."
That one field is indicative of a
universal spirit among the chap-
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lains wherever they served in the
Armed Forces.
Inevitably, the same spirit of
mutual regard worked down among
the men and produced such in-
stances as that occuring a few
days before Christmas last year
E. CHRISTIN NORMOYLE
GIFTS TO A JEW
INCIDENTALLY, CHAPLAIN
TEPPER, in escorting Catholic
men of his outfit to a local Sici-
lian church, became acquainted
with the village priests and soy-
CHANUKAH GREETINGS
MILTON' WEILL, New York,
has been named chairman of the
Army and Navy Committee of
the National Jewish Welfare
Board. The committee directs
and coordinates JWB's program
of welfare, religious and morale
services for the armed forces.
Weill succeeds Walter Roth-
schild of Brooklyn.
To You, Friends and Neighbors,
Whom We Have Been Privileged
to Serve Over the Many Years,
We Extend Our Greetings and Best
Wishes for a Very Joyous Holiday!
* *
FRANK
SEDER
AND