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Page Sixteen

THE JEWISH- NEWS

Rabbi Adler Reports from the Philippines

Describes a Pilgrimage
To Field of Mogen Davids

Detroiter Views Job of Overseas Chaplains as Heart-
Rending and Exhausting; Lost in Thought as He Seeks to
Translate Dog Tags Into a Person of Flesh and Blood

—Cut Courtesy Indianapolis Jewish Post

Photograph shows five of the 16 Jewish Chaplains now serving
- ill the Philippines. Front row: Chaplains LAWRENCE CHARNEY
and SAMUEL SILVER. Standing: Chaplains ABRAHAM WINO-
KUR, MORRIS ADLER of Detroit and SIDNEY STRUMPF.

The debt of gratitude due
Chaplains serving in this war is
repeatedly becoming more evi-
dent as servicemen report how
Rabbis, Ministers and Priests
are helping to maintain the high
morale of our armed forces.
Physical efforts and emotional
strains are called into play in
the conduct of spiritual activi-
ties directed by our Chaplains,
as evidenced by a message from
Chaplain Morris Adler, from the
Philippines, who writes:
"I am hopping around like a
kangaroo with St. Vitus dance.
I feel entirely exhausted at
times, but there are gratifying
. and exhilarating moments."
Routine of Chaplian
Heart-rending are the experi-
ences which are part of the daily
routine of an overseas chaplain.
The following excerpts of Rabbi
Adler's report of a pilgrimage
which he made, describe his
reactions while carrying out a
sacred mission:
• "My assistant and I started
out early in the morning. The
road was long and hard. This
being war, not all bridges were
intact . . . We rushed as quickly
as the jeep could travel on the
rocky road, for the tall under-
•brush extending for miles :.did
not always look down on us with
benign friendliness.
"We were bent on a sad and
reverent pilgriniage. About 12
Jewish lads, - we had learned,. had
fallen •in combat and were buried
in a cemetery that had hastily
been set up almost on the very
•site of combat. We were hurry-
ing to them, to shed a tear, and
- say a prayer. For four hours we
- were in the jeep, shaking and
rocking, parched, hungry and
hot beneath • the merciless sun.
Approach Cemetery
`Finally the cemetery came into
.view . . . To each cross or star
was attached the metal dog-tag
.which the fallen soldier had
_worn. The quiet of desolation
•prevails here in this valley,
which has become the altar of
the youth and blood of so many
lads who came forward to their
'death from afar . . .
- "Tired and bespattered though
we were, we were overwhelmed
at the threshold of the cemetery
.byV a powerful mood of rever-
ence and melancholy.
' "Slowly we walk to the first
of the graves marked with a
Mogen David. The tag bears a
_characteristidally Jewish name
and gives the address of a
mother in Brooklyn. I am lost in
thought, as I seek to translate
the name into a person of flesh
and blood. I could see him now,
a boy of 23 years. He is the son
of immigrant parents, his boy-
hood, the public school, the Bar
:Mitzvath, getting a job, object
of the hopes of parents—then
war and now at rest in a distant
Soil.
"I humbly and brok en I y

recite the traditional prayer.
Slowly we make our way with
bowed head from grave to grave.
At each we endeavor in our
mind to resurrect the living be-
ing who lies there. At each we
recite the Words, which as we
say them; lose their triteness
and formality, and become the
personal outpouring of our
wounded hearts. At the last
grave I read the 23rd Psalm and
speak the Kaddish within whose
meaning I seek to include the
memory of all entombed youth
everywhere.
"The four-hour journey back
was unbroken by an uttered
word. There are thoughts and
feelings too deep for words."

-

Memorial Services
For Pfc. J. L. Bale
To Be Held July 10

Trees Honor Rabbi Moldawsky's Sons

Philosophy of Hasid Helps
Father Overcome His Grief

Max Alpert of Chicago to Be
Guest Speaker; Cantor
Tulman on Program

Memorial services and the
presentation of the JNF certifi-
cate forthe 1,000 trees planted
in the name of Pfc. Joseph L.
Bale III, will be held on Tues-
day, July 10, at 9 p. m., at the
Rose Sittig Cohen Bldg., 13226
Lawton.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Maurice Bale, contributed the
money for the grove in his
memory.
Pfc. Bale was killed in action
on Jan. 30.
The presentation will be made
to Mr.., and Mrs. Bale by Philip
Slomovitz, editor of The Jewish
News.
The guest speaker will be Max
Alpert, well known labor Zionist
leader of Chicago.
Cantor Robert R. Tulman of
Temple Israel will provide the
musical program.
Friends and relatives of the
family are urged to attend and
join , in paying tribute to the
departed young . hero.

Pfc.H.A.Goodman
Gets Silver Star

Also Awarded Purple Heart;
Home on Furlough; Is Re-
covering from Wounds

Left to right: Late CHAIM MOLDAWSKY; RABBI BEN ZION
MOLDAWSKY and the late SOL MOLDAWSKY.

-

The philosophy of a Hasid has
become helpful to Rabbi Ben
Zion Moldawsky in - this grief
over the death of two of his
three 'sons in service.
When news came of the death
of his two sons—Chaim and
Shalom (Sol)-,--a memorial meet-
in,g was arranged on Nov. 19 at
the Shaar Shomayim Synagogue
on Muirland Ave. At that time,
friends of the family planted a
garden of trees in Palestine in
tribute to the servicemen.
On June 27, at a 'special meet-
ing of the Jewish National Fund
Council of Detroit, held jointly
with the Zionist Council at JNF
headquarters on Dexter, Rabbi
Moldawsky was presented, with
the certificate. .
Audience in Tears
After a• brief address by Wil-
liam Hordes, president of the
Council, the presentation was
Made by Michael Michlin, finan-
cial secretary of the JNF Coun-
cil.
Rabbi Moldawsky's response
moved the gathering to tears. It
was a brief but brilliant dis-
sertation on the value of man's

life and on . the worth of vege-
tation and trees. Since his sons'
lives can not be restored, he ex-
pressed the hope that the trees
planted in their honor in Pales-
tine will fulfill an important
mission in behalf of our peo-
ple's redemption.
Sol Killed in Italy
Sol MoldaWsky, 20, died in ac-
tion in Italy last Oct. 20. His
brother, Chairn, 23, died in an
air crash in Canada where he
served with the air corps.
Both servicemen were high
school graduates and had stu-
died in ' the United Hebrew
Schools. • •
Another son, Pvt. David is in
the army.
Other survivors are a brother,
Harold, in California, a brother,
Max, in Toledo; three sisters,
Soiba Bellaristiz in Moscow,
Russia,. Mrs. Reva Levison and
Evelyn Moldawsky in Rochester,
N. Y. Their mother died two
years ago.
Rabbi Moldawsky, who resides
at 1736 Blaine, personally in-
scribed the names of his sons
in the Golden Book of the Jew-
ish National Fund. •

Lt. Brasch Back
From Nazi Prison

helped to allay fears over his
health.
Lt. Brasch is in the _ best of
spirits, and he speaks very re-
luctantly of his experiences in
the prison camp, of the manner
in which he was beaten by the
home guard and civilians when
he was shot down over Germany
on his mission to Posen.
Clubs, pitchforks and rifle
butts were used to beat him.
But he is in the best of spirits
and has -regained much of the
Weight he had lost in Germany.
In active service since A
_ pril 3,
1942, he was on a number of mis-
sions during overseas service and
was shot down in Germany on
May -13, 1944.
He holds the following decor-
ations: Purple Heart, Distinguish-
ed Flying Cross, Air Medal with
three clusters, Unit Citation.
The Red Cross and the YMCA
are praised highly by Lt. Brasch
for the services they gave to war
prisoners. He states that he is
thankful to the Red Cross for the
only palatable food he had and
that the men who were prison-
ers are appreciative of the
clothing supplied them by the
YMCA in addition to the musical
instruments and articles which
enabled them to build their the-
ater and to provide their own
entertainment.
Lt. Brasch was married on
July 18, 1943, to the former
Sonie Hersh. A brother, Jerome
L. Brasch is stationed with the
American Forces of Occupation
in Germany.

Pfc. Hyman A. Goodman, hus-
band of Bernice Goodman of
3290 Calvert, was awarded the
Silver Star for gallantry in ac-
tion. He also re-
ceived the Pur-
ple Heart for
wounds sus-
tained in Ger-
many. At pres-
ent he is home ..
on furlough andA
is recov
f r. o m the in-
juries he suf-
fered.
Pfc. Goodman
A medical aidman attached to
a rifle platoon, he was awarded
the Silver Star fof administer-
ing first aid to his buddies under
Detroiter Served 22 Months enemy machine gun fire. He was Prlises Red Cross and Y.M.
a member of the 76th Division
Overseas With the Amer- and a former ASTP-student. A C.A. for Aid Given Amer-
icans in . German Camps
radUate of Central High, he
ican Red Cross
was a former pharmacy student
There is rejoicing in the Brasch
After 22 months' service over- at Wayne and hopes to return to family.
seas in Africa and Italy—the his studies after his discharge
The return home last Saturday
larger portion of this period in from the army.
of Lt. Robert L. Brasch, son of
Italy — Miss Cecilia Shetzer,
Mr. and Mrs. I. Brasch of De-
troit
. and Miami Beach, after suf-

Cecilia Shetzer
Back from Italy

Lt. Wainer Home
After Being He
In Burma by Japs

-

.

Friday, July 6, 1945

MISS CECILIA SHETZER

daughter of Mr.' and Mrs. Isaac
Shetzer of Chicago Blvd., re-
turned home last week.
Miss Shetzer served as assis-
tant field director of the Ameri-
can. Red. Cross, having enlisted
for active service in May, 1942.
Before going overseas, she was
stationed at Fort Sill, Okla.; and
Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
She holds the degrees of B. A.
from the University of Wiscon-
sin and M. A. from Wayne Uni-
versity, having majored in so-
cial work. She was an assistant
district supervisor of the De-
troit Department of Public Wel-
fare prior to her enlistment with
the _ Red Cross for overseas
service.

Many months of suffering the
emotion of mingled hope and
despair were terminated for Mrs.
Lillian Greenberg Willner when
she received word of the libera-
tion of her husband from a Jap-
anese prison camp somewhere
near Rangoon, Burma. Lt. Ed-
ward A. Willner, who was re-
ported dead, is now home on
leave.
A tale of horror and suffering'
is the account of Lt. Willner's
existence under the yoke of the
Japanese, after; having been shot
down over Rahgoon on Nov. 27,
1943. As his P-51 Mustang was
hit, he was burned on the legs
and arms but was able to bail
out. He was captured by natives
and turned over to the Japs.
Because he was a flier, he was
on half rations all the time. As
the British approached Rangoon,
the prisoners were forced to
march into Thailand. After 60
miles, the Japs fled, leaving the
prisoners behind.
After being picked up by the
British, they were flown to Cal-
cutta for hospitalization until
they were able to travel home.
They made the trip by air and
arrived in the States on May 28.
Lt. Willner entered service on
Oct. 2, 1941, was commis-
sioned on Feb. 16, 1943, and left

,

.

LT. ROBERT L. BRASCH

fering the experiences of . being
a prisoner of war in Germany,

for overseas the following July.
He wears the Purple Heart and
the Air Medal.
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
C. R. Willner of Westwoods,
Calif. His wife resides at 2646
Tuxedo. He has' two brothers in
service, one a lieutenant in the
Army Air. Corps and the other
a lieutenant in the Naval Air
Corps.
Lt. Willner will report to
Santa Monica on Aug. 5, at the
end of his '60-day leave, for a
30-day -rest period.

Chaplain Kahan Publishes
Selections From Sermons

Rabbi Aaron Kahan's -."Oaks
and Acorns: Addresses to Youth
and Their Elders Based on Pen-
tateuchal Portions," has just been
published by Bloch Publishing
Co., New 'York.
Rabbi Kahan is now serving
as Chaplain with the U. S. Army.
His sermonic addresses contain
topics based on the Biblical read-
ings and are applicable to issues
of our time.
Dr. David de Sola Pool has
written -the introduction to this
book.