Why Were They There? Dr. William Haber: Universal Tributes Israeli Radio Commentator, Happy Birthday, Bill Editorial American Who Died in War By ROBBEN W. FLEMING President, University of Michigan William Haber: Man of Vision, Humor, Communal Dedication `Carry Your Heads High'--a 'Soldier's Letter to Parents Ain I Here?' : `Why. Commentator Gives Personal Testament Before going out to war, Morris Katz of Kibutz Levi left a letter with the kibutz secretariat, addressed to his parents in the United States, asking that it be sent on to them if he should fail to re- turn. A copy of that letter was reproduced in Amudim, the internal kibutz newspa- per. It reads: "You will be receiving this letter only if something should happen to me. I want you to know that I don't re• gret having done what I did TEL AVIV (JTA) — First there were rumors and then came the news. Rafi Unger, 26, the promising Israel Ra- dio commentator, was among those killed in a troop, car- rier in the Sinai's southern front while covering the events for Kol Israel. And then came his kit, which was found rusty and stained. In the kit were a number of tape recorder cassettes. Some had not been used. Some had a vivid description of a cruel war. One of the tapes was private. A slip of paper said: "Not for publi- cation. Kindly keep it for me till after the war, till I re- turn." Rafi Unger did not return. Kol Israel, the broadcast- ing service, sent the private personal tape to Unger's par- ents. They listened to it. It was a man talking with him- self, with his soul. The parents gave it to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for publication so that the Jewish public and Jewish youth might learn the answer to the question "Why am I here? Why does a Jewish youth find himself in the midst of a war?" What fol- lows is Rafi Unger's state- ment. "We are on the move south- wards. I have some time to do some thinking. I found myself between two soldiers in an armored troop carrier and within a short time I learned — though I am not surprised — after all, it's a war — that these troop car- riers are vulnerable to any kind of firearm s, except small arms. I am thinking, even now, as I am talking in- to the microphone, and I am asking m y s e 1 f, why, for heaven's sake, am I here? Actually I have no reply right away. While in Tel Aviv I told my colleagues: Look, there is one . meshugener called Unger. He could stay behind in Tel Aviv—and yet he goes down to the front. He knows that everything can happen to him—and yet he goes down. One of them, a war - experienced f r i e n d, snapped that I was a fool. Am I really a fool? By God, I do not know. "True, I am not a 'lion.' I never looked for bravery, for danger. And yet, when this moment came, when I was given the choice, I felt that my place is here, with the combat people, I know, I am sure that it Would have irked me all my life, I would not be able to explain myself, if I would not be here now. It is difficult to explain why, when already in the south, I did not stay in the rear com- mand post but ran after a moving armored troop car- rier and when, in the first carrier in which the brigade commander was emplaced, there was no room for me, I hurried after the second and that I would do so again. I am sorry for having brought you sorrow and grief through my action, but I did what I fel l t I had to do. I'm proud of having done .so and I know that you, too, will take pride in me. "Israel is in need of peo- ple, and only if these people are here can the country find security. I wish to hope that what I did will only encour- age you and others to come here, too. "I want you to know that I love you and that it grieves me so much to think that we haven't met since I came to this country. "Please, for Sharon's (his sister) sake; and for your own sake and mine, don't feel depressed. Instead, feel proud; keep on smiling and carry your heads high. "It's funny, but I don't know how to end this letter. It's not the type of letter I write every day, and I'm not sure whether it's customary at all. Perhaps it were better not to end it at all. "Well, I'll only send lots of love, Your son, Morris" The same issue of Amudim, which was dedicated to the memory of 17 members of the kibutz who fell in the Yom Kippur War, an entire page was devoted to the memory of Morris Katz. Among other things it said that he arrived to Kibutz La- vi three years ago and that his background was remote from that of a religious ki- butz. Originally his outlooks were both irreligious and an- ti-Zionist. When he got round to deciding on aliya, he came to the conclusion that he must first fulfill his duty toward the Israel defense forces rather than continue with his studies. . 56—Friday, March 1, 1974 March 6 is alleged to be Bill Haber's 75th birthday. Of course, if you look at him you know he really isn't 75, and that this is just another of his jokes...The trouble is that Fannie, who is both more sober and reliable, insists that he really is 75, and if you read all the things he has done you end by expecting the Bicentennial Commission to feature him as one of the original signers of the Dec- laration of Independence Seriously, few men have been involved in so many things over so long a time. He started his teaching ca- reer at the University of Wisconsin in 1936, moved to Michigan • State University from 1927 to 1936, and then came to the University of Michigan for the balance of the 20th Century. Along the way he has served both state and federal governments in both operat- ing and advisory roles in the fields of manpower, indus- trial relations, social serv- Dr. Fleming ices, and so forth. To fill in his spare time ..he has arbitrated labor disputes, been president of the American ORT Federation, as well as president of the central board of the World ORT Union since 1955, and on the governing boards of both Hebrew University, and Brandeis University. A very busy career sometimes allows insufficient time for family, friends, and acquaintances. Not so with Bill Haber. Those of us who have been privileged to know him accept with gratitude his sense of humor, his warm compassion and understanding, his friendly ear for our problems and his broad shoulders for our worries. Happy birthday, Bill! Given the current rate of in- f•ation, years, like dollars, can be substantially discounted. Therefore, we refuse to take the figure 75 very seriously! vehicle and jumped onto it as it was already in moving. Why? Was it curiosity, care- lessness? Possibly, but not all. It was first and foremost the search for the feeling of experience. It is the inability to live in this country with- out experiencing what has become part and parcel of the life of people of this country, young and adults. I think that it is this that brought me onto this armored troop carrier—moving toward the unknown. "I have no fears though there is a natural sense of worry. Actually I wanted everything to came to an end and return safely home. It sounds banal to say so, and I would have laughed at my- self about such a phrase had it not been for the fact that I am on the front, at a place where the possibility of get- ting hit is real. Nevertheless, I feel that my place is here, whether I broadcast or not. I have to live this experience of the front, of the battle for life which entails life or death, to live it here, on the sands of Sinai. These are the true reasons. If I hide any- thing from myself, it is a thing which I am not even prepared to reveal to my heart. And therefore I feel no other reasons. The micro- phone was the pretext. To be here is an order of my heart, my logic, my senses. This is what I feel now, what I think now." Then Rafi Unger noticed a sukka on a troop carrier. He reported that, too. Then there was no more reporting from Rafi Unger. He was killed together with General Avra- ham Mendler in the troop THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS carrier. Dr. William Haber, noted economist, college professor, university dean, a world personality in so many fields that a proper Who's Who descrip- tion would occupy many pages: his prominence is evidenced by his leadership that has not been diminished an iota as he approaches his 75th birth- day, to be observed next Wednesday. He was in Israel three weeks ago on a very im- portant mission to assist in planning for uninter- rupted progress in Isra- el's universities upon their reopening after the October war. He was back at his desk after a week's absence and is in Israel again chairing world sessions of ORT. Dr. Haber In between, he conferred with students and faculty at the University of Michigan where he occupies an important role as adviser to President Robben W. Fleming. He was consulted by ORT, United Jewish Appeal, Amer- ican Friends of the Hebrew University. When he returns it will be a busier schedule than ever: he is one of American Jewry's most active leaders. It is as such that he will be honored by all who become aware of his never-tiring devotion to many duties. His indefatigability is one of the most remarkable traits of a man who does not tire and does not retire but keeps serving Israel, Jewry, the American academic community. More power to a man of 75 whose youthful spirit defies age. Edward Heath's Distortion of Facts Exposed by Roth in Detroit News Edwin Roth, Detroit News special correspondent in Europe, on Tuesday exposed the role of British Prime Minister Edward Heath, who battled for retention of gov- ernment leadership in Thurs- day's election, as distort- ing facts regarding the Bri- tish Middle East position. In effect, Roth's expose proves that Britain, like France, has been obstructing Israel's chances for defense. Having met with Heath for an interview, Roth quoted the exchange of views he tran- scribed during their talk and then presented his own analy- then presented his own analysis: EDWIN ROTH (The De- troit Ne,ws): "What gave you and Sir Alec Douglas-Home the idea the British govern- ment has any part whatso- ever to play either in the peace-keeping forces in the desert or at the Geneva peace conference?" HEATH: "Because Britain has had a very long connec- tion with the Middle East and we know the Middle East well, both Sir Alec and myself. I was in fact the first British minister to go right across the Arab countries, from Aden right up to Ku- wait, and seeing them all on the way, and discussing their policies with them. And, of course, we were instrument- al in bringing about the union of Arab emirates and we still have very close connections with them. "The fact is that in the last 31/2 years we have also greatly improved our rela- tions with Egypt and they are extremely 'good. And this flows from the fact that I saw President Nasser when I • was the leader of the op- position a few months before the election of 1970. And after I had become prime minister in the autumn of 1970, when there was the hi- jacking of the planes, he was instrumental, because of my relationship with him, in get- ting out these people. But four days later he was dead." ROTH: "A ctually they were freed by King Hussein's Jordanian army—" HEATH: "So our relations with Egypt are very good. This has been shown through- out the war, because we were in communication with them —part of the time at the re- quest of Dr. Kissinger and the Americans." ROTH: "Hasn't the British army quite enough to do in Northern Ireland rather than go to the desert?" HEATH: "We are prepared to take our part in interna- tional forces. We are doing it in Cyprus and we are pre- pared to do it elsewhere." Heath's answers contained two untruths. The hostages in the terrorist plane hijack- ings to Jordan in September, 1970, were liberated not be- cause of Heath's contacts with Nasser but because King H.ussein's Jordanian army liberated the hostages by force in its victorious civil war against the Palestinian terrorists which became known to the Palestinians as "Black September." Neither Heath nor Nasser freed those hostages. Despite what Heath said, some Conservative parlia- mentarians fiercely opposed his government's Mideast policy, just as some Labor parliamentarians opposed Harold Wilson's Mideast po- licy. In a direct collision be- tween Britain's American ally and the Soviet Union, those Conservative parlia- mentarians considered the Heath government's standing beside the Soviet Union against the United States to be dishonorable. They a 1 s o believed it was dishonorable of the British government to hold back from Israel—when Is- rael's survival was in danger —arrps already bought and paid for by Israel, some of which had been taker to Britain from Israel for and servicing. One of these Conservatives was a young parliamentari- an who resigned from his first government post as a cabinet minister's parliamen- tary private secretary in pro- test against the •overnment's anti-I sr a e 1, anti-American policy. When I asked the young man recently if he might follow his grandfather's ex- ample and join the Liberal Party, he replied: "With the lot that's running the government now, I'm al- most tempted." His name, like that of his grandfather: Winston Church- ill.