Quiet ceremonies honor the valor and sacrifice
ofMichigan Jewish soldiers.

DAVID SACHS Editorial Assistant

DAN LIPPITT Photographer

E

Top to bottom:

A solemn moment at the Machpelah
memorial in Ferndale.

Saul Bernstein of Windsor salutes the fallen.

Frank Blase, 69, of Southfield, poses
in front of a 155 mm howitzer, as Bernard
Feldman, 66, of Southfield, takes his picture.

Anna Bunin of Oak Park stands
at the grave of Lt. Raymond Zussman.

The headstone of Medal
of Honor recipient Zussman.

6/4

1999

22 Detroit Jewish News

very Memorial Day, for more years than she cares to remember,
Anna Bunin has visited the grave of Raymond Zussman in the
veterans' section of Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale.

Last Sunday, she was there again, quietly remembering a man she never
knew directly but whose deeds and sacrifice should not be forgotten.
Lt. Zussman vas a 27-year-old tank commander in Europe in 1944. In
fierce action, he killed 17 German soldiers and captured 52 others along
with their equipment. He died in subsequent action, and a grateful nation
gave him its highest decoration for valor, the Congressional Medal of
Honor.
At home, a post and auxiliary unit of the Jewish War Veterans was
named for him. His sister was a member, as was Bunin, a resident of Oak
Park. When Zussman's sister died, there was no immediate family left to
remember the lieutenant, so Bunin simply assumed the responsibility.
Last Sunday, on a bright and beautiful day in the middle of the
Memorial Day weekend, Bunin listened as rabbis and JWV officials at
,Machpelah paid tribute to the Jewish soldiers who gave their lives in the
armed services. A second ceremony was held later that day at Hebrew
Memorial Park in Clinton Township.
"We are here to thank God for the others who came before us, who
have laid the foundation for our freedom," said Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz
of Adat Shalom Synagogue, an Army chaplain in Korea, addressing the 80
veterans and their families and friends who came to the Machpelah service.
Milton Klein of Oak Park, also a Korean vet and national membership
chairman of the JWV, also officiated. "It's a very noble effort on the veter-
an's part to show respect for fallen comrades," he said.
"I'm always grateful whenever I am able to attend a memorial service,"
said Klein. It is always moving."
Michigan Department President Shirley Schlussel of Oak Park laid a
wreath in memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice.
Members of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of
America/Department of Michigan were joined by an honor guard of the
Balfour branch of the Royal Canadian Legion of Windsor. A color guard
from the American Legion in Ferndale attended. Toe Hamlin, a junior at
Ferndale High School, played "Taps."
The small crowd sat and stood together quietly, murmuring in the soft
voices of old friends who share and sustain a part of history. Little
American flags Rapped at the gravesites in a soft breeze as the mourners
considered, like the saved Private Ryan of last year's hit movie, "Was I
worth it?"
The Memorial Day observances are a highlight of the annual work of
the JWV. During the year, members visit veterans at all Veterans
Administration hospitals in Michigan, organizing bingo parties and bring-
ing toiletry packages for the patients.
In the JWV building on West 12 Mile in Southfield, a memorial room
displays pictures of 300 Michigan Jewish soldiers who died in action. The
building, which is open to the public, also contains the Medal of Honor
given to Lt. Zussman.
When you step in the memorial room at the JWV building, you feel
the souls of the soldiers pictured on the wall," said Bernard Gross of West
Bloomfield, a World War II vet.
"I knew about 15 of the 300. A lot of those guys I went to school with.
"It is good to set aside a time to think about their sacrifices," he contin-
ued. "Memorial Day is the time to give it the thought it deserves." LI

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