Jewish War Veterans
memorialize the all
from the war in Iraq
as well as those of
earlier generations.
Clockwise from top..
American flags mark
the graves at Ferndaks
Machpelah Cemetery.
Past JWV Command-
er Marvin Revich
stands at attention as
buglers from Ferndale
High School play taps.
Rabbi Herbert
Yoskowitz speaks
at the Memorial Day
commemoration.
abbi Herbert Yoskowitz has a standing engage-
ment every year on the last weekend of May, an
engagement he takes very seriously.
As chief rabbi of the Jewish War Veterans of
the United States of America-Michigan Division and
Ladies Auxiliary (JWV), Rabbi Yoskowitz has officiated at
commemorations at Jewish burial sites for the past nine
Memorial Day weekends.
For 2003, the annual event took place Sunday, May 25,
at Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale. Along with the JWV
veterans, Canadian and Russian war veterans joined in the
commemoration.
A second service took place at Hebrew Memorial Park
Cemetery in Mt. Clemens, officiated by Chaplin Tom Tannis.
"This year, unlike other recent years, we've learned
what it's like to lose Jewish personnel who are fighting
to defend this country and what it stands for," Rabbi
5/30
2003
22
Yoskowitz told the veterans and their families.
"Within the past year, a quarter-million American
troops served in Iraq, and many lost their lives. Among
them was the grandson of a rabbi, the son of a cantor,"
said the rabbi, of Adat Shalom in Farmington Hills.
Listening to Rabbi Yoskowitz speak, past JWV commander
Marvin Revich, 85, of Bloomfield Hills remembered his own
service in World War II. As his 100-ship convoy approached
harbor in the Philippines, a barrage of rockets burst over his
head. He saw one ship go down in flames, and his own ship
limped into harbor with its top deck on fire.
"I'm really happy I can go out and hold the American
flag for our country," Revich said.
For this year's ceremony, Rabbi Yoskowitz added a special
benediction: "We pray for the time when, on the days when
we honor the dead, it will be the dead of years long past." ❑
— Diana Lieberman, staff writer