SPIRITUALITY
Flying Overhead
Gift of Stars and Stripes
to synagogue highlights
proud Air Force career.
Dr. Milton Mutchnick was recognized for his 38 years
of service.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Staff Writer
-r`
Dr. Mutchnick speaks with Keter
Torah past president Sam Papo
as Rabbi Michael Cohen holds the
donated flag.
D
r. Milton Mutchnick
may hold his family
in his heart and his
professional knowledge in his
brilliant mind, but it is the U.S.
military that settled in his gut.
Even following his retirement in
January after serving 38 years in
the Air Force, Dr. Mutchnick said,
"Whenever I hear a plane coming
overhead, I have terrible with-
drawal symptoms."
In addition to his love of flying
and "extreme loyalty to our coun-
try:' Mutchnick, a gastroenterolo-
gist-hepatologist, is a member of
Keter Torah Synagogue in West
Bloomfield.
So when an Ohio senator sent
him an American flag that flew
briefly over the Washington D.C.
Capitol in his honor as a retire-
ment tribute, he decided its next
home should be Sephardic con-
gregatrion."I don't have a flag-
pole at my house, but there is a
tall one at the shul," he said. "And
I thought this would make a nice
gift." So in a Sunday, July 2, cer-
emony, the flag was presented to
Keter Torah, where it will fly on
special occasions and holidays.
And as it turns out, because
the synagogue is just across
the street from the Mutchnick's
home, the pole is visible to them
as they pull out of their condo-
minium complex.
In addition to the flag,
Mutchnick's retirement also
brought him the United States
Legion of Merit Award as an
officer of distinction serving
more than 30 years in the armed
forces, with a certificate person-
ally signed by President George
W. Bush.
The doctor, who achieved
the rank of Air Force colonel,
began his military career with
two years of active duty during
the Vietnam War. "When I came
back to do my fellowship at Yale,
I joined the Connecticut Air
National Guard," he said. Later
while living in Ann Arbor, he
entered the Ohio Air National
Guard, serving as the state air
surgeon in Ohio, in charge of all
medical units.
"Retiring from the Air Force
allows me to turn my attention
more to my family (including a
son who is a surgeon and anoth-
er who was a paratrooper in the
Israeli Army) and to a job which
is becoming increasingly busy,"
Mutchnick said.
Having logged more than 1,000
hours of fighter plane flying
— including on F-16's — and
achieving the position of profes-
sor of medicine and chief of
gastroenterology at Wayne State
University Medical School, didn't
leave him much free time. "That's
why I don't play golf," he joked.
Dr. Mutchnick's presentation of
his flag to Keter Torah was espe-
cially touching for synagogue
member and past president Sam
Papo. "After the flag was given to
[Keter Torah] Rabbi [Michael]
Cohen, it was given to me to
accept in honor of the members
of the synagogue and in special
honor of those who served in
the armed forces," said Papo, of
Farmington Hills.
"I was the one to receive the
flag because, at 91, I am the old-
est soldier in the congregation.
I served in artillery in Germany
and was in Gen. [George S.]
Patton's Army when the Third
Army Division went through
Belgium."
And for Mutchnick, Papo's
presence was important. "Part
of the reason I wanted the
synagogue to have the flag is to
remind people that there are still
a number of us who believe we
have an obligation to be part of
our military forces," he said. "And
that there are Jewish kids who
are part of the military. For me,
that experience was one of the
highlights of my life."
❑
July 20 a 2006
43