APRIL 16 • 2020 | 13
ABMC
continued on page 14
vicemen to leave blank their
religious affiliation on their
dog tags to avoid retribution
should they be captured by
the enemy. Therefore, in the
absence of a declared religion,
a cross was the default grave
marker.
It would take more than 70
years before a Star of David
marker would replace that
cross and recognize Arthur
as a proud Jew who made
the ultimate sacrifice for his
country. The righting of this
wrong during the Feb. 12 cere-
mony was a culmination of an
exhaustive collaborative effort.
OPERATION BENJAMIN
It began with former Detroiter
Vicki Katz, 49, and her hus-
band, Rich, 56, of Torrance,
California. Vicki is the great-
niece of Arthur Waldman.
Rich is a history buff and
self-proclaimed “genealogy
addict.
” He’
d been working on
his wife’
s Ancestry.com profile
in April 2019 and initially
focused on Arthur because
of “the chilling stories he
had heard about his having
to endure the Bataan Death
March.
”
Eventually, it was a visit to
the website Find a Grave that
would reveal to the Katzes a
photograph and the stunning
revelation that Arthur’
s grave
was incorrectly marked with a
cross. Rich said it took him
several passes at the pho-
tograph before it actually
sunk in. “Oh, my God,
” he
recalled saying at the time,
“we must fix this.
”
Rich was introduced to
the grassroots 501(c)(3)
organization Operation
Benjamin (OB) by Rabbi
Irv Elson, a Jewish military
chaplain familiar with its
work. That’
s where he began
the vigorous effort to rewrite
the final chapter in Arthur
Waldman’
s life.
OB’
s stated mission: “To
locate Jewish personnel at
American military cemeter-
ies all over the world who
were buried under markers
incorrectly representing their
religion and heritage; correct
these mistakes and provide
comfort to the families of the
fallen, without any cost to the
families involved.
”
The vision of this undertak-
ing was born out of an unfor-
gettable visit by Rabbi Jacob
J. Schacter, a university pro-
fessor at Yeshiva University in
New York, to the Normandy
American Cemetery in France
in May 2014, just days shy of
the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
“I was deeply moved to walk
among the close to 10,000
graves of soldiers killed on and
around D-Day, June 6, 1944,
”
Rabbi Schacter wrote upon his
return in the New York Jewish
Week. It also raised a question.
“
All that breaks the symmetry
is the occasional Jewish star in
a huge sea of crosses. I began
to feel that there should be
more Jewish stars represented.
”
Schacter enlisted the help
of his friend Shalom Lamm,
a New York real estate devel-
oper with a master’
s degree
This is the orig-
inal Latin cross
grave marker
mistakenly
placed at Pvt.
Arthur Waldman’
s
grave in the
Manila American
Cemetery in the
Philippines.
Jews in the D
A Cosmic Coincidence
O
n a Feb. 26 post on his Facebook page, Steve Lamar of
Operation Benjamin (OB) proudly summarized the organi-
zation’
s most recent successful trip to the Philippines for
rededication ceremonies that included the grave site of Pvt. Arthur
Waldman. Steve also wrote that he would be returning to Europe at
the end of May for three more ceremonies.
What Steve didn’
t realize was that his very post would set him
up to perform a mitzvah for a distant relative, his wife’
s father’
s
second cousin. Call it six degrees of Jewish separation.
Former Michigan resident Melanie Reuler-Finn, 67, of Dallas,
Texas, is that cousin. She saw Steve’
s post about OB and his
planned return trip to Europe. “If you get to Henri-Chapelle
Cemetery in Belgium, my uncle is buried there,” she replied. “Let
me know and I will send you details.” Steve replied that he would
make every effort.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Melanie had given up on her
own plans to visit her uncle’
s grave over Memorial Day. 2nd Lt.
Leon William Fried, the only sibling of Melanie’
s mother, Dorothy,
was born in Escanaba and killed in action 75 years ago in
Germany on March 4, 1945; he was 29.
Unfortunately, travel restrictions would also end up squashing
Steve’
s return visit to Europe. But he had a special surprise in
store for Melanie just the same. On March 4, he directed her to the
Facebook page for the American Battle Monuments Commission
(ABMC), where he had arranged for them to post a tribute to
Melanie’
s uncle on the 75th anniversary to the day he sacrificed
his life for his platoon.
“Help us remember Leon W. Fried today,” read the post that
included a brief biography of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart
recipient, along with a photograph of Leon’
s Star of David grave-
stone for the world to see.
“I was blown away by the number of comments honoring my
uncle,” Melanie said. “This recognition for my uncle was even more
than I could have accomplished by visiting the cemetery myself.
Steve and the ABMC gave our family a wonderful gift.”
Leon Fried
ABMC
COURTESY OF MELANIE REULER-FINN
OPERATION BENJAMIN