14 | FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 

continued from page 13

OUR COMMUNITY

JWV HONORS DR. SYDNEY HARRIS 
On Sunday, Jan. 15, I had the great privilege 
of paying a visit with several members of the 
JWV Dept. of Michigan at the home of Dr. 
Sydney Harris in honor of his 100th birth-
day. Harris, a native Detroiter and retired 
optometrist, was born on Jan. 6, 1923.
Sydney is a longtime member of 
Michigan’s JWV Lt. Raymond Zussman 
Post 135 who for many years proudly vol-
unteered as a member of the JWV Honor 
Guard at funerals for Jewish veterans.
On this day, he was presented with an 
official proclamation from the JWV of the 
United States of America in honor of his 
milestone birthday. Harris was a rifleman 
in the 87th Division, 3rd Army from 1944-
1946 under Gen. Patton.
No sooner had we arrived at Harris’ home 
at All Seasons in West Bloomfield, that he 
began regaling us with stories from his long 
and fulfilling life.
Of his war experience, he said it was only 
within weeks upon his arrival on the war-
front during the Battle of the Bulge that he 
was severely injured while hunkered down 
in a foxhole.

“There are no atheists in a foxhole,
” said 
Sydney, recalling the old military saying. But 
he did admit that prior to being hit, he was 
“thinking more about a good night’s sleep 
than God.
” 
“My whole leg was shocked,
” he said in 
describing the initial sensation he felt upon 
impact. He thought it was the overwhelm-
ing sound of a tree bursting that damaged 
his leg, when in fact he had been hit by 
shrapnel from enemy fire. A long road to 
recovery included hospital stays over the 
course of three years both at home and 
abroad.
Sydney’s daughter Cherri recalls a riveting 
story her father shared with her. “While 
recovering in the hospital from his wounds, 
for which he would be awarded the Purple 
Heart, a doctor thought he might be well 
enough to return to action, this time in 
the Pacific. But while lying in bed one day, 
came word that the atomic bomb had been 
dropped. The war was over. He would no 
longer be sent into harm’s way.
” 
Sydney spoke lovingly of his over 50-year 
marriage to his wife, Thelma, of blessed 
memory, who passed away in 2016. And he 

also served up a few words of wisdom.
“I found out one thing about life,
” Sydney 
said. “Things that sound so simple and true, 
are usually not. And things that often seem 
silly are true.
” 

TRAINING FOR THE LONG HAUL
As the conversation in his apartment con-
tinued, 100-year-old Sydney stopped me in 
my tracks when he began speaking of the 
wonderful relationship he has with his …
trainer. You read that right — a trainer, Jim 
Berk, whom he sees three times a week no 
less and who Harris affectionally describes is 
“a wonderful guy.
”
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because 
Jim spent many years as a Detroit sports-
caster. As a child of a survivor, you may have 
also seen him over the years in his role as a 
docent at the Zekelman Holocaust Center in 
Farmington Hills. 
It turns out Jim also volunteers his time 
as a leader of shivah services for Temple 
Israel, which is where his friendship with 
Sydney began. The two met six years ago on 
the evening Jim lead services for Sydney’s 
beloved Thelma. 

A collage in the Welcome 
Center honors Dr. Guy 
Stern

ART FISHMAN

