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JWV-MI volunteers who provided the labor 
of love in placing each flag. The activity 
never ceases to have an impact on him. 
“The reality,
” Reed said, “is that for each 
veteran’s gravesite there is a very personal 
story.
” 
There are stories from every era and every 
theater of war, some over a century old he’s 
found in his research.
“I discovered a Jewish veteran who was 
born in Russia,
” Reed said, “who came to 

America before WWI, eventually joining 
the 7th Calvary and fought in what was 
known as the Pancho Villa Expedition in 
1917, the U.S. Army’s fight against the forces 
of Mexican revolutionary Francisco ‘Pancho’ 
Villa.
”
There is, of course, no escaping 
heart-wrenching stories, like the 19-year 
old pre-med student who volunteered for 
the Marines during WWII, killed just six 
months into active duty during the Battle of 

Iwo Jima.
Also among the veteran souls interred at 
Machpelah is 2nd Lt. Raymond Zussman, 
who was posthumously awarded the Medal 
of Honor for his acts of heroism during 
WWII. Words alone defy description of his 
acts of bravery under fire.
On Sept. 12, 1944, Zussman led his 
bogged-down tank command on foot in 
Noroy-le-Bourg, France, where his actions 
resulted in 18 enemy soldiers killed, the 

Miles Auster of JWV-MI places flags at Machpelah Cemetery.

JWV-MI honor their WWI comrades at Machpelah.

Ethan Gross of JWV-MI leads Kaddish prior to placing of flags at Machpelah Cemetery. 

Honoring the Rubin family who sacrificed so much for our country.

MARK REED

MARK REED

GARY PACKARD

GARY PACKARD