14 | DECEMBER 21 • 2023 

A DEDICATED VETERAN
This past January, the Welcome 
Center at the Lt. Col. Charles 
S. Kettles VA Medical Center 
in Ann Arbor was renamed the 
Dr. Guy Stern Welcome Center. 
The celebration took place on 
the eve of Guy’s 101st birthday.
At the dedication ceremony 
Stern expressed his affection for 
the medical center: “It is in this 
atmosphere I feel so fulfilled. I 
feel so at ease. This is my home. 
And there is a line from a song 
about the U.S. armed services 
and it says, ‘this was, and is, and 
will be worth fighting for.
’ I am 
proud to have received this gift 
you have bestowed upon me.
”
Stern’s affiliation with the 
Dept. of Veterans Affairs 
extended to his support of 
Fisher House Michigan. Fisher 
House provides comfort homes 
where military and veterans’ 
families can stay free of charge 
on or near the campuses of VA 
hospitals.
There is a Fisher House on 
the campus of the VA Medical 
Center in Ann Arbor and 
construction on the Fisher 
House to support the Dingell 

VA Medical Center in Detroit 
began in October with the 
opening targeted for the fall of 
2024.
Stern was a beloved and 
valued adviser to the board 
of directors of Fisher House 
Michigan. In honor of his 
memory for his many contribu-
tions, the organization on Dec. 
13 unanimously elected Dr. 
Stern as Director Emeritus.
So expansive has been his 
life’s journey that Stern cap-
tured the attention of famed 
documentarian Ken Burns. 
He featured Guy prominently 
in The U.S. and the Holocaust, 
Burns’ six-hour PBS documen-
tary series on the American 
response as war began in 
Europe.
Stern’s membership as one 
of the “Ritchie Boys,
” the elite, 
secret U.S. intelligence unit who 
fought in WWII, inspired a visit 
to Detroit to interview Stern in 
2021 by CBS’ 60 Minutes. More 
on that later. 
In his interview with CBS 
journalist Jon Wertheim, Stern 
said: “If you live long enough, 
honors are being showered 

upon you.
” Among his 
numerous awards are the 
Bronze Star, the Grand 
Order of Merit and the 
Goethe Medal from his 
native Germany, and France’s 
Knight of the Legion of Honor 
Medal, for helping free France 
during the war.

A DATE WITH DESTINY
Fifteen-year-old Guy Stern 
faced growing antisemitism and 
ostracism in 1937 Hildesheim, 
Germany, even among those 
that he called his closest boy-
hood friends. A foreshadowing 
of what was to come, his father 
chose his oldest son named 
Günther to be the sole rep-
resentative of the family to 
travel alone to the U.S. The 
teenager faced a daunting task 
— his mission upon arriving in 
America was to secure sponsor-
ship and safe passage to the U.S. 
for his family. 
In November 1937, Günther 
“Guy” Stern walked away from 
his boyhood home at Hoher 
Weg 26 in Hildesheim for the 
last time. In preparation for his 
departure, Guy’s parents hired 

an English tutor in anticipation 
of the challenges of the lan-
guage barrier their young son 
would encounter. 
Guy came to the United 
States through the German 
Jewish Children’s Aid organi-
zation as an unaccompanied 
minor. He first set foot on 
American soil in New York and 
after a stop in Chicago eventu-
ally made his way to St. Louis. 
There he had the good for-
tune of being able to stay with 
his mother’s brother, Benno 
Silberberg. Uncle Benno and 
Aunt Ethel provided a stable 
home environment and access 
to a good high school.
Over the years, correspon-
dences documenting Guy’s 
travels to America have sur-
faced by way of the YIVO 
Institute for Jewish Research. 
They kindly provided a Nov. 11, 
1937, administrative letter from 
which we can get a glimpse of 
Guy’s personality and abilities. 
It reads in part: “I want to tell 

OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY

continued on page 16

continued from page 13

LEFT: Guy Stern (left) with 
his younger brother, Werner, 
and mother, Hedwig. 
He was the only one of 
his family to survive the 
Holocaust. 
RIGHT: Guy Stern when he 
entered the U.S. Army.

