Three times Sgt. William Shemin dashed into the no-man’s land between the trenches. Each time, with rifle and machine gun bullets flying around him, he dragged a wounded comrade to safety.

Then, when several leaders of his platoon were killed or injured, he took command and “showed great initiative under fire” until he, too, was wounded, felled by a machine gun bullet that pierced his steel helmet and gashed his head.

For his extraordinary heroism during those three days in France in August 1918, Shemin was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military decoration that can be given to a U.S. soldier.

Read more here.

Editor’s note:  I’ve been looking for articles for some time for Jewish thought on DADT.  This is an interesting perspective.

Read the full post here: http://www.shmuley.com/articles/details/gays_have_a_right_to_serve_their_country/.

Gays Have a Right to Serve their Country
Every person has a right to serve his country, gays included. All have a right to serve their country openly without hiding who they are. It’s kind of odd that so many heterosexuals who are not prepared to make that kind of sacrifice, refusing to enlist in the military and preferring instead to live as armchair warriors, are condemning those with a patriotic passion to fight for freedom.

The other day a woman called my radio show on WABC 770AM in NYC to argue with me. She was adamantly against the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’ She said a homosexual lifestyle was dirty and against the Bible. I asked her whether she had children of military age and whether they, as good, clean, heterosexuals would enlist in place of the gays whom she would ban. She responded, “They are doing other things to serve their country.” I thought so.

Homosexuality is a religious sin. The Bible makes that much clear. But it is not a moral sin. Rather than being like the moral (and religious) sin of adultery, in which lying, deception, and injury to an innocent party are committed, homosexuality is an infraction between G-d and man. In that sense it is akin to lighting a fire on the Sabbath, an act strictly forbidden by the Bible. No moral sin has taken place, but it is forbidden on religious grounds.

I am a Rabbi and I take the words of the Bible seriously. But I will not call gay men and women names, I will not become a homophobe, and I will not make the error of mistaking sins that are deeply unethical, like ‘Do Not Steal,’ with those that are simply irreligious, like gay men living together.

On the same radio show a member of the military called in and said, having served with homosexuals in the military under ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ he too was opposed to the reversal of the ban. ‘Too many gay men hit on me in the showers and the barracks, and were pretty aggressive about it, for me to think that they should ever be allowed to serve openly in the military. It will only make things worse.” To be sure, I don’t agree with the sentiment. I have worked with gay men and have become very close to many of them and they have yet to hit on me even once. Granted, I am about five-foot-six, have a bushy beard, and have a monopack rather than a six-pack. But jokes aside, even if I disagree with the sentiment I respect the veteran offering the opinion because he actually served. He fought, he sacrificed, and he has earned the right to a strong opinion on the matter. I believe his opinion is flawed in that it is probably more of an argument for the complete and utter separation of men and women in the military than it is against the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’ Still, he is a veteran and has earned the right to be strongly heard. The rest of us, however, who have, for the most part, put personal considerations like fear of injury or love of making a little bit more money that what’s on offer in the military ahead of giving our country a few years of our lives, and perhaps life itself, should perhaps be a little bit more humble about elevating our opinions on a par with those who have enlisted.

Read the rest at the above link.

It raises some good questions...is service member opinion more relevant than non-service member in a country where civilian control of the military is one of our saving graces?

Statistics concerning sexual violence raise the only strong ethical argument I can think of, as one must do in a wall-of-partition state, considering a significant portion of sexual assaults are on men by men who identify as heterosexual.  Ironically, this was one of the strong arguments against women serving in a gender-integrated force.  But even the gender-based assaults occur, which is extremely unfortunate, and prevalent enough that we spend a significant amount of time in sexual assault training as a force, more so than any other occupation outside of rape counselors and police investigators.

Anecdotally, two years ago, a rather significant gang rape occurred on Fort Indiantown Gap, in Pennsylvania, during a unit’s drill weekend.  Introducing women to the force, for good or for ill, put intraservice sexual assault on the table as a sadly common ordeal.

So, I’ve indicated before that we must brace ourselves, that introducing openly gay service members will add another victim class to the military.  I’m not as concerned about being hit on by men as I am seeing guys that I come to respect and admire being targeted for sexual violence merely because they are gay.  It’s not far-fetched.  But is it an argument in favor of DADT when in spite of the threat of sexual violence, women in uniform have brought great credit and value to the uniform?

Personally, I wrestle with this issue.  On one hand there’s a Torah-observant Jew that can’t condone the Conservative Movement’s end-run around halachah to permit gay marriage, but on the other, there’s living in a society where when the argument against something is primarily a religious one, the law cannot abide by that standard.  Yes, my objections to murder, rape, theft, and just about anything are just as rooted in religion, but there’s a direct line of causality that the law can recognize.  It’s very difficult to substantively do the same with homosexuality.

Ugh.  Why this has to be the focus of folks’ concern for the military while we’re in the midst of two wars, and always on the brink of more, is beyond me.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052702696.html

Even if he participates in some event in Chicago’s local National Cemetery, does it say anything that President Obama is skipping out on Arlington on Memorial Day?  Since 1992, with the exception of President Bush honoring veterans one year in Normandy on this date, all presidents have visited Arlington on Memorial Day.

Does this say anything about his relationship with the military?  Some have pointed out that every call he makes to youth for national service has omitted military service.  I served the entirety of my active duty time under President Clinton, who was nothing short of honest about avoiding Vietnam, and ultimately, I think he worked hard to demonstrate his support for the troops to make up for that.  I definitely don’t believe President Clinton would have skipped Arlington if he were currently presiding over two wars where troops are dying on a weekly basis.

Dear Friends,

Please join me and a large group of Soldiers and Marines at the first ever Jewish community-wide official Fleet Week event at the Third Annual Council of Young Jewish Presidents Memorial Day Ceremony. The event starts late Monday night (7:30pm), so you can still spend Memorial Day on the beach but end it on the right note- by coming together as a community and paying tribute to the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to defend our country.

We will hear from Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient and MSNBC Military Correspondent, Col. Jack Jacobs, as well as from Melinda Kane, mother of Lance Cpl Jeremy Kane who was killed in Afghanistan this past January.

The event is free and there will be refreshments and volunteer action center after the program.

If you RSVP, you are guaranteed a good seat!

Please see below and attached for the flier and I hope to see you there.

UPDATE: The list has been sorted alphabetically, broken out by rank, service branch, and basic home of record (if known), including sadly the latest casualty.

I think it’s appropriate to remember our Jewish service members who have given all in the Global War on Terror.  If I missed any names, I do apologize.

For families of the deceased:  Ha’makom yenahem etkhem betokh she’ar avelei Tziyon vi’Yerushalayim.

Agami, Daniel - Specialist, Army, Florida
Allen, Howard Paul - Sergeant, Army National Guard, Arizona
Ben Yahudah, Benyahmin - Specialist, Army, Georgia
Bernstein, David - 1st Lieutenant, Army, Pennsylvania
Bitton, Albert - Corporal, Army, Chicago
Blum, Aron C. - Sergeant, Marines, Arizona
Bruckenthal, Nathan - Petty Officer, Coast Guard, New York
Budeysky, Steven M. - Sergeant, Army, Chicago
Cohen, Michael R. - Corporal, Marines, Pennsylvania
Dvorin, Seth - 2nd Lieutenant, Army, New Jersey
Engel, Mark E. - Lance Corporal, Marines, Colorado
Evnin, Mark A. - Corporal, Marines, Vermont
Fairbairn, Aaron - Private First Class, Army, Washington
Farkas, Daniel - 1st Lieutenant,Army National Guard, New York
Fletcher, Jacob S. - Private First Class, Army, New York
Freeman, Daniel J. - Specialist, Army, Cincinatti, OH
Harrington, Foster - Sergeant, Marines, Texas
House, John Daniel - Petty Officer 3rd Class, Simi Valley, CA
Jacobson, Elizabeth N. - Airman First Class, Air Force, Florida
Kane, Jeremy - Lance Corporal, Marines, Cherry Hill, NJ
Krissoff, Nathan M. - 1st Lieutenant, Marines, Nevada
Mervis, Paul - Lieutenant, British Army, London
Pine, Shawn - Lieutenant Colonel, Army Reserve, Texas
Pontell, Darin - Lieutenant JG, Navy, Pentagon, died on 9/11
Rosenberg, Mark - Major, Army, Florida
Schrage, Dustin - Corporal, Marines, Florida
Schulte, Roslyn - 1st Lieutenant, Air Force, St. Louis, MO
Secher, Robert Michael - Captain, Marines, Tennessee
Seiden, Marc S. - Specialist, Army, New Jersey
Shackelford, Michael - Sergeant, Army, Denver, CO
Sher, Gregory - Private, Australian Army, Melbourne
Sherman, Alan D. - Sergeant, Marines, New Jersey
Sklaver, Benjamin - Captain, Army Reserve, Hamden, CT
Stern, Andrew K. - 1st Lieutenant, Marines, Tennessee
Tarlavsky, Michael - Captain, Army, 5th Special Forces Group
Weinger, Robert M. - Sergeant, Army National Guard, Illinois
Wershow, Jeffery - Specialist, Army National Guard, Florida
Wolfe, Colin J. - Private First Class, Marines, Virginia
Wolfer, Stuart A. - Major, Army, Florida
Wong, Elijah - Sergeant, Army National Guard, Arizona
Yelner, Jonathan - Senior Airman, Air Force, California
Zilberman, Steven M. - Lieutenant, Navy Pilot, Columbus, Ohio

I’m always loathe to personally embrace gay rights as a Jewish issue.  Movements concerned with either contemporary social justice issues or maintaining relevancy are mentioned in this article in Jerusalem Post.

Points for consideration and discussion:
1.  Is this really a Jewish issue?
2.  In spite of the fact that we are blessed to live in a nation where civilian control of the military is paramount, is it troubling that many Jewish voices on this issue, such as Rabbi Wernick of the Conservative Movement, have not served as either troops or chaplains?  Are there Jewish military voices speaking on this issue, or would like to?
3.  How does this positively or negatively affect Jewish service, if at all?
4.  Can we reshape the dialog to stop being dishonest?  Attempts to make this about anything other than fairness, i.e. the “this is a national security” issue mantra, ring false with an organization where by rule, we are all expendable.

A topic I am curious about is based off a recent Sexual Assault Prevention briefing.  An astounding number of sexual assaults within the military are male-on-male attacks, with 95% of the accused perpetrators identifying as heterosexual.  Just to clarify, my thought here does not involve “gays-as-villainous-rapists,” but rather, with the removal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I can only assume would be the Congressional modification of current UCMJ articles as well, without additional protections implemented, will homosexual men in particular end up as a statistical victim class?

Whether for or against homosexuals within the military, there are many fine points for discussion.  It’s not an issue I’m personally invested in nor particularly concerned about, but with Jewish groups choosing to identify this as a “Jewish issue” on the behalf of the aggregate, I’d like to give Jewish service members, past and present, a forum to air our thoughts.

By JEANNE F. SAMUELS 11.FEB.10
“Now that I placed my life at risk, it is becoming so interesting that I feel that everything must be written down, so that later either I – if I survive – or my friends can re-live these days.”

Those words, written on Aug. 3, 1918, began the diary of then-16-year-old Yitzak Jacov Liss. His remarkable day-to-day account of his military life documents a historic period: the Jewish Legion in World War I Palestine. Young Liss served as an enlisted man in the British Jewish Legion 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers from May 1, 1918, to Dec.8, 1919.

Read more at the Jewish Herald Voice.

Returning from a two-month hiatus with a firm commitment to maintain this blog, starting with this:

For the active duty military, this may or may not be relevant, since as Jews in the American military, our lives likely do not revolve around either Israel or life on university campus.

For some in the reserves currently enrolled in school, this may be more omnipresent.

March 1st through March 14th is Israel Anti-apartheid Week, and though the organizers are apparently too daft to recognize the difference between 7 days and a fortnight, their message will be crystal clear - “free thinkers” of the world will continue to fallaciously dog Israel and single it out for “crimes” that no sane or discerning individual would.

I do not fall into the “cult of Israel” paradigm.  I do not think it necessarily admirable when a youth who spends his life immured in gilded Americana decides to go throw his lot in with the Israeli military, no matter how noble the concept.  As long as the United States and Israel are allied, there are plenty of opportunities to serve here, in the land that has equally given us so much, with ostensibly more freedom of religious movement than we might enjoy in Israel (see marriages and conversions).  A strong Jewish presence in allied Diaspora military, as we’ve documented with former Guard Bureau chief General Blum’s visit to Israel, does more for maintaining Jewish credibility in the US than kids enlisting overseas.

For my part, too, as much as I love Israel, my spiritual home is in a minyan, or teaching our faith to my children, or our home when we bask in the glow of Shabbos candles on our dining room table.

I also like big snow storms, especially with the recent two foot dump the Mid-Atlantic just enjoyed.

I only say this to lay the groundwork that one need not indulge a knee-jerk support of Israel in order to recognize just how damaging is this Western opinion shift towards Israel, for both Jews in Israel and Diaspora.

We, especially those of us in the military, cannot forget that how we fare in Diaspora is a bell-weather for what’s in store for the Jewish people.

I don’t know why it is buried in the news, but the sad fact is, one of the continually growing “hate crime” sectors in the U.S. are crimes committed against Jews.  Many of these are taking place on college campuses, where antisemitism thinly disguised as “legitimate criticism of Israel” manifests in events such as this “anti-apartheid week.” See the ridiculous outbursts at Ambassador Oren, for instance, in California.

Take it apart:  Mel Gibson, “Kick a Jew Week” on Facebook, which enjoyed significantly less press than a similar persecution of redheads, and even local students in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, describing that “Jew” is being bandied about as an insult amongst peers in their schools.

It’s not a “left” or “right” issue.  See the dude that shot up the Holocaust museum for a scary manifestation of an antisemitic fringe right.  Read the comment section on the Huffington Post attached to ANY article regarding Israel, and many about other countries in the Middle East, and you’ll see where the self-flagellating losers like former President Carter have taken us.  “We have seen the enemy, and it is us” nonsense, rinse, repeat.  People are quoting Israel as the cause du juor for demonizing Jews and bring forth the age old canards, which read like they’re still using the Protocols as a play book.

Read more...

This moving video came in the email from Chabad today.

This wonderful tribute and recounting of the horror that befell these people is all too poignant in reminding us the importance of eradicating terrorists.  The suffering of Jew and Indian alike was utterly pointless.  May our efforts someday make the world safer for the wonderful shlichim who are out there, trying to bring the kind of generous hospitality that these young people committed their lives to.

I’ve heard so many different perspectives on the Fort Hood shootings, but I wanted to share some Jewish ones.

I personally agree with President Obama’s admonition not to jump to conclusions.  For the sake of the dead and the wounded--most especially their families--I’d like to see a thorough investigation.  If Major Hasan reached out to terrorist groups or people sympathetic to such causes, why?  What motivated him to murder so many of his fellow Soldiers when it was highly likely that he would *never* fire a weapon in anger at other Muslims overseas?  Hopefully, since he’s still alive, he can give some accounting for his currently inexplicable actions before his punishment is meted out.

For me, personally, an explanation of “Islamic fundamentalism” is incomplete, too.

The most horrible part is that the sectarian divisiveness, the growing partitions within our own segmented societies, could be as much the culprit in this shooting.  As Jews, we often ask the military for consideration of our beliefs.  Where would many of us stand if our co-religionists were at the other end of our rifles?  That said, the American Muslim contingent within our Armed Forces should be praised for being American first.  Was this inevitable?  Should we be alarmed that if *any* fellow goes off the deep end, that there are extreme fundamentalists from any religious walk of life who would urge a Major Hasan to inflict harm on his fellow uniforms?

The first selection is from Mikey Weinstein, of MRFF.

As we turn our collective eyes to the tragedies of Fort Hood this week, we mourn the men and women who offered themselves up to serve our country overseas, only to make the ultimate sacrifice in a senseless act of violence back home.

But the shootings at Fort Hood should be an important wake up call to the continuing religious intolerance that has been allowed to blatantly and systemically manifest in our nation’s armed forces. Too often, honorable men and women who have joined our military are comprehensively denigrated and made to feel worthless because, although they wear the same uniform, they do not pray in the “approved” church or to the “correct” God or to no God at all.

Let me be clear, there is absolutely no excuse for the alleged actions of Nidal Malik Hasan. What he did is reprehensible, and goes against everything the American military stands for.

But we must realize that the alleged mistreatment Hasan received in the American military almost certainly played a key role in his disaffection. Reliable reports indicate that fellow soldiers gave him a diaper to wear on his head, mocking Islamic headdresses. His car was keyed by an Iraq veteran because he had an “Allah is Love” bumper sticker, and others suggested he should ride a camel instead.

Read the rest at the MRFF’s web site.

For another perspective, I turn to Dennis Prager.

The deaths and maiming at Fort Hood are heartbreaking and angering. But ultimately far more injurious to America than the act of evil that caused those deaths and injuries is the massive self-deception American society engages in out of fear of being called bigoted, racist or “Islamaphobic.”

Any American who is not prepared to lie to himself has reason to believe that Hasan’s religious views were prominent, if not exclusive, factors for why he slaughtered fellow American soldiers. The motives appear as clear as any could be.

Personally, I’ve no idea what to think, so I’ll keep it basic.  Fratricide, or any servicemember-on-servicemember crime, is the worst offense someone in uniform can commit.  Whatever the motives, the circumstances of why pale in comparison to the what.

One thing I do rail against is this concept that this is representative of a military on the brink.  While it seems fair for the media to withhold speculation about Islamic connections, it should be even more reluctant to calumny a force that performs its duties admirably and professionally.

I open the forum for discussion!  Be well, and happy belated Veterans Day!