VA Secretary Wilkie Addresses JWV and JWVA Members at NEC 2020

By Cara Rinkoff

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is stronger than ever before, and is working hard for all veterans. This is just one part of the message delivered by VA Secretary Robert Wilkie when he addressed members of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. during its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on February 14 in Arlington, Virginia.

Wilkie told JWV that ensuring the strength of his department is how he can thank veterans for their service and sacrifice to the country. “We have the highest patient satisfaction rates in our history. 90 percent of our veterans are completly satisfied with the services they get at VA. It is our eternal promise that the promise given to Americans veterans by Mr. Lincoln be kept. That we shall care for those who have borne the battle,” Wilkie added.
The Secretary also talked about privatization concerns. He noted that, “only in Washington, D.C., would a $240 billion budget be cause for concern about privatization.” This budget is the second largest of any agency in the federal government, second only to the Department of Defense.

Norman Rosenshein, Secretary Wilkie, Harvey Weiner (Photograph by Lou Michaels)

Wilkie said the new Mission Act will allow veterans to receive services from the private sector without the need to privatize the VA. He said another benefit of the new law is that veterans are eligible for coverage of their urgent care visits.

Wilkie said he thinks electronic health records will be online in late spring or summer. He hopes these records will keep track of medical history “the minute that young American walks into the military processing station to the minute that American is handed over to the VA.”

By the end of March, Wilkie hopes the VA will present a report to the country about veteran suicide. He said it is time for a national conversation to begin about this important topic. “The United States Army started taking statistics on veteran suicide, on Army suicide, during the administration of Benjamin Harrison in 1892. And yet, we have never had a national conversation about what it means when warriors come back,” Wilkie noted. He added that until there is a national conversation, all investigations of veteran suicide will amount to are more federal reports that no one will read.
Wilkie said he also wanted to bring JWV a message from President Donald Trump in regards to anti-Semitism. Wilkie said Trump is the most forceful opponent of anti-Semitism and added, “I stand with him in standing up for the rights of those of you in this audience, but more importantly for the human rights that we as Americans have to defend every day.”

Wilkie concluded his 20 minute speech by telling JWV, “As long as I am in this office you all have what the British would say, first dibs on me, whatever you need.”

While Wilkie had to leave early to attend a meeting at the White House and did not have time to answer questions from members after his speech, he arrived early in order to greet members individually and take time to pose for pictures.

Volume 74. Number 1. 2020

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National Commander Weiner Testifies Before Congress

By Cara Rinkoff

The Jewish War Veterans National Commander Harvey Weiner testified before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees on February 26. Weiner decided to deviate from the typical testimony given by our organization’s commander, and instead submitted our legislative priorities in a written document.

For his oral testimony before the committees, Weiner decided to discuss courage. He urged the members of the House and Senate to show courage by standing up for veterans and members of the military. “On behalf of all veterans, past and present, and all service personnel, past and present, I am asking each and every one of you to show courage by doing your job and by doing right, regardless of the political consequences, including the possibility, or even the probability, that you will lose your job by being voted out of office,” Weiner said.

In his testimony Weiner addressed two main areas where legislators must show courage. The first is to make sure military funding is not used to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. The other is for Congress to “take back the war powers that the framers of the Constitution and your own 1973 War Powers Resolution gave you.”

Here is the entirety of Weiner’s oral testimony:
Chairman Moran and Chairman Takano, Ranking Members Tester and Roe, I am Harvey Weiner, a Vietnam War combat veteran and the National Commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., America’s oldest active continuous veterans’ association. We will be celebrating our 125th anniversary next year. American Jews have fought in all of America’s wars in a proportion greater than their proportion in the general population.
I want to speak to you this afternoon about courage. Members of the armed services will risk his or her life on the battlefield to serve this great nation and to do the job assigned. Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers have given their lives and millions of American soldiers and their families have made other sacrifices in this regard. They had the right stuff and displayed great courage. They took enormous risks because their country called and because it was the right thing to do. On behalf of all veterans, past and present, and all service personnel, past and present, I am asking each and every one of you to show courage by doing your job and by doing right, regardless of the political consequences, including the possibility, or even the probability, that you will lose your job by being voted out of office.

When you, who, implicitly or explicitly, sent us off to war and asked us to do the right thing at the risk of our lives, it is a shanda if you are unwilling to take that risk to do right yourselves, rather than what is politically expedient. Shanda is Yiddish for “shameful.” The risk of losing your job pales in comparison to the risk we take of losing our lives. I was reviewing the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage winners of the award that is the nation’s preeminent award for elected officials and public servants. For them and for you, it is the Nobel Prize, the Oscar, the Lasker, the Pulitzer. I give you these examples.

Carl Elliott was a Congressman from Alabama for eight consecutive terms from 1949 to 1965. He was a Democrat, but he authored and voted for the National Education Defense Act, which he knew would lead to his removal as a Congressman in 1964. He was right, but he did what was right.
Charles Weltner, also a Democrat, was a Congressman from Georgia who dropped out of his race for a third term rather than seek reelection and be bound by a party loyalty oath to support the candidacy of segregationist Lester Maddox.

Bob Inglis, whom many of you know, is a Republican and was a Congressman from South Carolina. He reversed himself on the issue of climate change because he felt it was the right thing to do. He knew that it would probably mean the demise of his political career and it did.

We, who died, who were wounded, who survived, or who risked our lives in the military to do the right thing because America asked us to, are asking you to do the right thing, merely at risk of losing your jobs.

Do not take funds away from the military, including from their daycare and schools, to build a border wall, because it is politically expedient for you to do so.

In addition, the Constitution, which you swore under oath to uphold, vests the power to declare war solely in the hands of Congress and not in the President, who is solely the Commander in Chief. However, since World War II, Congress, as a practical matter, has ceded its Constitutional responsibility to the President in the semantic guise of so-called “emergencies” and “police actions.” War is too important to be in the hands of one person, and since World War II, the usurping of the war power by both Democratic and Republican presidents has led this nation into disaster after disaster and caused the unnecessary deaths of over a hundred thousand of my comrades-in-arms, my brothers and my sisters. An after-the-fact toothless Congressional resolution is not enough. Take back the war power that the framers of the Constitution and your own 1973 War Powers Resolution gave you.

When Abraham Lincoln was in the Congress, he wrote the following:
“The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This our convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.”

As a cantankerous football coach in my neck of the woods is fond of saying, “Do your job!” Risk your jobs to do the right thing! In the long run, it is not just your constituents that you must face. You must face your children, your grandchildren, your descendants, and history. Also, you must face yourself and your conscience. Become a candidate for the Profiles in Courage award.

We, the veterans of America, do not just ask you to do the right thing despite the political consequences. We demand it, and we are entitled to do so. Thank you.

The written testimony submitted to the committee included JWV priorities of opposition to the privatization of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as the passage of legislation to reduce the number of veteran suicides, assist homeless veterans, and expand the current eligibility period for those who wish to become members of JWV.

You can find a link to the document Weiner submitted to the committees on our website.

Volume 74. Number 1. 2020

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The Aleph Institute and the JWV

By Larry Jasper

I have previously written about my collaboration with Rabbi Irv Elson of the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) as part of an effort to reach out to veterans while they are still on active duty. Elson has access to Jewish chaplains and lay leaders around the world. The goal is to use those chaplains and lay leaders to reach active duty service members in order to enhance their connection to the Jewish community through JWV. The challenge is to let these service members know what’s in it for them. I presented a brochure highlighting that focus of my work and presented it to the National Executive Committee in February. My work with Elson and the JWB continues. (My apologies to the Marketing Committee which did not exist when this process began)

So what does this have to do with the title of this article?

Late last year, Membership Committee Chairman Barry Lischinsky sent me a copy of a new quarterly magazine published by the Aleph Institute in Surfside, Florida. Since I did not know about Aleph, I started looking into the group.

The Aleph Institute is a Chabad organization with a branch that works with Orthodox servicemembers as chaplains and lay leaders. (JWB works with all denominations of Judaism) Aleph established Operation Enduring Traditions to service the unique needs of Jewish members of the United States Armed Forces stationed worldwide. Aleph’s military program is the nation’s largest provider of religious and educational materials to Jewish military personnel and their families. They provide prayer books and other religious articles, kosher food and care packages, holiday provisions and services, chaplaincy training, and many other services.

I contacted the Institute and indicated I wanted to explore a partnership with Aleph that would enable both organizations to better serve active duty Jewish service members.

Rabbi Sandy Dresin is the Director of Military Programs for Aleph and Rabbi Elie Estrin is the Military Personnel Liaison for Aleph. Dresin is a retired Army Chaplain, who happened to serve with almost identical dates as I did. We started the same year and he retired three years prior to me. We both served in Vietnam at the same time. Estrin is a USAF Reserve Chaplain.

Aleph held an annual symposium for chaplains and lay leaders in February. They invited me to attend and deliver a speech to their group. Approximately half of those present were already JWV members. I talked to the others about the benefits of JWV, asked them to join, and asked them to talk about us with their fellow service members. I left with three completed membership applications. Estrin and Dresin have agreed to send information about JWV to their members around the world.

Aleph has asked me to return to their symposium next year, at which time I will be able to make a more in-depth presentation on JWV. I will also continue working with Dresin and Estrin on how we can forge a mutually beneficial relationship. The ultimate goal is to provide a continuing connection with the Jewish service member both while on active duty and after leaving military service. I believe JWV, JWB, and Aleph can work together to accomplish this.

You never know what you can do until you try.

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A Special Birthday Celebration

By Barry Lischinsky

On Sunday, December 15, members of JWV and the JWVA gathered to celebrate North Shore Post 220 member Lillian Aronson’s 102nd birthday. At the age of 26, Aronson volunteered to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). She became a career soldier, spending the next 20 years on active duty and achieving the rank of a Sergeant First Class. During the birthday celebration, JWV National Commander Harvey Weiner presented her with a Centenarian Certificate and a JWV Commander’s Coin.

JWV MA Department Commander Jeffrey Blonder presented Aronson with a certificate from Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey and JWV MA North Shore Post 220 Commander Alan Lehman presented her with a certificate from Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton. Aronson is still an active member of both the Jewish War Veterans and the Disabled American Veterans.

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Searching for Jewish Heroes Along the Seine

By Sheldon Goldberg, Ph.D.

A special cruise tour brings together individuals from World War II allied nations for a trip on the Seine from Paris to Normandy.

I participated in the inaugural cruise as a lecturer in October of 2017. The passengers on this cruise were from the U.S., Great Britain, Israel, and several other countries, but all were Jewish. The trip included visits to the American Military Cemetery in Coleville-sur-Mar, Normandy, Omaha Beach, the Somme battlefield, as well as Rouen and several other picturesque towns along the Seine. One key focus of the cruise was to counter historical anti-Semitic claims that Jews do not fight or, if they do, they serve in the Quartermaster Army as supply clerks, logisticians, lawyers, and doctors, etc., but not combat troops. This cruise highlighted the Jews who served in the armed forces during World Wars I and II, their actions, and their heroism.

The tour company, KTreks & Kosher River Cruises, is co-owned by American David Lawrence, who also served three years in the Israeli Defense Forces, and Londoner Malcolm Green, a long-time executive chef and kosher caterer. They founded the company to provide Jews with a first-class travel experience that meets their religious and spiritual requirements.

The Wiesenthal Center sponsored the inaugural voyage, and I participated due to my position as Docent and Historian at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History. Joining me as a lecturer was David Kraus, the European Operations Director for the tour from Prague. Kraus is a historian of European Jewish life and a researcher at the Jewish Museum of Prague.

Throughout the cruise, Kraus discussed Jewish life in Europe during World War I and the interwar period. I lectured on the participation of American Jewish soldiers in both World War I and II. I also spoke about Jewish Medal of Honor recipients and Jewish military service in the American Civil War.

The company has invited me to participate in its next cruise which will take place from October 22 to October 29. I invite you to join me on this wonderful trip to explore the beautiful Normandy countryside and learn about Jewish life and the role American Jews played in two world wars.
If you are interested in being part of this adventure, contact me at fitrg8tr@verizon.net.

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The United States Space Force

By Herb Rosenbleeth

The U.S. military now has another branch. The United States Space Force (USSF) is now the sixth branch of the U.S. military. It is the newest armed service since the establishment of the U.S. Air Force in 1947. I had a cousin who served in the Army Air Corp in World War II and remember him becoming a member of the U.S. Air Force when it was created.

Like the U.S. Marine Corps falls under the Secretary of the Navy, the U.S. Space Force will fall under the Secretary of the Air Force, who heads up one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense.

The mission of the U.S. Space Force is to “organize, train, and equip space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space…” The responsibilities of the U.S. Space Force include developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing the space force to present to the Combat Commands.

For now, the 16,000 active duty airmen and civilians who work at Air Force Space Command will be assigned to the Space Force. Eventually, members of the Army and Navy will also be detailed to the Space Force. The Space Force will establish independent procedures for manning equipment, training personnel, and creating a new uniform, logo, patch, and official song. The Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) has been assigned to control operations and the Space and Missile Systems Center, which is responsible for research and acquisitions.

The idea of an independent service for U.S. military space operations has been under consideration since 2001. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld chaired the 2001 Space Commission, which was created to examine the national security space organization of the United States.

The commission concluded that the military needed to develop a space specific doctrine, including the development and deployment of space-based weapons. The Space Commission concluded that the Air Force treated space operations as a secondary mission to air operations.

In 2017, following nearly two decades of inaction, Representatives Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper put forth a bipartisan proposal to create the U.S. Space Corps. The proposal cleared the House, but not the Senate.

Then, in a June 2018 meeting of the National Space Council, the Department of Defense was directed to establish the U.S. Space Force as a branch of the Armed Forces. On February 19, 2019, Space Policy Directive-4 was signed. Legislative provisions for the Space Force were included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law on December 20, 2019. Air Force General John “Jay” Raymond became the first Chief of Space Operations. Although it took three years to get the Air Force formed after its establishment in 1947, the U.S. Space Force intends to be off and running in 18 months or less.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper believes the first shots in the next war will be fired from space. At the Reagan Forum on December 7, Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein said that China’s number one threat to the U.S. is space attack.

There are several ways the U.S. can be attacked. These include bumping a U.S. satellite, jamming their links, hitting our satellites with laser beams, hitting them with high-power microwave bursts, and command intrusion.

JWV will be a strong supporter of the U.S. Space Force.

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Now Hear This, O Israel

By Captain Arnold E. Resnicoff, Chaplain Corps,
U.S. Navy (Retired)

On a Navy ship, before an important announcement over the public address system, the boatswain’s mate sounds the bosun’s call with a pipe/whistle, followed by the words, “Now Hear This.”

This sound to get our attention always reminded me of the shofar blast, and the words reminded me of the beginning of the Shema: “Hear, O Israel.”
In both these phrases, the word “hear” means much more than the physical act of hearing. The word is a command, closer to the old English word hearken. It means listen, understand, and obey. It is similar in some ways to another military phrase, “attention to orders.”

On the radio the word roger, which stood for the letter R in an older version of the phonetic alphabet, indicates message received. However, received means both heard and understood. Wilco (from “will comply”) adds the third layer, meaning the message was heard, understood, and will be obeyed. Although film actors often say “roger, wilco,” that would be redundant… although not as bad as the actors who say “over and out,” rather than choosing one or the other!

The idea that a military command includes all three of these ideas – hear, understand, and obey – is longstanding tradition, and the Navy reply, “aye, aye,” specifically affirms all three components: I hear, I understand, and I will obey. In other words, I have received the order, understand it, and will carry it out.

In the Bible, the Israelites at Mount Sinai, after receiving God’s commandments through Moses, respond “naaseh v’nishmah,” meaning “we will do and we will hear/understand.” That reply is the Biblical equivalent of “aye, aye” or “wilco.” However, commentators note that because the word do precedes the word understand, the theological and philosophical lesson is that we often hear more deeply and understand more fully only after we take action to incorporate the commandments into our lives.

On a ship, after “now here this,” we pay attention, preparing ourselves to understand the orders that come next, and then take action to follow those orders. In prayer, whether in synagogue or not, we should do the same when we hear the Shema. We should struggle to hear the words, to understand their meaning, and then to obey them through the way we live our lives.

When we hear “The Lord is our God,” that means that the false gods of ancient times, or the false gods of modern times like money or power, are not our God. But it also means we are not God. Truly hearing that one idea should change our lives.

When we hear “God is one,” we should understand that one God means we live in a world created with one plan. Ancient people who believed in many gods could not learn from history because they could not be sure the gods they dealt with on one day were the same ones as on another.
In a way, Jews introduced the idea of history with the idea of monotheism. We believe we can learn lessons of the past. We hear by searching for history’s lessons and then making those lessons a part of our lives.

“God is one” also teaches that God is uniquely whole, unlike human beings who are flawed and fragmented. Our nation’s founders dreamed that we should pursue “a more perfect union” when it came to our nation. We must do the same as individuals, pursuing integrity, the integration of our dreams, our words, and our actions, and trying to do a more perfect job of walking the talk.

In 1987, I was honored to give the prayer for the first United States Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust ceremony ever held in the Capitol Rotunda. These ideas drove the words of my prayer:
“ …if the time has not yet dawned when we can all proclaim our faith in God, then let us say at least that we admit we are not gods ourselves. If we cannot yet see the face of God in others, then let us see, at least, a face as human as our own.”

If we truly hear the words of the Shema, if we hearken to those words, struggling to understand their meaning with all our heart, our soul, and our might, with every fiber of our being, not only will our lives be changed, but so will our world.

Rabbi Resnicoff, a lifetime JWV member, began his Naval career as a line officer and then served in chaplain assignments including Command Chaplain, U.S. European Command, the “top chaplain” for military personnel of all services and all faiths in an area that at the time included 93 nations spanning 13 million square miles. Following retirement, he served as National Director for the American Jewish Committee and Special Advisor for Values and Vision to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. On October 23, 1983, he was present in Beirut during the Beirut Barracks bombing. His eye-witness report was read by President Ronald Reagan as a keynote speech in Washington, DC.

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How to Fight Anti-Semitism

By Harrison Heller

“How to Fight Anti-Semitism” is a must read. Whether you are Jewish or not, this recounting of anti-Semitism and how to fight back is essential. In today’s America, where we thought anti-Semitism was an afterthought until Charlottesville and Pittsburgh, author Bari Weiss gives a chilling and thought-provoking look at this thought virus.

Before diving in to the book, it’s important to understand the meaning of anti-Semitism. According to Merriam-Webster, anti-Semitism is “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.” This is the correct definition, but in her book, Weiss describes anti-Semitism as “not even a solid idea or singular theory. It is a shape-shifting worldview that slithers away just as you think you have it pinned down and, in so doing, stays several steps ahead of anyone trying to clobber it.” We should also define Judaism. Is Judaism a religion? An ethnicity? A way of life? Weiss says, “Judaism is not merely a religion, and it is not merely an ethnicity. Judaism is a people. More specifically, it is a people with a language, a culture, a literature, and a particular set of ideas, beliefs, texts, and legal practices.”

Many Americans put anti-Semitism and racism in the same basket. Is anti-Semitism the same as racism or is it a subset of racism? In American society, Jews are considered white. However Weiss asks, “Were there laws in Maryland saying that Jews couldn’t hold public office? Yes. Was that the same as human beings in the Old Line State being bought and sold as property? Absolutely not.” She continues, “Are Jews barred from country clubs? Yes. But are Jews singled out and discriminated against, not least by law enforcement, because of an immutable physical characteristic? Most definitely not.” According Weiss, if anti-Semitism is a subset of racism, it whitewashes the Jewish people. The majority of Israel’s Jewish population is of Mizrahi decent (Middle Eastern and North African heritage) and 12-15 percent of America’s Jewish population is comprised of people of color. She explains the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish prejudice. One example she gives is that of a gentile father who prefers his daughter not marry a Jew. This is anti-Jewish prejudice. However, this man does not hold the belief that the Jews hold a secret control over the government. That belief would be anti-Semitic. Weiss closes her definition of anti-Semitism by stating, “In the eyes of the racist, the person of color is inferior. In the eyes of the misogynist, the woman is something less than human. In the eyes of the anti-Semite, the Jew is… everything. He is whatever the anti-Semite needs him to be.”

One area frequently discussed is whether anti-Semitism is unique to the left or to the right. The answer is simple – it has found a home on both extreme ends of the political spectrum.

Weiss notes that on the extreme left, anti-Semitism exploits the moral fear within people. They place sole blame for the continued conflict between Israelis and Palestinians on the Jewish State. This moral fear causes some Jews to downplay their sympathies, or entirely abandon their support for Israel. The Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Movement, focuses on getting governments around the world pull their support of Israel. The group does not protest Israeli policies, but they wish to isolate and pressure Israel until the Jewish State collapses. Omar Barghouti, co-founder of BDS said, “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine… [only] a sellout Palestinian would accept a Jewish state in Palestine.” Some far-left groups also use the extreme end of victimhood to shame Jewish business owners and academic leaders of their Jewishness and their support for Israel.

Those on the far-right use tactics such as fear, neo-fascism, and Nazi ideology to instill fear in the community. George Lincoln Rockwell, a U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War, founded the American Nazi Party in 1959. Inspired by Black Muslims, those on the far-right started to merge religion with white supremacy, and thus gave rise to such Christian Identity groups as The Order and America’s Promise Ministries. Today, these groups have merged and found a home in what is now called “The Alt-Right.” These groups instill fear by promoting the conspiracy theory that the Jews control the government and Hollywood. Far-right white nationalist groups are starting to find homes on college campuses across the country.

On both extreme ends of the political spectrum, it is the lack of knowledge and compassion that led people down these various paths. While these sound like different paths, they are one in the same.

As far as how to fight back against anti-Semitism, I don’t wish to include any spoilers in this review, but simply encourage you to read Weiss’ book.

Volume 74. Number 1. 2020

 

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Help Find the Families of USS Olympia Crew Members

By John Brady, Flagship Olympia Foundation
Board of Directors President

The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The first soldier buried in the Tomb served in World War I. The USS Olympia, a former Navy cruiser, brought the remains of the World War I Unknown Soldier home from Europe. His burial took place at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 1921. Rabbi Morris Samuel Lazaron is one of the four chaplains who participated in the service.

Two months after the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Rabbi Lazaron filled out a military registration card. The card, which can be found in the National Archives, notes Lazaron was working as a rabbi in Baltimore, Maryland at the time and supporting his wife, baby, and parents.

Additional information about Rabbi Lazaron can be found on the American Jewish Archives website. Lazaron served as a chaplain in the U.S. Army Officer’s Reserve Corps from 1917 until 1953. He was one of four military chaplains officiating at the burial of the World War I Unknown Soldier in 1921. Rabbi Lazaron died in London, England on June 5, 1979.

The Flagship Olympia Foundation is helping to plan commemoration events for 2021. We have researched Rabbi Lazaron as part of this effort. However, we want to learn more about the men who brought the World War I Unknown Soldier home from Europe. We also want to make sure the families of these service members are invited to commemoration events.

The 1921 USS Olympia crew list is located at the National Archives. We’re comparing the names on this list to information included in the Ancestry.com website. Some of the individuals and their families are easier to find because they have distinctive names. Others are not because they have the same names as several others who served during World War I.

The Flagship Olympia Foundation would appreciate the assistance of JWV members in identifying the 1921 USS Olympia crew. An electronic copy of the list is posted on our website. Are any of the men on the list your great-grandfather, grandfather, or great-uncle? If so, do you have photos or diaries about their service aboard the USS Olympia in 1921 that you would be willing to share with us?

Last year, the granddaughter of one of the members of the 1921 crew reached out to us. She shared her grandfather’s story and we now have it on our website. We’d like to do the same with other crew members. They brought home a son, grandson, nephew, and father. His name is known to no one, but his sacrifice is known to all.

Photo: Detroit Publishing Co, P., Hart, E. H., photographer. U.S.S. Olympia. , None. [Between 1895 and 1901] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016818457/.

Meet OLYMPIA’s 1921 Crew

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