Jewish Casualties in Iraq

Nate Bloom of the Jewish World Review recently wrote a story honoring the Jewish service members who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In addition to describing the lives (and deaths) of the soldiers, marines, and sailors, Bloom talks about the challenge of distinguishing Jewish casualties from non-Jews. Mainly because, “the Defense Department no longer keeps statistics on the religion of their personnel. Moreover, Jewish chaplains observe a policy of strict confidentiality regarding the faith of service personnel and will neither confirm nor deny whether a war casualty was Jewish.” This is complicated by the fact that some Jews hide their religion because of fear of discovery by the enemy.

While some may see the difficulty of tracking Jewish personnel as a good thing, it can make the work of organizations like the Jewish War Veterans very difficult. If you have a thought on the topic, leave a comment below.