Mitzvot Among the Mishegas

We often hear of young men and women “coming of age” on the battlefield, but two soldiers recently brought a whole new meaning to the term. Private First Class Jeremy Schlieve and Specialist Hannah Dorthula Bartley had their respective Bar and Bat Mitzvah in Baghdad this month. The two studied under the supervision of Rabbi Mitchell Schranz (CDR, USN) and had, what looks like, a beautiful ceremony.

In the words of CDR Schranz:

It was a beautiful event, even more-so given the fact of where we are. Hannah & Jeremy did a beautiful job and I think all who were there were truly inspired. They worked hard to get to this big day.

Normally we say to those who could not make it to such an event sorry. In this case we are happy that many on [reading this] could not be here–we’d love to see you of course, but better to meet up in Israel, Miami, New York, LA, etc.

A big yesher koach to both of you! Going to Israel for your Bar Mitzvah is so last year, Iraq is the place to be now! 🙂

Read on to see more pictures and read the individual bios.

Specialist Hannah Dorthula Bartley hails from Columbus, Ohio and entered the Army on 07 October 1997. She started her active military service at Fort Jackson, SC. She then went on to the 229th Military Intelligence Battalion at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA where she taught CST (Common Soldier Tasks), Headstart (in both German and Persian Farsi) and participated in the Peer Tutor Program (German). She also served with the 73d Ordnance Battalion, 15th Signal Brigade at Fort Gordon, GA. She then went on to serve with the 1st Armored Division in Baumholder, Germany.

Specialist Bartley left active duty, but continued to serve with the U.S Army Reserves in Kaiserslauten, Germany and later with the 749th Maintenance Battalion, U.S. Army Reserves out of Whitehall, OH until 27 August 2005 when she completed her contract. She is now a civilian contractor working with the Department of Defense in Iraq.

Private First Class Schlieve is currently assigned to HHC, 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat) (Airborne) as a Light Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic (63B). PFC Schlieve serves proudly with his Unit, which has been deployed to Iraq since November 2004. He attended Basic Combat Training, and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Jackson, North Carolina. In June of 2004 he attended Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia.