Membership in the JWV
My name is Ian Berkowitz, and I am a retired Army E-7, and also a Jew. I have a 60% disability through the VA. Recently, due to a car accident, I became totally unable to return to work. I began getting actively involved in all of my veterans oragnizations.
I am currently the Commander of our local Jewish War Veterans Post. With Memorial Day less than 1 month away, I have taken on the project of identifying all the military veterans in the 2 Jewish cemeteries in my area. One is run by the Temple (Reformed Judaism) and the other is run by the Synagogue (Conservative/Orthodox).
I was amazed that there has been such poor recordkeeping in these cemeteries. I was able to identify only 35 veterans in both cemeteries, only because of the VA grave markers that were there.
Nobody wants to think about death, however, it is an important topic to be discussed and prepared for. I urge you to be proud that you are a Jewish veteran, and make sure that your friends, relatives, parents, or children know that the VA will furnish a grave marker for free. Information is available online through the Veterans Administration. You deserve to be recognized when the time comes to meet your maker!
There have been 20 Medal of Honor recipients that happened to be Jews. We are all not heroes, however, we have all served our country proudly and honorably.
I urge all of you Jewish Veterans to join your local JWV, and be an active member in this great organization. Jewish veterans are far and few between, and we comprise less tham 1% of the total military force. Carry on the proud history of American Jews in the U.S. Military, and join today. The JWV was established in 1896 and it is the oldest veterans organization in America.
You can find out more about the Jewish War Veterans, and print applications at http://WWW.JWV.org.
If you are from anywhere in Orange County, New York, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at .
If the JWV didn’t require Jewish religious identity then maybe.
One of my cousins is a Protestant,but born and raised Jewish.He is a highly decorated Marine flier of the Vietnam War.I am still a Jew I guess,since I never bothered with religion.
The point being-don’t give a religious test to who’s a Jew.The Holocaust ended that argument forever.
I was a cop for 27 years afetr the Service.One day I mentioned that I was hardly a Jew as I hadn’t attended a service since Vietnam.Another cop,a Portugese Catholic,not in the least anti-semitic told me,”Joe,you’re always a Jew,no matter what-that’s how the world works”-and he was younger than me,but maybe wiser.He said it with no joy.A real mensch.