The Jewish Krulak
I came across a book review of Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine
The name Krulak is always familiar to me, as General Charles Krulak (the son of the subject of the book) was one of the few Commandants of the Marine Corps I have personally met. I never would have guessed that he had some Jewish blood in him.
After reading the article, Victor “Brute” Krulak’s story is a bitter-sweet one for us Jews. Here is an excerpt from an interview with the author:
Q. What was his background?
A. His grandparents on both sides were Orthodox Jews from Russia, part of the great 19th-century migration of Jews from Eastern Europe to America. Instead of staying in the East, they went west, where the Jewish experience was very different. In short, there was less discrimination. He grew up quite secular in Colorado and Wyoming.
Q. You wrote, however, that he completely obscured his Jewish background later in life.
A. When he went to Annapolis, he told people he had grown up Episcopalian. He walled off his past at the Naval Academy. It left him with no grounding – he had no roots essentially – and so he created his own life and identity.
Q. What did Krulak have against his real heritage?
A. Some people would say he turned his back on his Jewish heritage. But he never changed his name or volunteered to be baptized, so I think he honored his heritage in his own way.
Q. But why hide his background?
A. It was enormously difficult to be Jewish in the Marine Corps at that time. It was an intensely traditional, biased environment. Jews in the Marines got no further than captain and were usually just driven out.
Q. But he didn’t resent the Marines for this.
A. In fact, the Marine Corps became his new tribe. The Marine Corps did for him what it has done for hundreds of thousands of other misguided young men and turned them into, in Krulak’s words from one of his books, “citizens into whose hands the affairs of this nation can safely be entrusted.”
It’s disheartening that there was a time where Jews could not achieve the same things their Christian counterparts could. I am fortunate to serve in a time where this is not the case, so I could never judge someone from that time period for abandoning their faith and heritage. I’ll simply be thankful that no one has to make that kind of decision anymore.
If you are of the belief that conversion in Judaism is a one-way door (entrance only), then Brute Krulak is another achiever in the long line of Jewish servicemembers.
My cousin who was a mustang hot dog pilot in the Marine Corps once met Krulak when he was a 2nd Lieutenant stationed at El Toro.He was detailed down to MCRD San Diego where Krulak was the commanding general specifically to be introduced to him.My cousin had boxed for the Corps and was also on the Air Wing pistol team.
Upon meeting Krulak,my cousin,who is about 5’6″,realized he was taller than Krulak.Back in Krulak’s day one had to be 5’6″ to get into Annapolis-my cousin,who back then had more balls than brains,asked Krulak how he got in being so short.Krulak wasn’t put off at all and told him about the waiver he got.
My cousin was later highly decorated for valor(DFC)in Vietnam and retired as a Lt.Colonel.
Interestingly,Maj.Gen.Melvin Krulewich was in the Corps in WW1 and made no secret of being Jewish and still rose throught he ranks to that position.
My cousin had no clue Krulak was born Jewish of Russian background.My cousin wound up converting to Episcopalian,but not for convenience.It was a matter of faith with him,and he never downplays his Jewish family background.
Being born Jewish never makes life simple,does it?
Thanks Joe, I’m glad you mentioned MajGen Krulewitch. The author’s statement: “Jews got no further than Capt” is his perception and is a apparently a very common perception/paradigm (or I should say misperception) that many people have (incuding Victor Krulak probably as well), but is certainly NOT the truth. In addition to MajGen Krulewitch, there were a number of other General Officers of Jewish heritage: BGen Charles H. Lauchheimer; LtGen John T. Myers (his father was one of the most famous Jewish Floridians – Col Abraham Myers, in fact Ft. Myers, Florida, is named after his father/and his mother was the granddaughter of the first Jewish Governor – Governor David Emmannuel of Georgia (1801); MajGen William Weinstein, MajGen Harold W. Chase; BGen Martin Rockmore; BGen Leonard Fribourg (his nickname was “Super Jew”! – as told to me by a Marine who served with him during the Korean War); MajGen Emile Moses (a member of the prominent and distiguished Moses family of the Jewish community of Charleston, SC) and the great Marine Corps historian emeritus – BGen Edwin Simmons; just to name a few from that approximate era. I’m far from being an historian nor an expert so I’m sure there are more. Bottom line: There was then, and there is now, a misperception that there are very few Jews in the Marine Corps, particularly in the senior ranks; however, from my perspective and experience of over 30 years in the Marine Corps this is simply NOT TRUE, and is an unfair stereotype (which Howard Leavitt attempted to dispell by writing his book “Semper Chai”). The fact is that Jews in the Marine Corps (as in overall American society – and I’m an example of this) often do not have typical Jewish last names, do not “look Jewish”, do not attend synagogue on a frequent basis, and keep their religious life a private matter. Plus the government does not keep statistics on this (as they do with race). How would anyone have an accurate count, then or now, of who is of Jewish heritage and who is not? Some Jews I met in the Marine Corps were Black, Hispanic, Asian and American Indian (in the case of the American Indian I met – his mother was Jewish, he grew up Jewish and was Bar Mitzvah’d). Would anyone guess that they were of Jewish heritage or faith – how would they know? I wouldn’t have known except that I met them at the Jewish Chapel! How could anyone assume that they have an accurate statistic on this subject? The fact is that there are no accurate statistics on this subject; however, it is fair to say that people of Jewish heritage in the Marine Corps (of ALL ranks, including General Officers – at the time of Victor Krulak’s career, and now) are at about the same percentage in the Marine Corps as in the general American population; despite occasional bigotry (thank G-d increasingly rare), misperceptions and stereotypes. Semper Fi, Samson
Adm. Hyman Rickover converted to Christianity and became an Episcopalian at the time of his marriage. He obviously never made any effort to conceal his ancestry. (It usually comes as a shock to many of our people to learn that he had turned his back on Judaism.) Nonetheless, he lived as a Christian and was buried as one. Lt. Gen . Krulak, while he may never have been baptized (and, not having read Mr. Coram’s book, I do not know if Krulak was, in fact, baptized), apparently denied his Jewish origin. It is noteworthy to me that there was no reference in any of his obituaries to his parents or siblings, which might indicate whether any of them had remained true to their ancestral religion. Krulak was, by all accounts, a great marine, but, in terms of personal qualities, he was either, at best, an apostate or, at worse, a denier of those ancestors to whom he owed his life.
My wife of 40 years is Honduran/Puerto Rican and Protestant,having converted from Catholic for reasons of her own.
My daughter is also Protestant,although she never hides that she has a Jewish background on my side.
I have no idea what my son believes,and his wife is Baptist and neither of them have ever gone into a house of worship as adults except for a wedding or funeral.Their daughter is Black,Hispanic,Jewish,and Cherokee.And extremely cute(hey,I’m the totally neutral grandpa here).
My younger grandaughter is Jewish,Hispanic,Scotch,Irish and French.
I have cousins who are Mohawk and Jewish-one married a Puerto Rican and their three kids are another Heinz 57.
I guess what I’m saying is that my family needs continuation sheets with the census forms LOL.
Othe jewish general officers:Gen,bernstein(no relation)US Army Medical Corps.Maj.Robert Bailey Solomon,Maj.Gen.Maurice Rose(converted to Protestant and a descendant of Rabbis),Rear Adm.Edward Ellsberg,Rear Adm.Shapiro,Rear Adm,Ben Moreell,who formed the Seabees and was a founder of the John Birch Society,Gen.Norton Schwartz,USAF,Maj.Gen Sidney Schachnow who commended the JFK Special Warfare Center,Gen.Mark Clark(Jewish mother) and a number of others whose names escape me at the moment.
I served in both the USMCR and the regular USAF-there were at least three Jewish DI’s at Parris Island while I was there-they attended services sometimes.
Cpl Leroy Diamond(NOT Lou Diamond,also supposedly Jewish)received the Navy Cross in the Pacific with the USMC-the incident was later made into a film.
“Murderous Manny”Segal was a celebrated Marine pilot in the Pacific also.
Pvt.Samuel Marguiles received the Medal of Honor in the Marines for actions in Haiti in 1915-he enlisted under the name Samuel Gross for some reason.
An interesting factoid from WW1-at Gallipoli both the commander of the Anzacs,Lt.Gen John Monash,and the German Field Marshal assisting the Turks,Liman von Sanders were Jewish-Monash on both sides and von Sanders on one side,although in all probability von Sanders didn’t advertise the fact,given that even in pre-Nazi germany,Jews didn’t advance fast in the military unless they converted.
Only the Austro-Hungarian Army was free of ths restriction,due to Emperor Franz Joseph,who disliked anti-semitism.
I have time to do this research,being retired.
My great great grandmother on my maternal side is Gertrude Liman the sister of Otto Liman von Sanders. Otto held the highist rank in German military during WWI that was Jewish. I need to prove that Gertrude was Jewish. My ancestors had hidden the fact that Gertrude was Jewish and in WWII paid other family in food and money to keep that a secret. Since Otto is known and a lot of articles are written about him, I have found out some history. The German information I have and the family albums I own says Otto was born Liman. The fact that he was Jewish was kept on the low. Keiser changed his name by adding von Sanders which came from Otto’s wife’s name. It would have been impossible for him to climb ranks had it been known he was Jewish. Usually required conversion. The thing I find interesting is when I find sources outside of Germany such as Turkish, it says his name was actually Liepmann. His father name was Isaac Liepmann. The German info says his father’s name was Carl Liman. I am under the suspicion that Liepmann was shortened to Liman to sound less Jewish and his father’s Isaak name was scrapped altogether. I am looking to prove this theory. I need to prove that both Otto’s parents were Jewish.
I am a Jew and was a Sr DRILL Instructor MCRD SD 52-53
Ben Moreell was not, as your article claims, “a founder of the Birch Society”. The eleven men who attended the founding meeting in Indianapolis were:
T. Coleman Andrews (Richmond VA)
Laurence E. Bunker (Wellesley Hills MA)
William J. Grede (Milwaukee WI)
William R. Kent (Memphis TN)
Fred C. Koch (Wichita KS)
W.B. McMillan (St. Louis, MO) – McMillan was the first person to become a JBS member after founder Robert Welch
Revilo P. Oliver (Urbana IL)
Louis Ruthenburg (Evansville IN)
Fitzhugh Scott, Jr. (Milwaukee, WI)
Robert W. Stoddard (Worcester, MA)
Ernest W. Swigert (Portland OR)
In addition, Moreell’s name does not appear on the list of retired military who endorsed the JBS {See 1963 Report of California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities, page 42.]
Nor does Moreell’s name appear on the list of endorsers of the first JBS-front group [Committee Against Summit Entanglements] which attracted a who’s who of prominent conservative anti-communists.
It appears, therefore, that you just invented his “association” with the JBS.
Note: my previous comment was meant to reply to the remarks of Joe Bernstein who described Moreell as:
“Rear Adm.Ben Moreell, who formed the Seabees and was a founder of the John Birch Society…”
I wonder if any of you Marines are also members of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA? And, are you aware of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, where the story of Jewish Marines is told for the world to know?
Your giving him too much credit. Obviously a brave men physically, and a patriot but when it comes to this. Not so brave.
Bill, it’s hard for me to judge him on this. I can’t pretend to know what life was like in that era. I don’t think his hiding his Jewish roots was something to admire, but I can’t bring myself to condemn it without walking in his shoes.
Most importantly, I am proud that no one needs to do that in today’s Marine Corps.
In the end, I’m proud to honor his accomplishments as one of “us”, even if I wish he was prouder to be recognized as one of “us”.
Semper FI Capt.Rubin.