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That's another incredible bit of history. Again, I'd only heard little smidgeons before. Fascinating. What a great man!
The Jews also had American Indians who fought for Israel in 1948.
Feeling pressure to finish in time for the anniversary, the Weisses spent three years poring through military records, archives, personal letters and diaries. They spoke to veterans living in the United States, Canada and Israel, most of whom were in their 70s. With so much material at hand, and so many heroes to honor, choosing what to leave out was more challenging than deciding what to leave in.
Cast of heroes
The authors' cast of characters includes:
Mickey Marcus, an American Jew and a graduate of West Point, who had been a colonel in the U.S. Army during World War II. He became the first general in the Israeli Army. Tragically, Marcus was killed by a sentry when, asked to give the password, he was unable to understand the Hebrew command and was shot as he fled.
Shapira, who in the 1960s commandeered a Russian-made MiG fighter jet taken from an Iraqi who had defected to Israel. Shapira studied the MiG and learned its weaknesses, information he then passed along to other Israeli pilots during the 1968 Six Day War.
American Indian Jesse Slade. When asked by Life magazine photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White what an American Indian was doing fighting an Israeli war, he replied, "Well, ma'am, I reckon it was the Christian thing to do."
Chris Magee, a Chicago man who had heard of, and was moved by, the tragedy dubbed the "voyage of the damned." The steamship St. Louis, full of Jewish refugees, had sailed from Europe seeking sanctuary in another country. It was turned away at every stop, including the United States. Most of the passengers later perished in concentration camps. Magee, a member of Pappy Boyington's Black Sheep Squadron in World War II, volunteered as a pilot in the War for Independence.
Rudy Augarten, who left Harvard to fly for Israel after serving courageously in World War II, during which he was shot down and survived 63 days behind enemy lines.
George "Buzz" Beurling, Canada's leading World War II flying ace, a non-Jew who wanted to recapture his glory years. Beurling and his British co-pilot were killed in a plane crash before they could actually enter the War for Independence. Sabotage of their plane has always been suspected, the Weisses say.
Jerry "Tiny" Balkin, six feet tall and 200 pounds, who had lost 85 relatives during the Holocaust and was nostalgic for the camaraderie he had enjoyed while fighting with the Marines in World War II. Balkin needed little coaxing to join the Jewish cause.
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