Those Who Served: G

  • Gaines Irv
    Gaines Irv

    T/5 Cpl. Irving D. Gaines
    Serial No. 36824486
    U. S. Army
    June 1943 - March 1946
    Pacific theater

    After infantry basic training in Texas, I spent one year at the University of Pennsylvania studying Hindustani, the language of India. After that, I was trained in the Home Cavalry at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and went to Military Intelligence School at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. I served with the Allied Translator and Interpreter Service attached to Gen. MacArthur's intelligence section in Manila and Tokyo as an intelligence interpreter. Among memorable experiences were viewing the ruins of Manila from the battles and the devastation in Tokyo and Yokohama as a result of American fire bombing, and seeing the homeless sleeping on the streets and in the subway stations.

  • Gaines Paul
    Gaines Paul

    1st Lt. Paul Gaines
    Serial No. 0863088
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    January 1943 - November 1945
    Pacific Theater

    I trained as an Aviation Cadet and Engineer at Yale University. Also, I trained at Denver as a Flight Engineer. A memorable experience for me during my army career was completing the tour of 30 missions over Japan as a B-29 Flight Engineer. I received Air Medal W/5 Clusters, D.F.C.

  • Gaines Ruth
    Gaines Ruth

    3rd Class Petty Officer Ruth R. Gaines
    Serial No. 7670230
    U. S. Navy - Waves
    1944 - 1946

    A memorable experience was welcoming her husband-to-be, Irving D. Gaines, back from Japan when his boat docked in Seattle where she was stationed in early 1946. Submitted by Irving Gaines

  • Garber Julius
    Garber Julius

    Cpl. Julius Garber
    Serial No. 36818960
    U. S. Army
    April 29, 1943 - October 14, 1945
    European Theater

    In October 1943, I was assigned to the advanced front line positions in the area of Cassino and the Rapido River, facing the German Gustof Line. In January, five men and I crossed the river in a small rubber boat; the Germans opened up and destroyed most of our boat. The platoon lost contact with us, withdrew, and reported us missing in action. Before dawn, we tried to recross the river, and traverse a minefield to get to our unit. We reached a unit where our Regimental colonel was located. In May, we boarded a LST and landed on Anzio beach, where a major drive to break the beachhead and capture Rome was to begin. I was wounded and sent to the 300th General Hospital in Naples. By September, I was back with Company A that was preparing for the invasion of southern France. We fought at places in France, and Company A became the famous lost battalion. In December 1944 we were surrounded and after three days were captured. As a POW, I spent time in Stalag 5B, Stalag 7A and on arbot kommendo Mittelnufnocht. On April 26, 1945, we were liberated. A moving experience for me as a Jew was to see a U. S. Army Jewish POW, under German guard, walk away to give a lit cigarette to a concentration camp worker who was wearing his striped clothes and rags for shoes in the middle of winter. He looked sick, weak and old. The American Jew paid little attention to the warnings from the SS guard, and proceeded to give his fellow Jew the cigarette.

  • Garfinkel Elias
    Garfinkel Elias

    1st Lt. Elias B. Garfinkel
    Serial No. 02036506
    U. S. Army
    March 28, 1941 - November 11, 1945
    Pacific Theater

    We arrived in the first task force in Melbourne, Australia, in winter, in our wool uniforms. The people along the parade route shouted "Go home, Yanks! You're too late!" (February 1942) Seeing transports stream into the forward area jungle port, flying the American flag, we wept. In the forward jungle, we had few Jews, so we got a group of non-Jews and conducted a Passover Seder. They participated and enjoyed the fresh meat, the matzos, etc. Both my brother, Marvin, and I were overseas in the Pacific. My father said "You are paying your obligation of citizenship, and mine - the country that took me in and granted me citizenship and a chance."

  • Garfinkel Marvin
    Garfinkel Marvin

    Signalman 3/C Marvin Garfinkel
    Serial No. 8685929
    U. S. Navy
    May 14, 1943 - January 26, 1946
    Asiatic-Pacific Theater

    The Fanning was one of three destroyers that escorted President Franklin D. Roosevelt on a cruise from July 17, 1944 - August 12, 1944. We went to Pearl Harbor, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and Washington via the inland channel at Bremerton. The President spoke to many shipyard workers about their part in the war effort. It was a memorable experience for me. My family experienced loneliness and apprehension. For example, when we were operating with the British Eastern Fleet on a supposedly secret mission, my family didn't hear from me and no mail came from my family for two months.

  • Gendelman Max
    Gendelman Max

    Cpl. Max Gendelman
    Serial No. 36807750
    U. S. Army
    February 1943 - November 1945
    European Theater

    I was a sniper and a POW captured for the first time of three in the St. Lo Sectore during the Battle of the Bulge. I escaped the first time near Leipzig and was recaptured. Other prisoners and I were packed into boxcars and transported to Czechoslovakia. I stood for seven days, frozen, starving and ill-clad. From this next camp, I led an escape for 20 others, but we were again recaptured by a German patrol. Since my dog tag had been blown off by an 88 shell, I could not be identified as a Jew. So with my knowledge of Yiddish and its similarity to German, I was able to act as an interpreter for the group. The Jews were shot. At the third prison camp, a farm near Linda, Germany, I met a German Luftwaffe officer recovering from wounds, at his grandmother's home. The officer wanted to be in the American Zone. The Jewish soldier and the German officer, with disguises and their own conspiracy, escaped from the Nazis and into American lines. My father had said to me before I left, always remember the "Shema". When I was bogged down in a fox hole and German tanks were crushing us from above, a mist of cloud covered me, like the presence of God, and I was able to escape.

  • Giller Herbert
    Giller Herbert

    Capt. Herbert Giller
    Serial No. 01893518
    U.S. Army Medical Corps
    1943-1946
    Stateside

    I graduated from the University of Wisconsin and its Medical School. During college I was in the Navy V-12 program and then served six months active duty at Great Lakes Naval Hospital. I served two years in the Far East during the Korean War.

  • Gilman John
    Gilman John

    Sgt. John Gilman
    Serial No. 33791156
    U.S. Army
    August 1943 - October 1945
    European Theater

    During my active duty I eliminated a German 88 MM Anti-Aircraft cannon, a German Tank Destroyer, and fought 9 out of 11 months on the front lines. I was awarded a Silver Star, a Distinguished Service Cross, and 2 Purple Hearts for my acts of service. I was a part of the liberation of a camp in Nordhausen, Germany where all the prisoners wore the Star of David, but none of them were Jewish. The prisoners were all related or married to a Jewish person. At home my mother went to a Shul every day and prayed for brothers, my sisters and me because we were all in the service.

  • Glaesner Donald
    Glaesner Donald

    Sergeant Donald T. Glaesner
    Serial No. 36993548
    U.S. Army
    June 1944 - April 1946
    European Theater

    I arrived in Nuremberg, Germany on May 9, 1945. Liberated Russian prisoners had broken into a boxcar and were drinking methyl alcohol, not ethyl, as they believed. One could hear the sirens of ambulances taking them to the military hospital. Forty years later, I met a physician who was stationed in Nuremberg and attended those dying patients. Small world! My Jewish experiences involved Rosh Hashanah services in Georgia, and a Passover service during combat in the Hurtgen Forest in Germany - led by a Catholic priest.

  • Glazer Edward
    Glazer Edward

    S/Sgt. Edward Glazer
    Serial No. 32630627
    U.S. Army
    May 5, 1942 - December 10, 1945
    European Theater

    After training at Fort Sheridan and Fort McComb, I was sent to Frenchay Park near Bristol, England where I was quartermaster attached to the 117 General Hospital. I met my future wife in England.

  • Glicksman Stanley J
    Glicksman Stanley J

    Rm 2/c Stanley J. Glicksman
    Serial No. 305-27-39
    U.S. Navy
    May 29, 1943 - December 10, 1945
    Pacific Theater

    I experienced lots of good liberty and good fellowship. I was the only Jew aboard ship, and made very good friends that I still keep in touch with. During my tour of duty, I only had one chance to go to a synagogue because I was always on a ship in the Atlantic or the Pacific.

  • Glick Hal
    Glick Hal

    Sgt. Hal Glick
    Serial No. 16134251
    U.S. Army Corps
    November 2, 1942 - October 5, 1945
    European Theater

    There are so many memorable experiences I had during my service overseas, particularly during combat, that it is difficult to discuss specific episodes. A special Jewish experience for me was being invited to the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Kaiden of London.

  • Glick Irving
    Glick Irving

    Capt. Irving R. Glick
    Serial No. 0726897
    U.S. Army Air Corps
    April 29, 1941 - December 18, 1945
    North African and European Theaters

    I was a Bombardier-Navigator operating out of North Africa. On January 15, 1943, we were shot down and crash-landed in the desert. After capture and escape, we managed in 10 days, to walk to the line of fighting. Our crew consisted of six, and attempting to get through the lines, three of us were recaptured. We were flown to Germany where I spent the next 27 months as a Prisoner of War. We endured all sorts of deprivation and hardships; very little food; extreme cold with very little heat; many forced marches (in 30 degrees below zero weather); and horrible boxcar transports. Medical treatment and facilities were, of course, non-existent. My whole experience was indeed memorable but I think the fact that I, a Jew, spent this long period in Germany (most of it a mere 80 kilometers from Berlin) and survived, is the most unique. Liberation came on April 29, 1945 with the arrival of the 14th Armored Division. It was like being reborn and was a wonderful conclusion to a seemingly never-ending ordeal.

  • Goisman Max M
    Goisman Max M

    Lt. Comdr. Max M. Goisman
    Serial No. 103885
    U.S. Navy
    June 1941 - December 1945
    Stateside

    While in service, I experienced a submarine attack off the coast of Florida while we were on the way to the Navy yard at Charleston for overhaul. The torpedo missed us - no casualties. Air cover helped. I had an interesting conversation with our Milwaukee Mayor, Carl Zeidler, while on temporary shore duty in Puerto Rico. He was in charge of a Navy gun crew on board a merchant ship. He was later killed in a sub attack.

  • Goldman Edwin
    Goldman Edwin

    PFC Edwin Goldman
    Serial No. 46073996
    U.S. Army
    Stateside

    I went into service with 2 High School friends, Alex Keene and Meyer Bloom. After induction at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois, we were assigned to different locations. I was able to visit Meyer at Ft. Lawton, Washington on his way to serving in Japan. I had my basic Infantry training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. After basic training I was assigned to the 6th Army, 59th Chemical Maintenance Co., in Fort Lewis, Washington where I repaired gas mask carriers on a sewing machine. The Company also had a mobile machine shop where they repaired all 4.2 mortars in a shop on a 2.5 ton truck. The Company was deactivated in 1946 and I was transferred to the 91st Chemical Mortar Battalion which was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division based in Ft. Lewis. The 91st also was subsequently deactivated. The personnel of the 91st were assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division and I was transferred to Division Hq. where I spent the next year doing clerical duties in a chemical warehouse. Through the period, I was promoted to Sergeant and discharged in Sept. 1947. I attended a Passover Seder in Seattle at a private home where they followed the hagadah to the letter. When the book stated that you should have the 3rd and 4th glass of wine, we had to follow the book. I do not remember how I was able to get back to Ft. Lewis without incident.

  • Goldman Joseph
    Goldman Joseph

    PFC Joseph Goldman
    Serial No. 36849066
    U.S. Navy
    November 22, 1944 - December 4, 1946
    European-African-Middle Eastern Theater

    Joe was drafted his senior year of high school and left to serve his country just days before Thanksgiving. He was a U.S. Army Rifleman and received a World War II Occupation Ribbon and a World War II Victory Ribbon. Submitted by Harriet Goldman, wife.

  • Goldwater James
    Goldwater James

    Pfc. James Goldwater
    U.S. Army
    1943 - 1945
    European Theater
    Killed in Action

    Jim died on Luzon, Philippines, in April of 1945. He was "the best kid anyone could have known!" Submitted by June Goldwater Louis, sister

  • Golper Marvin Norman
    Golper Marvin Norman

    Capt. Marvin Norman Golper
    U.S. Army Medical Corps
    July 5, 1943 - April 5, 1947
    Pacific Theater

    While on duty aboard a troop transport in the Pacific Theatre, our chaplain asked me if I would assist him in Friday night Jewish Sabbath services. The first service had an attendance of about five or six congregants. However, word got around that our Kiddush service allowed each one to partake of excellent Concord grape wine for the blessing of the "fruit of the vine." By the next Friday's service the attendance was so great, as eighty or ninety participants showed up, and required our seeking a larger room to accommodate everyone. We suspected that some of our worshippers were not of the Jewish persuasion. A sad recollection has stayed with me all of these years. We were bringing troops back from various embarkation points. One night a soldier fell down a chute landing in the engine room below. His trauma included severe head injuries. We had a rendezvous with a PBY rescue plane sent from Japan to take him back for neurological surgery. On attempted take-off, the plane hit a huge swell and went down. We rescued all except the strapped-in patient. It became my duty to inform his parents of the entire episode.

  • Goodman Paul P
    Goodman Paul P

    Capt. Paul P. Goodman, M.D.
    U.S. Army
    Mechanized Medical Battalion
    1941 - 1945
    European Theater

    Paul was stationed in Bristol, England. Nearby was Beaconsfield, a private school. The Headmaster, who had become friendly with Paul, was Mr. Lyon Maris who was Jewish. Children were evacuated from London to this school. Paul became concerned about the children and had me sending canned goods, flour and sugar to his A.P.O. so there was no problem getting this to the school. He also told me that there was an O.R.T. training school in the area, and he was very impressed with what this training did for the children who attended. Submitted by Marge Goodman

  • Goodstein Louis
    Goodstein Louis

    Pfc. Louis Goodstein
    Serial No. 37247545
    Army Air Corps
    June 24, 1942 - November 7, 1945
    African Theater

    A memorable experience for me during my tour of duty was going to India in my boat from New York, changing boats in Ceylon and landing in Bombay, India at "high Noon". Also, going across India in three types of transportation - the regular railroad, the narrow gauge and the civic boat was quite an experience. I attended a Seder in China. It was held in a huge hall; there must have been a few thousand people there.

  • Gorens Sherwood W
    Gorens Sherwood W

    Lt. Sherwood W. Gorens
    Serial No. 4493981
    U.S. Navy
    July 1, 1946 - June 30, 1948
    Stateside

    I was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital, a tremendous hospital at the time. We received casualties from everywhere. I was an internist and treated entire wards of soldiers who were suffering from rheumatic fever. After we got them stabilized they were sent to Atlanta.

  • Goren Leo
    Goren Leo

    Cpl. Leo Goren
    Serial No. 36 257 792
    U.S. Army Air Corps
    September 1942 - February 1946
    Pacific Theater

  • Goren Mortimer A
    Goren Mortimer A

    2nd Lt. Mortimer A. Goren
    Serial No. 01 186120
    U.S. Army
    April 28, 1944 - August 5, 1946
    European Theater

  • Gottlieb Norman
    Gottlieb Norman

    Pfc. Norman Gottlieb
    U.S. Army
    June 1942 - November 1945
    European Theater

    I belonged to the 95th Infantry Division, which engaged in its first combat during World War II in November 1944 with General Patton's Third Army capturing Metz and Saurtautern. Then we crossed the Rhine River in March 1945 where the division earned the title "Bravest of the Brave." The 95th Division was committed against the German army for 145 days, including a continuous 105-day period from November 1944 through February 1945.

  • Greenberg Stanley
    Greenberg Stanley

    Corporal Stanley Greenberg
    Serial No. 17069844
    U.S. Army Air Corps
    1942 - 1946
    Stateside

    I initially trained for nine months in Eagle Pass Texas, and was transferred to Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas, in radio communications. In the small border town of Eagle Pass (across from Piedras Negras, Mexico) I found a few Jews living there. A former mayor and owner of the only theater was Jewish, as was the owner of the one general store. There was no synagogue, but services were held periodically which I attended, and I made many friends. San Antonio offered a lot of Jewish life.

  • Green Alvin E
    Green Alvin E

    Sgt. Alvin E. Green
    Serial No. 36841252
    U.S. Army
    1944 - 1946
    Pacific Theater

    I was shipped to northern Luzon, Manila and other war areas. I was captured by the Japanese while on detail with five other men. For one year as a prisoner I experienced very harsh treatment. Our only food was rice on a banana leaf. I was listed as missing-in-action for three months. I did not speak of my experiences for the next 40 years. While in Manila, I visited the Jewish Welfare Board, using my Yiddish. One woman, a canteen baker, asked for some sesame seeds and I sent home for some. All GIs had gas masks, but others and I discarded them and used the cases for cameras. I have pictures before and after the bombing of a magnificent Manila synagogue; also pictures of dismembered bodies and other atrocities of war. During my tour I met up with my wife's brother, Jack Stern. I was married to Faye in 1940; when I returned home, my son was already five years old.

  • Gronik Herb
    Gronik Herb

    Corporal Herb Gronik
    Serial No. 16116185
    Army Air Corps
    February 16, 1943 - February 16, 1946
    Stateside

    I enlisted in the Air Corps. The troop train from Milwaukee was new - plush seats and for sleeping, bunks made up by porters. For a number of weeks after arriving in San Antonio, the mess hall was run by a chef who had been at Waldorf-Astoria. We ate assorted cheeses, omelettes, steaks. After that, it was strictly Army food. My wife was with me during service. We paired up with other Jewish couples and through USO, congregations and others, we got to local Jewish homes.

  • Grossman Arthur
    Grossman Arthur

    Lt. Arthur S. Grossman
    Serial No. 01031609
    U.S. Army
    August 4, 1941 - August 4, 1944
    Killed in Action

    Arthur was a second lieutenant. He went overseas in January 1943 where he joined General Patton's Third Army in the invasion of Germany. On August 4, 1944, we received the sad news from the War Department that Arthur had been killed. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for gallantry in the action that claimed his life. The citation says: "For gallantry in action in the vicinity of...on 4 August, 1944. Discovering that a bridge was blown, he volunteered to reconnoiter for a ford to by-pass the bridge. He received information that the banks of the stream had been mined. To verify this information, he dismounted under enemy fire. In so doing, a charge of five mines was detonated. His aggressive spirit and courage in carrying out this voluntary mission undoubtedly saved the combat command losses but cost him his life." Submitted by Roz Levin Zaret, sister

  • Grossman Tommy
    Grossman Tommy

    Sgt. Tommy Grossman
    U.S. Army
    Stateside

    Tommy was stationed in Oregon. He was a sharpshooter. He was the first student in Riverside High School to get five varsity letters in one year. He was the State champion in golf and tennis in his junior and senior year.

  • Guten Paul P
    Guten Paul P

    Paul P. Guten
    Serial No. 36298078
    U.S. Army
    January 1943 - January 1946
    Asiatic-Pacific Theater

    Received good conduct medal; Bronze Service Arrowhead; Asiatic Pacific Theater Service Medal; Distinguished Unit Citation; Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Star. Submitted by Naomi Horwitz

  • Gutglass Milton F
    Gutglass Milton F

    PhM 2/c Milton F. Gutglass
    Serial No. 9594824
    U.S. Navy
    1944 - 1946
    Pacific Theater

    While working alone in China, spraying DDT for disease-spreading mosquitoes, I stepped into quicksand and began to sink. I was saved by a local Chinese family who came to my rescue and pulled me out after I was waist deep in the sand. I was able to participate in a Seder in northern China with an elderly Russian Jewish couple who were jewelers. They spoke Yiddish and Russian. They thought they were being called "Jews" by Americans, instead of jewelers. When they understood this, they were greatly relieved.

  • Gutlian David
    Gutlian David

    Cpl. David Gutlian
    Serial No. 3146380
    U.S. Army Air Corps
    April 17, 1944 - March 31, 1946
    Pacific Theater

    I entered service in 1944 at Fort Devens, MA as a Radio Teletyne Operator with AACS, Army Airway Communication System. I was sent to the South Pacific to many different islands. A memorable Jewish experience occurred while at radio operator school. Two other Jewish soldiers and I were harassed while marching, or in the mess hall. The anti-Semitism was countered by three Jewish soldiers going directly to the commander who confronted and transferred the troublemakers.