Operation Benjamin works to replace erroneous grave markers for Jewish American service members who died in battle

CNN

By Dana Bash and Courtney Pence, CNN

(CNN) — Ben Zion Bernstein served in one of the most elite fighting units in the US military during World War II – the First Special Service Force – a select group picked and put through rigorous training for among the most perilous missions.

His first combat mission turned out to be his last.

Bernstein, a technician fourth grade, was killed in the famous battle of Monte La Difensa on December 3, 1943, while storming a steep Italian mountain trying to overtake a Nazi stronghold.

Bernstein’s siblings and their descendants knew he was a war hero, but none of the details of his sacrifice.

They also didn’t know that despite being a proud Jew, he’d been buried under a Latin cross for more than 80 years at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy, until a historian named Shalom Lamm contacted them.

Lamm is with a non-profit organization called Operation Benjamin, which works with the American Battle Monuments Commission to help find Jewish soldiers who were buried in American military cemeteries around the world under Latin crosses and correct those inadvertent errors by replacing their headstones with a Star of David.

Several of Bernstein’s nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews traveled to Italy this month to participate in a ceremony to honor him and replace the cross with a Star of David to represent his Jewish faith.

“It was a big part of his life. He went to a Jewish school. He was part of the Jewish organizations. He went to Palestine,” said nephew Ben Sheridan, who is named for his uncle.

“The best part is, you know, what Shalom Lamm and his organization has done to teach us so much about his legacy,” he added.

The afternoon before the ceremony, the Bernstein family climbed what they called the “easy part” of the mountain where their uncle died and saw the bunker where the Nazis threw a grenade that killed him.

And a surprise guest came to meet them.

Lamm invited Brad Hicks, the grandson of Major General Robert T. Frederick, a storied World War II military leader who organized, trained and led the First Special Service Force, which later became US Army Special Forces.

“When Shalom asked me if I would do this, I didn’t hesitate for a moment because I knew that my grandfather would not hesitate for a moment to do this for one of his men who fell on the battlefield,” said Hicks, who traveled from Washington state to Italy for the ceremony.

“I’ve had the privilege of meeting many members of our special forces. They know about the Battle of Mount La Difensa. They still study it as part of their training, and they know about the greatness of the men who undertook that mission. Today’s special forces embody the legacy of Ben Bernstein,” said Hicks.

Many Jewish US soldiers during World War II didn’t put religion on their dog tags

Lamm, whose organization has replaced more than 30 military headstones, said that many times the US military erroneously buried a Jewish service member beneath a cross because the service member intentionally left their religion off their dog tag.

“These were true errors,” Lamm explained. “America really tried to get it right, but when you had someone who put a ‘P’ or a ‘C’ for Protestant and Catholic on their dog tag and they did that to protect themselves in case of capture.”

“If you were captured by the Germans, in particular, that was really terrifying,” Lamm added.

“I think we need to look back and think America did a great job getting this right, but they naturally missed some, and our job is to come back after all these decades and find those guys and bring this home and do the right thing,” Lamm said.

Once Lamm has identified a service member who has been buried under the wrong religious symbol, he sets out doing the research to find proof of the error and the service member’s closest living relatives since the only way to change a headstone in a military cemetery is with the approval of the service member’s family.

“The amount of proof we’re required to deliver to the American Battle Monuments Commission is really huge. It’s really tough and it should be tough. We’re changing something for eternity,” said Lamm.

Lamm’s research often gives families new information about their loved ones, like in the case of Bernstein.

“It has happened again and again and again that I introduce people to someone who’s just a shadowy figure in their memory, you know. When someone is a kid and he says, ‘Hey Mom, there’s a black and white photo above the hearth of a guy in a uniform, was that your brother?’ and Mom starts to cry and little Johnny says ‘I don’t want Mom to cry,’ and he never asks her again,” Lamm explained.

“Then I come along, and I say, wow, because of the American Battle Monuments Commission, we know everything about this guy. We went through his high school yearbook. We knew who his girlfriend was. We know what sports he played. We know what career choices [he made]. We know everything about him. And we’re introducing families to the shadowy figure and bringing them to life. They were real flesh and blood human beings, and we know that story and it’s great to share,” he said.

Sheldon Finder and Paul Singer – 3 feet apart in life, 9 feet apart in death

Second Lieutenant Paul Singer was a navigator alongside Second Lieutenant Sheldon Finder, a bombardier on the B-24 Liberator “Southern Comfort.” On August 16, 1943, during a bombing raid on a German airfield near Foggia, Italy, the aircraft was attacked and caught fire. The crew bailed out, but neither Singer nor Finder’s parachutes worked. They were the only two in the unit to die in that attack, and the only two Jewish soldiers on that plane.

By happenstance, they are buried right next to each other at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. Finder’s tombstone was a Star of David to reflect his faith, but, for decades, Singer’s grave was inadvertently marked with a Latin cross.

That mistake was rectified on the same day as that of Bernstein.

Finding Singer’s family was a bit more challenging, since he was an only child who was orphaned at age 16. Lamm did find second cousins, who traveled to Italy to honor Singer’s service and sacrifice.

Cousin Jodi Reff, one of Singer’s cousins, spoke at the ceremony. “We, his living relatives, have met Paul through Operation Benjamin, where we are able to stand here 81 years after his tragic death and feel the connection as his descendants.”

She calls herself a “committed Jew” but more importantly, she said, she now knows that her cousin was too.

“Paul lived as a Jew, fought for America and the free world as a Jew, and died as a Jew,” she said, noting that now, more than 80 years later, he is finally buried as a Jew as well.

Through the process of learning about Singer, Reff met other cousins whom she never knew, like Claudia Lewis.

“It puts all the pieces together,” said Lewis, standing arm in arm with Reff next to their cousin’s grave.

They also got to know the family of Finder, whose niece and nephew also made the trip.

Even though Finder had long been buried properly, beneath a Jewish Star, no one from his family had visited, or even knew where he was buried.

Jonathan Finder, Sheldon Finder’s nephew, knew that his own father suffered deep grief from the death of his older brother, but didn’t talk much about it with his children.

“I know that in retrospect it was probably too painful for him. He was grieving, and I feel like by being here today, I honor his quiet grieving for his entire life,”he said somberly.

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