WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – A meaningful effort is underway to ensure that Jewish chaplains who perished while serving on active duty are no longer excluded from Chaplains Hill in Arlington National Cemetery. Representatives Anthony Weiner (D- New York) and Tom Rooney (R-Florida), along with Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York), have introduced a bipartisan congressional resolution to fix this oversight.
The resolution is gaining momentum on Capitol Hill thanks to the outreach of dozens of organizations, including The Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) Jewish Chaplains Council.
These prominent Jewish organizations wrote Wednesday to Members of Congress urging them to support the resolution (H.Con.Res.12 and S.Con.Res.4), which designates the use of space at Chaplains Hill to include Jewish military chaplains. Private individuals and veterans organizations have already raised funds for the memorial, and it can be erected as soon as this official resolution passes the House and Senate. The resolution currently has 22 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House and three in the Senate.
“Chaplains Hill in Arlington National Cemetery appropriately memorializes the names of 242 chaplains who perished while on active duty,” said Cheryl Fishbein, Chair of The Jewish Federations of North America Domestic Affairs Cabinet. “But astonishingly, none of the 13 Jewish chaplains who have died while serving are honored on Chaplains Hill. All chaplains who have served our country should be honored.”
“The men and women serving in America’s armed forces are supported by brave military chaplains of many faiths, who—at great personal risk and peril—provide spiritual and emotional support to soldiers defending our freedom,” said Congressman Weiner, the lead sponsor of the resolution. “This community effort ensures that all of these heroes who have been killed in the line of duty receive the permanent respect of our nation regardless of their religion.”
One transformational moment in American history accentuates the need for the expansion of this memorial. On February 3, 1943 the USS Dorchester was transporting 900 soldiers and civilian workers to the European front when it was sunk by German torpedoes off the coast of Greenland. Four chaplains were on board the vessel–-two Protestants, a Catholic, and a Jew. All four chaplains died together after each giving their lifejackets to another soldier on board so they may live. Yet only three of the four fallen heroes are memorialized on Chaplain’s Hill. The passage of this resolution would reunite the memory of Rabbi Alexander Goode who died that February alongside his fellow chaplain comrades.
“Members of the Jewish faith have served our country since the days of the colonial militias and the Revolution. Generations of Rabbis have also answered the call as chaplains and some have perished that we may inherit the blessings of liberty in a free land,” said Rabbi Harold L. Robinson RADM USN Ret., Director of the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council. “On behalf of those heroic Jewish chaplains, the JWB has been proud to partner with the American Legion and the Jewish War Veterans in working to establish a memorial, and deeply appreciates the dedication of Senator Schumer and Congressmen Weiner and Rooney to bring this resolution to fruition.”
“The passage of this resolution will restore the honored memory of these equally heroic Jewish chaplains,” said William Daroff, the Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington office of The Jewish Federations of North America. “We hope that in the coming weeks many additional Members of Congress will help promote this effort by signing on to the resolution as co-sponsors before it is brought up for a vote.”
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