{"id":2606559,"date":"2026-05-25T05:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T09:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-operation-to-restore-fallen-soldiers-lost-stars-of-david\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T05:29:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T09:29:47","slug":"the-operation-to-restore-fallen-soldiers-lost-stars-of-david","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-operation-to-restore-fallen-soldiers-lost-stars-of-david\/","title":{"rendered":"The operation to restore fallen soldiers&#8217; lost Stars of David"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-operation-to-restore-fallen-soldiers-lost-stars-of-david%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2606559&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Rabbi Jacob Schacter\u2019s visit to the Normandy American cemetery in 2014 led him to notice that too few Jewish markers appeared among thousands of U.S. war graves. That observation sparked Operation Benjamin, a nonprofit that investigates and corrects headstones overseas when Jewish American servicemen were buried under the wrong religious symbol-often crosses instead of Stars of David.<\/p>\n<p>The issue traces back largely to World War I and II burial practices,where identification depended on dog tags. To avoid being targeted if captured, many Jewish soldiers recorded themselves with Protestant or Catholic markings; battlefield burial teams sometimes followed those labels, and errors could persist through repeated relocations before final burial. Immigrant families frequently enough never learned of the mistakes as travel back to Europe was tough and expensive.<\/p>\n<p>Operation Benjamin restores identities through long historical and genealogical research, using sources such as census records, synagogue documents, military files, cemetery records, and newspapers. After compiling evidence, the institution works with the American Battle Monuments Commission, which requires extensive documentation, including locating the closest living relatives and confirming their support before any headstone change.<\/p>\n<p>The work is emotionally important not only for honoring the fallen but also for reconnecting families who previously knew little about one another. Having already completed dozens of corrections-particularly for Jewish world War I and II servicemen-Operation Benjamin is scheduling more replacements, including major ceremonies in France and Germany where Jewish soldiers will finally be recognized with the proper markers. The organization emphasizes that around Memorial Day, the effort is about restoring truth and identity for soldiers who can no longer speak for themselves.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Rabbi Jacob Schacter visited the Normandy American Cemetery in 2014, one detail stayed with him long after his return home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The observation seemed insignificant at first. But for Schacter and the historians and genealogists who would later found <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.operationbenjamin.org\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.operationbenjamin.org\/\">Operation Benjamin<\/a>, it raised a troubling question: Why did there appear to be so few <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jewish\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1678\">Jewish<\/a> grave markers among the thousands of American soldiers buried overseas?<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4581078\/iran-negotiations-slowed-supreme-leader-isolation\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Iran negotiations slowed by supreme leader\u2019s isolation: US officials<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4580994\/suicide-bomber-pakistan-railway-track\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Suicide bomber kills at least 23 and injures over 70 at Pakistan railway track<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4580915\/russia-attacks-ukraine-nuclear-capable-missile-third-time-since-war-began\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Russia attacks Ukraine with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-military-officials-unite-in-opposition-to-biden-admins-iran-deal\/\" title=\"Israeli Military Officials Unite in Opposition to Biden Admin\u2019s Iran Deal\">nuclear-capable missile<\/a> for the third time since war began<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was hallowed and profound,\u201d he later recalled. \u201cBut I thought there would have been more Stars of David.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The answer, they would eventually discover, was that some Jewish American servicemen killed during <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/world-war-i\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2011\">World War I<\/a> and<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/world-war-ii\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"972\"> World War II<\/a> were buried under crosses instead of a Jewish Star of David. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, decades later, Operation Benjamin is working to correct those headstones and restore the identities of fallen soldiers buried under the wrong markers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur main task is justice and memory,\u201d Shalom Lamm, co-founder and chief historian at Operation Benjamin, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cA soldier gave his life for our country and then lost his ability to fight for his own identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Operation Benjamin, a nonprofit organization, works with the American Battle Monuments Commission, the federal agency that oversees U.S. military cemeteries abroad, to investigate and verify cases and change headstones for American soldiers buried under the wrong marker. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-benjamin-garadetsky-s-story-nbsp\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Benjamin Garadetsky\u2019s story <\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The effort began, in Lamm\u2019s words, \u201cserendipitously.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Schacter returned from Normandy and told Lamm there seemed to be fewer Stars of David than expected, they began to investigate. Roughly 2.7% of American World War II casualties were Jewish, according to Lamm, which suggested there should have been more Jewish markers among the nearly 9,400 graves at the Normandy American Cemetery. Instead, Lamm and Schacter counted fewer than 150. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their investigation led them to one soldier, Benjamin Garadetsky, whom the organization would later name itself after.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was almost like throwing a dart,\u201d Lamm said. \u201cWe picked a soldier with a Jewish-sounding name \u2026 and his name was Benjamin Garadetsky.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garadetsky was born in Ukraine and was raised in the Bronx in a Jewish immigrant family. Yet, he had a \u201cP\u201d for Protestant on his dog tag.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This error, though, was not uncommon during World War II.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTens of thousands of Jewish soldiers put P\u2019s and C\u2019s for Catholic and Protestant on their dog tags in case they were captured by the Germans,\u201d Lamm said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t want to be identified as Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Battlefield burial teams relied on a soldier\u2019s dog tags when making burial decisions during the war. Soldiers in the European theater were often buried several times before reaching their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/usa-today-columnist-bury-the-500000-covid-19-dead-at-mar-a-lago\/\" title=\"USA Today Columnist: \u2018Bury The 500,000 COVID-19 Dead At Mar-a-Lago\u2019\">final resting place<\/a>, allowing initial mistakes to follow them to their permanent resting spot. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Travel to Europe after the war was expensive and difficult, particularly for immigrant families whose relatives were buried overseas, so many never knew their son\u2019s, father\u2019s, or husband\u2019s graves\u00a0were marked incorrectly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt would have devastated the family,\u201d Lamm said. \u201cBut they really never knew.\u201d <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-mission-to-restore-identity-nbsp\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The mission to restore identity <\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Correcting those mistakes requires years of historical and genealogical research. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Operation Benjamin\u2019s team reconstructs family histories using census documents, synagogue records, military files, cemetery records, and newspaper archives. Researchers trace family continuity across generations to establish evidence of Jewish identity before presenting findings to the government and surviving relatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The research can involve tracing great-grandparents through European cemeteries, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >locating synagogue bulletins documenting marriages<\/a> or bar mitzvahs, or examining newspaper obituaries for references to Jewish mourning traditions such as shiva. Researchers also rely on census records showing languages spoken at home, military records from relatives, and immigration documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The organization now employs teams of historians and genealogists focused separately on World War I and World War II cases, whom Lamm called \u201cserious professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The American Battle Monuments Commission requires extensive documentation before approving any headstone changes. Lamm said the agency has become one of Operation Benjamin\u2019s strongest partners. \u201cI thought there\u2019d be a fight,\u201d he said. \u201cI could not have been more wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, he said the government established a rigorous evidentiary standard requiring the investigators to locate the closest living relatives of each soldier. Researchers typically avoid contacting families until most of the investigation is already complete, to avoid causing unnecessary distress or raising false hopes. If multiple relatives exist at the same level of relation, researchers must contact all of them. At least one relative must advocate the change, and none can object. Only then can a request move forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lamm said one of the most emotional parts of the work has been reconnecting families with relatives they barely knew.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many cases, the fallen soldiers existed within families only as faded photographs or names that older generations rarely discussed. Researchers often arrive with information that descendants had never heard before, such as military records, school activities, career ambitions, and even the names of relatives separated across generations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe take this faded photograph, and we bring a guy to life,\u201d Lamm said. \u201cHe was a real person with real aspirations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In some cases, relatives meeting through the research process have connected for the first time. At a recent ceremony in Italy, family members who had never known each other met at a corrected headstone ceremony and stayed in contact afterward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s mind-boggling when that happens,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Operation Benjamin \u2013 Florence American Cemetery Ceremony  Credit: Sabina Cowdery @anibasphotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-honoring-world-war-i-soldiers-at-meuse-argonne-nbsp-nbsp\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Honoring World War I soldiers at Meuse-Argonne  <\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Operation Benjamin has now completed 40 headstone replacements and has dozens more scheduled over the next 15 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of its largest ceremonies will take place in France in early June, where five Jewish American soldiers killed during World War I\u2019s Meuse-Argonne Offensive will receive corrected headstones more than a century after their deaths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Meuse-Argonne campaign, fought in the final months of World War I, remains the deadliest battle in American military history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ceremony will take place at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest American World War I cemetery in Europe, where more than 4,000 U.S. service members are buried.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Families of several soldiers are expected to travel from the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/united-states\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"671\">United States<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/israel\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"219\">Israel<\/a>, and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/greece\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2126\">Greece<\/a> for the event, alongside representatives from the U.S., German, and Israeli governments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following day, Operation Benjamin plans to participate in a separate ceremony honoring German Jewish soldiers buried beneath incorrect markers in a nearby German military cemetery. For Lamm, the symbolism of the two ceremonies occurring together is difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a staggering historic event,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat\u2019s bringing people together now is Jewish soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event will include students from the Virginia Military Institute, Yeshiva University, and Germany\u2019s Bundeswehr University in Munich, part of what organizers describe as an effort to teach younger generations about memory, sacrifice, and historical responsibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re bringing together genuinely good people,\u201d Lamm said. \u201cPeople history would have told you would never meet.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-remember-jewish-american-soldiers-on-memorial-day\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Remember Jewish American soldiers on Memorial Day<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The work, he said, feels especially significant around <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/memorial-day\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1130\">Memorial Day<\/a>, when Americans reflect on military sacrifice and the cost of war. \u201cFreedom isn\u2019t free,\u201d he said, adding that war is a \u201cterrible thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Operation Benjamin\u2019s founders, the work is ultimately about restoring truth to soldiers who can no longer speak for themselves. \u201cWe could never repay this debt,\u201d Lamm said. \u201cBut to the extent we can help them reestablish their identity, it matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI personally believe these guys know we\u2019re doing this,\u201d he said, adding that whether that can be proven does not seem to matter much to the families who stand beside the corrected headstones. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/beltway-confidential\/4555757\/america-done-more-for-human-freedom-than-any-power-in-history\/\"><strong>TOM ROGAN: AMERICA HAS DONE MORE FOR HUMAN FREEDOM THAN ANY POWER IN HISTORY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What matters is that, decades after their deaths, the soldiers are finally being remembered as they were.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe, as a society that demands truth,\u201d Lamm said, \u201cshould do no less.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Rabbi Jacob Schacter visited Normandy, he noticed few Jewish graves<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4195,"featured_media":2606560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP1_3983-WEB-Operation-Benjamin-Florence-Ceremony-May-2025-copy-1-e1779490202727.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[68984,5958,12829,80223],"class_list":["post-2606559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-fallen-soldiers","tag-operation","tag-restoration","tag-stars-of-david"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP1_3983-WEB-Operation-Benjamin-Florence-Ceremony-May-2025-copy-1-e1779490202727.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2606559"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2606563,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2606559\/revisions\/2606563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2606560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2606559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2606559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2606559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}