List of Jewish Medal of Honor recipients

Medal of Honor
All recipients
American Civil War
By surname A–F G–L M–P Q–S T–Z By battle Gettysburg Campaign Battle of the Wilderness Third Battle of Winchester Battle of Cedar Creek Second Battle of Fort Fisher Others 1st West Virginia Cavalry Regiment
Other wars and conflicts
Indian Wars Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Boxer Rebellion Veracruz World War I World War II Battle of Iwo Jima Pearl Harbor Korean War Vietnam War Post-Vietnam Non-combat
By ethnic group
African American Asian American Hispanic and Latino American Irish American Italian American Jewish American Native American Polish-American Puerto Rican
By other criteria
Foreign-born Military Academy alumni Naval Academy alumni Tiffany Cross
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The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States to a member of its armed forces. Recipients must distinguish themselves at the risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States. The medal is presented to the recipient by the President of the United States.

Since it was instituted there have been 3,473 recipients; at least 17 American

Until 1914 the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart were the only medals that could be received so prior to 1916 the criteria for the Medal of Honor were much less restrictive than it is today. In 1916 however a board was established to ensure that future awards would be made only for the highest purposes, and some awards were rescinded.^[6]

Since the institution of the Medal of Honor, at least 17 have been presented to American Jews, of which four were received posthumously.^{[n 1]}

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a major conflict fought between the federal government of the United States and eleven of its member States which sought to secede and to create their own government, the Confederate States of America. It started on April 12, 1861, shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, and ended four years later on April 9, 1865. During the war over 10,000 military engagements took place and more than 3 million people fought on both sides with 40% of the battles being fought in the states of Virginia and Tennessee.^[7]

Since its creation, 1522 servicemen have received the Medal of Honor for actions during the American Civil War^[8] and depending on sources, at least four were Jewish.

Note: Notes in quotations are derived or are copied from the official Medal of Honor citation

Image	Name	Service	Rank	Place of action	Date of action	Notes	References
—	Abraham Cohn	Army	Sergeant Major	Battle of the Wilderness and Battle of the Crater, Virginia	May 6, 1864 and Jul 30, 1864	"During Battle of the Wilderness rallied and formed, under heavy fire, disorganized and fleeing troops of different regiments. At Petersburg, Va., ... bravely and coolly carried orders to the advanced line under severe fire."	[9][10][11][12]
—	Leopold Karpeles	Army	Sergeant	Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia	May 6, 1864	"While color bearer, rallied the retreating troops and induced them to check the enemy's advance"	[9][10][11][12]
	Benjamin Levy	Army	Private	Battle of Glendale, Virginia	Jun 30, 1862	Drummer boy, took the gun of a sick comrade and went into the fight, when the color bearers were shot down he carried the colors and saved them from capture.	[9][10][11][12]
—	David Orbansky	Army	Private	Shiloh, Tennessee, Vicksburg, Mississippi	1862 and 1863	"Gallantry in actions"	[9][10][12][13]

Indian Wars

From the time the Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War, through the end of the Indian Wars there were 426 recipients[8] who received it for actions in one of the Indian Wars, including one American Jew,^[9] Simon Suhler, who received it under the name Charles Gardner.^[15]

Note: Notes in quotations are derived or are copied from the official Medal of Honor citation

Haiti

In 1915

When World War I broke out, the United States initially maintained a policy of isolationism, avoiding conflict while trying to negotiate peace between the warring nations. However, when a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania in 1915, with 128 Americans aboard, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson vowed, "America isn't too proud to fight" and demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied and Wilson unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement. He repeatedly warned that the U.S. would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare, in violation of international law.^[18] In 1917, three years after the first shots of the war were fired, the United States entered the war and by the end of the conflict more than 4.7 million American soldiers, sailors and Marines would fight in the war.^[19]

More than 250,000 Jewish Americans served in the armed forces during the war with more than 3,000 killed in action and another 12,000 being gassed or wounded.^[12]

One hundred twenty four^[8] people would eventually receive the Medal for their actions during the war, four of them were Jewish. One of them, William Sawelson, received it posthumously, when he was killed by a machine gun attempting to assist another injured soldier.^[9][20]

  This along with * indicates that the Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously

Note: Notes in quotations are derived or are copied from the official Medal of Honor citation

Image	Name	Service	Rank	Place of action	Date of action	Notes	References
	Sydney G. Gumpertz	Army	First Sergeant	Bois-de-Forges, France	Sep 29, 1918	"Gumpertz left the platoon of which he was in command and started with 2 other soldiers through a heavy barrage toward the machinegun nest. His 2 companions soon became casualties from bursting shells, but 1st Sgt. Gumpertz continued on alone in the face of direct fire from the machinegun, jumped into the nest and silenced the gun, capturing 9 of the crew."	[9][12][20][21]
	Benjamin Kaufman	Army	First Sergeant	Forest of Argonne, France	Oct 4, 1918	"He took out a patrol for the purpose of attacking an enemy machinegun which had checked the advance of his company. Before reaching the gun he became separated from his patrol and a machinegun bullet shattered his right arm. Without hesitation he advanced on the gun alone, throwing grenades with his left hand and charging with an empty pistol, taking one prisoner and scattering the crew, bringing the gun and prisoner back to the first-aid station."	[9][12][20][22]
	William Sawelson*	Army	Sergeant	Grand-Pre, France	Oct 26, 1918	"Hearing a wounded man in a shell hole some distance away calling for water, Sgt. Sawelson, upon his own initiative, left shelter and crawled through heavy machinegun fire to where the man lay, giving him what water he had in his canteen. He then went back to his own shell hole, obtained more water, and was returning to the wounded man when he was killed by a machinegun bullet."	[9][12][20][21]
	William Shemin	Army	Sergeant	Vesle River, France	Aug 9, 1918	"Sergeant Shemin distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Rifleman with G Company, 2d Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy on the Vesle River, near Bazoches, France from August 7 to August 9, 1918. Sergeant Shemin left cover and crossed open space, repeatedly exposing himself to heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, to rescue the wounded. After Officers and Senior Noncommissioned Officers had become casualties, Sergeant Shemin took command of the platoon and displayed great initiative under fire until wounded on August 9. Sergeant Shemin's extraordinary heroism and selflessness, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."

World War II

During World War II 16.1 million American service members served^[19] and more than 650,000 of them were Jewish American men and women. More than 50,000 American Jews received medals during the war^[12] including five Medals of Honor.^[9][12][23]

Among the recipients were three Jewish Americans, Isadore S. Jachman, Ben L. Salomon and Raymond Zussman who all received it posthumously.^[9] Jachman and Salomon were both killed attempting to assist other fallen soldiers; Zussman's medal was received for risking his life on September 12, 1944, but he was killed less than a month later before receiving it.^[24]

  This along with * indicates that the Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously

Note: Notes in quotations are derived or are copied from the official Medal of Honor citation

Korean War

When Korea was split into two separate countries, North and South, along the 38th parallel tensions between the two countries were worsened when other countries began to get involved on both sides. The communist country of North Korea was supported by Russia, China and others, while the democratic South was supported by the United Nations and the United States. In 1950 the United States got involved and over the next three years more than 1.5 million US service members would serve in Korea.^[28][29] During the three years of the war 133 Medals of Honor were presented^[8] and although more than 150,000 Jewish American men and women were serving in Korea at that time, not one received the Medal of Honor.^[30]

On July 23, 1950 Tibor Rubin was serving as a rifleman in Korea when his unit was forced to retreat and he was ordered to stay behind and keep the road open for the withdrawing unit. During the 24-hour battle he single-handedly fought off an overwhelming number of North Korean troops, inflicting severe casualties on the attacking unit and assisted in the capture of many prisoners. A few months later Chinese forces staged a night-time assault on his unit and Rubin manned a machine gun allowing the unit to retreat southward, again inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking unit. During the battle he was severely wounded and was eventually captured by Chinese forces. Although the Chinese offered to release him early and return him to his native Hungary, he refused, remaining a prisoner and risking his life repeatedly by sneaking out at night to get food and medical supplies for other wounded prisoners.^[31]

A 1993 study commissioned by the United States Army to investigate racial discrimination in the awarding of medals. During the investigation it was determined that one Veteran American Jew and

Image	Name	Service	Rank	Place of action	Date of action	Notes	References
	Leonard M. Kravitz*	Army	Private First Class	Yangpyong, South Korea	Mar 6, 1951	"On March 6 and 7, 1951, Kravitz' unit's positions at Yangpyong were overrun by the enemy. Kravitz voluntarily manned a machine-gun position, forcing the enemy to direct its efforts against him and helping his comrades to retreat at the cost of his own life."
	Tibor Rubin	Army	Corporal	Republic of Korea	Jul 23, 1950 – Apr 20, 1953	During a 24-hour battle he slowed the advance of an assault of Chinese troops allowing other personnel with the 8th Cavalry Regiment to complete its withdrawal successfully. Although he was severely wounded in the battle and subsequently captured by Chinese forces he chose to remain in Chinese prison despite offers of an early release. While detained he risked his own safety by sneaking out at night and breaking into enemy food stores and gardens to find food for other soldiers and providing medical care to the sick and wounded prisoners.	[9][31][33]

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a military conflict between the Communist-supported Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the United States-supported Republic of Vietnam. It started in 1959 and concluded April 30, 1975 with the defeat and failure of the United States foreign policy in Vietnam.^[34]

During the Vietnam War, 246 Medals of Honor were received, 154 of them posthumously.^[8] Two American Jews received the Medal, Jack H. Jacobs^[35] from the Army and John Levitow^[36] from the Air Force.^[9]

Image	Name	Service	Rank	Place of action	Date of action	Notes	References
	Jack H. Jacobs	Army	First Lieutenant	Kien Phong Province, Republic of Vietnam	Mar 9, 1968	Although seriously wounded and bleeding profusely, he assumed command and ordered a withdrawal. He then repeatedly returned through heavy fire, to rescue other wounded including the company commander and treated their wounds. On three occasions he repelled Viet Cong squads who were also searching for wounded American soldiers in the same area, killing three and wounding several others.	[9][12][35][37]
	John Levitow	Air Force	Airman First Class	Republic of Vietnam	Feb 24, 1969	Although severely wounded himself from a mortar round, he moved another wounded crew member to safety. He then used his own body to smother and move a smoking flare from within the cargo compartment of the aircraft and threw it from the back of the plane as it separated and ignited in the air as it cleared the aircraft.	[38][36][39]

Operation Freedom Sentinel

Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) was the official name used by the

Image	Name	Service	Rank	Place of action	Date of action	Notes	References
	Christopher Andrew Celiz *	Army	Sergeant First Class	Paktia Province, Afghanistan	Jul 12, 2018	Celiz placed himself directly between the cockpit and the enemy, ensuring the aircraft was able to depart. Upon the helicopter’s liftoff, Celiz was hit by enemy fire. Fully aware of his injury, but understanding the peril to the aircraft, Celiz motioned to the pilots to depart rather than remain to load him. His selfless actions saved the life of the evacuated partnered force member and almost certainly prevented further casualties among other members of his team and the aircrew. Celiz died as a result of his actions.	[38] [41]

See also

• List of Jewish Americans in the military
• Jewish American military history

Notes

References

Inline