Honoring those who served

If you have visited one of our local Jewish cemeteries on Memorial Day you will have seen the efforts of a small group of local Jewish veterans who honor their comrades of past conflicts with a flag placed on each of their graves.
In 1996, armed with a list of 58 names he garnered from a hand-inscribed “Book of Honor” on display in the foyer of Temple De Hirsch Sinai and inscriptions on grave markers, Robert Shay, a Vietnam-era Naval veteran, and his family placed those first flags and have continued the event as a family outing for the past 18 years. With ongoing research, Shay and his wife Marilyn will place 229 flags at Hills of Eternity cemetery this coming Memorial Day, and will be joined by the 7th grade class of the Jewish Day School.
Two years ago, Shay joined Alan Silverman, who served during the Korean War era, to form the Jewish Veterans Remembrance Project to include all Jewish cemeteries in the region. In their first, Bikur Cholim cemetery, they started with 58 names and the help of the NCSY youth group. The cemetery is now up to 175 flags. B’nai Torah and Herzl cemeteries have also joined the group, and this year more veterans from as early as World War II and as recent as the current war on terror have joined the effort.
Shay is now seeking help to add to the list of deceased servicemembers. If you have family members who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces and service veterans from Allied nations who have died and are buried locally, please contact him.
In particular, Shay has run into a dead end looking for information on one TDHS member who died in World War II: Civilian Max Krom, listed as “Missing or Remains Unrecoverable” after the Japanese armed forces took the Philippines in 1941. Because Krom was a civilian, his name does not appear on any war memorial, but he was an American lost in war and Shay is determined to see his name on a memorial that honors TDHS members who made the ultimate sacrifice.
In addition, he seeks four women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Shay has only maiden names for Priscilla Blumenthal, Dorothy Guthman, Elizabeth Morganstern and Anna Rind, and seeks their married names to add to his list of veterans.
If you have information, contact Robert Shay at 206-478-0505 or robertallanshay@gmail.com.