I Am My Brother's Keeper: American Volunteers in Israel's War for Independence 1947-1949 - Hardcover

Weiss, Jeffrey; Weiss, Craig

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076430528X ISBN 13: 9780764305283

Publisher: Schiffer Pub Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

Based on recently declassified documents and more than two hundred interviews, I Am My Brothers Keeper tells the story of the more than one thousand Americans and Canadians, Jews and non-Jews, who fought in Israels War of Independence. This is a story a

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Based on recently declassified documents and more than two hundred interviews, I Am My Brother's Keeper tells the story of the more than one thousand Americans and Canadians, Jews and non-Jews, who fought in Israel's War of Independence. Did you know:
* The first commander of the Israeli Navy was Paul Shulman, an Annapolis graduate?

* George "Buzz" Beurling, Canada's leading World War II ace with more than thirty kills, flew for Israel

* The first general in the Israeli Army was West Pointer Mickey Marcus

* The Israeli Air Force's leading aces in the War of Independence were Rudy Augarten, an American, and Jack Doyle, a Canadian

* Israel's first tank commander was Lionel Druker, a Canadian

* The Israeli Air Force's first test pilot was Slick Goodlin, the man who flew the X-1 experimental aircraft before Chuck Yeager.

These volunteers, and many others, served in all branches of the Israel Defense Forces - the army, the air force and the navy. They were critical to Israel's victory. Most of Israel's fighter and heavy bomber pilots were North Americans, and Israel would not have had an effective air force without them. In other areas, the Americans and Canadians stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel's citizens in that country's most desperate hour. Thirty-eight of the volunteers lost their lives in the struggle for a Jewish state. Others were wounded, and some ended up as prisoners of war of the Jordanian and Egyptian armies.

This is a story about men like Rudy Augarten (shown on the front cover), who interrupted his studies at Harvard to fly for Israel. This, despite the fact that Augarten had been shot down over occupied France during World War II, and survived sixty-three days behind enemy lines. It's about Chris Magee, a World War II ace and veteran of Pappy Boyington's Black Sheep Squadron, who felt the Jews deserved a homeland. And about American Indian Jesse Slade, who believed that fighting for Israel was "the Christian thing to do." And Buzz Beurling, the legendary "Falcon of Malta," who sought to recapture the glory days of World War II.

It's about David Starec, who left his rabbinical studies in New York to serve aboard the Exodus, the most famous of the refugee ships that tried to break through a British blockade of Palestine. And George Tzizik, who refused to let a wooden leg keep him out of the fray. And Ray Kurtz, a Brooklyn fireman who led a daring bombing raid on Cairo

I Am My Brother's Keeper captures the powerful story of those Jews and Christians who stood up to be counted at a critical time in Jewish history. Only three years after the Holocaust, these volunteers helped establish the State of Israel.

This story will forever change your understanding of the relationship between Americans and Israelis.

From the Back Cover:

"Relating the story of these volunteers in fascinating and flowing prose, I Am My Brother's Keeper is as timely as it is riveting. To read it is to realize yet again that the secret to our survival lies in the fervor of our faith and in the feeling of oneness which unifies our people in times of crisis." - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "Jeffrey and Craig Weiss have provided a solidly researched and clearly written historical document on the service of American and Canadian veterans....during the 1948 War of Independence. The reader learns of battles, heroes and the commitment of a small group of North American men and women, Jewish and Christian, who risked their lives for the new Jewish nation in Palestine." - Samuel Z. Klausner National President, American Veterans of Israel "Jeffrey Weiss and Craig Weiss have authored a fascinating and revealing account of American Jewry's finest hour - when our young men and women risked everything to help ensure that the State of Israel would be born. Their idealism and dedication are as inspiring today as they were fifty years ago. The authors deserve our thanks for bringing this story to life. I Am My Brother's Keeper belongs on every Jewish book shelf." - Morton A. Klein National President, Zionist Organization of America "Those Americans who fought for Israel lived the words of the Psalmist: 'If I forget thee Oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning.' I Am My Brother's Keeper celebrates these cherished individuals, and brings to life this magnificent chapter in the history of the American Jewish community." - Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President National Council of Young Israel

09 "....Unforgettable characters march through the pages of I Am My Brother's Keeper: from General Mickey Marcus, who broke the siege of Jerusalem, to naval commander Paul Shulman, who engineered Israel's greatest victory at sea, to the gallant pilots who created Israel's air force. I found the volume riveting." * Jonathan D. Sarna, Joseph H. and Belle Braun Professor of American Jewish History * Brandeis University

About this edition

• Publisher: Schiffer Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 076430528X
• ISBN 13: 9780764305283
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336