Washington DC: Jewish chaplains monument

Plans are set for a memorial to Jewish chaplains at Arlington National Cemetery to be dedicated in October 2010, according to a story in the Washington Jewish Week.

Tracing the Tribe read about the memorial campaign in the DC Jewish History blog of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington.

The Jewish Historical Society (JHSGW) has initiated a local fundraising campaign for the monument and for a booklet detailing the cemetery's Jewish sites and the chaplains' history. The goal is to raise a total of $10,000 from at least 100 area residents, to make it a true community project.

The new monument will memorialize nine Jewish chaplains who died in World War II, one in Korea and three who died during the Vietnam War era, according to Sol Moglen of Caldwell, N.J., who is spearheading the project with Ken Kraetzer of Westchester, N.Y.

The project has already raised $30,000 and the current campaign will fund publication of the 30-page booklet, including the Jewish chaplains' history, and to cover travel costs to the dedication for the nine chaplains' family members.

The booklet, in conjunction with the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Washington, will also include information on other Jewish service members buried at the cemetery. For more information on the JGSGW's Arlington Cemetery project, click here. The 31st IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy - DC 2011 - will be hosted by the JGSGW - August 14-19, 2011 - at the Grand Hyatt.

Readers who would like to help this project may click Contribute; make sure to put "Arlington Campaign" in the designation box.

For more information, see the complete article at the first link above.