Jewish WWII veterans get Star of David headstones

Europe burials replacing crosses

When given the choice to put his religious identity on his metal dog tag, World War II soldier Albert Belmont did what many Jewish soldiers did at the time. His family members say he put a “P” for Protestant, out of fear of what Nazi German soldiers could do to him if he were captured.

For more than seven decades, Belmont was buried under a Latin cross, what soldiers were generally buried under unless they had “H” on their dog tag for Hebrew. In April, however, his daughter and granddaughters traveled to France to see the cross above his body replaced with a Star of David to reflect his Jewish identity.

Belmont’s changed headstone is part of a larger project called Operation Benjamin, working to correct the headstones of hundreds of Jewish soldiers who died in World Wars I and II. Barbara Belmont, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and her two daughters joined six other families on a trip to Europe to participate in ceremonies for the changing of their relatives’ headstones.

“In a way, it gave this very old lady closure,” said Belmont, 80. “I feel like I attended my father’s funeral. It was the most wonderful feeling.”

For most of her life, Belmont knew nothing about her biological father. He had died when she was 3, and her mother never wanted to speak of him, because his death was too painful.

Albert Belmont had voluntarily enlisted as a private in the Army when he was 32, in 1944. He arrived in Europe on Nov. 1, 1944, and he was fatally shot within a month, on Nov. 30.

Barbara Belmont said she visited her father’s grave at Lorraine American Cemetery 30 years ago when she was traveling for work, and she remembers not seeing many Stars of David among the gravesites. She was busy raising her two girls, so she never thought to do anything about the Latin cross above his grave.

During their recent Operation Benjamin trip, some of the other families said they shared Belmont’s experience: No one in their families would talk about the soldiers who had died.

“Whenever the song ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ was played in grade school, I would start crying,” Belmont said. “I don’t think I understood why this would happen.”

Belmont’s daughter Erin McCahill said she watched as her mother took a big breath and remarked how it was probably the last time she would see her father’s grave. She said she and her mother feel that his burial under a cross wasn’t wrong, necessarily, but that burying him under a Star of David was closer to what was right.

“For her, it’s less about how he was under a cross for 70 years,” said McCahill, who lives in Bethesda, Maryland. “It’s about reflecting what was closer to him.”

Operation Benjamin was created after Jacob Schacter, an Orthodox rabbi and professor at Yeshiva University, was leading a tour of a cemetery in Normandy, France, in 2013. While there, Schacter looked around and thought the number of Stars of David seemed low.

Shalom Lamm, the chief executive of Operation Benjamin, said the group estimates there are about 400 to 550 veterans who are incorrectly buried under a Latin cross. Thus far there have been 19 headstone changes, and corrections for 27 more are in the works.

The recent ceremony in France for her father lasted only about 15 minutes, Belmont said.

“I haven’t felt like I’ve had closure until now,” Belmont said. “I probably know a sufficient amount of information where I understand who this man was. That makes me happy.”