Bill Text: PA HR470 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Commemorating the dedication of a monument at Chaplain's Hill in Arlington National Cemetery to remember the fourteen Jewish chaplains who died in service to our country.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2011-10-26 - Adopted (198-0) [HR470 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-HR470-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 2599
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 470 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY FRANKEL, SHAPIRO, JOSEPHS, COHEN, B. BOYLE, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, BOYD, D. COSTA, DALEY, DENLINGER, DiGIROLAMO, ELLIS, EVERETT, FABRIZIO, FLECK, FREEMAN, GABLER, GEIST, GEORGE, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, HARHAI, HUTCHINSON, KORTZ, KRIEGER, MAHONEY, MANN, MARKOSEK, McGEEHAN, METZGAR, MILLARD, MILLER, MIRABITO, MUNDY, M. O'BRIEN, PAYTON, QUINN, RAPP, READSHAW, REICHLEY, SACCONE, SANTARSIERO, SAYLOR, SCHRODER, K. SMITH, STABACK, SWANGER, TAYLOR, VEREB, YOUNGBLOOD, BRIGGS AND FARRY, OCTOBER 24, 2011
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, OCTOBER 24, 2011
A RESOLUTION
Commemorating the dedication of a monument at Chaplain's Hill in
Arlington National Cemetery to remember the fourteen Jewish
chaplains who died in service to our country.
WHEREAS, Since 1775, military chaplains have served as
religious and spiritual leaders for millions of soldiers and
their families; and
WHEREAS, Chaplain's Hill, located at Arlington National
Cemetery, is home to several monuments that pay respect to
chaplains who served during various conflicts; and
WHEREAS, In 1926, a monument was dedicated at Arlington
National Cemetery to the 23 chaplains who lost their lives in
World War I; and
WHEREAS, In 1981, Protestant chaplains who died in World War
I and World War II were similarly honored in a monument on
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Chaplain's Hill, paid for by private funds; and
WHEREAS, In 1989, 83 Catholic chaplains who gave their lives
in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam Conflict were
memorialized on a monument on Chaplain's Hill, paid for by
private funds; and
WHEREAS, On October 24, 2011, a new memorial paid for by
private funds will be dedicated at Chaplain's Hill to remember
14 Jewish chaplains who died in service to their country; and
WHEREAS, Of the 14 chaplains on this monument, at least four
of them have connections to Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Rabbi Alexander Goode, who served Temple Beth Israel
in York, Pennsylvania, was the first Jewish chaplain to give his
life for his country when he offered his life jacket to other
soldiers as his troopship sank off Greenland in February 1943;
and
WHEREAS, Rabbi Meir Engel, the first Jewish chaplain in
Vietnam, served a synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
before taking up a career as a military chaplain during World
War II; and
WHEREAS, Rabbi Henry Goody left a synagogue in Greensburg,
Pennsylvania, to volunteer in World War II and shortly
afterwards lost his life; and
WHEREAS, Solomon Rosen, whose father was a military chaplain
who had died during World War II, came to Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, where the Army Chaplain School was based from the
late 1940s until 1951, graduated with the highest honors and
died shortly afterwards in a military transport crash; and
WHEREAS, Army Chaplain Rabbi Irving Tepper was killed in
action in France on August 13, 1944, after seeing combat in
Morocco, Tunisia and Sicily while attached to an infantry combat
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team in the Ninth Division; and
WHEREAS, Army Chaplain Rabbi Louis Werfel, also known as the
"Flying Rabbi" for his determination to visit soldiers no matter
the distance, died on December 24, 1944, at the young age of 27
in a plane crash while en route to conduct Chanukah services;
and
WHEREAS, Army Chaplain Rabbi Morton Singer, who taught Judo
and was a college weightlifting champion, died on December 17,
1968, in a plane crash while on a mission in Vietnam to conduct
Chanukah services; and
WHEREAS, Army Chaplain Rabbi Herman Rosen, who volunteered
for military service at the age of 42, died in service of his
faith and his country on June 18, 1943; and
WHEREAS, Army Chaplain Rabbi Nachman Arnoff, despite being
married, a father and in his 40s, volunteered for the chaplaincy
during World War II and died in service of this faith and his
country on May 9, 1946; and
WHEREAS, Army Chaplain Rabbi Frank Goldenberg, who
volunteered for military service within a year of graduating
from rabbinical school and in addition to ministering to the
troops also worked with Holocaust survivors in Europe, died in
service of his faith and his country on May 22, 1946; and
WHEREAS, Army Chaplain Rabbi Samuel Hurwitz, who arrived in
the United States at the age of three and was called to serve as
a rabbi in diverse locations from the Panama Canal to the
Southwest and the Midwest over a dozen years, died in service of
his faith and his country on December 9, 1943; and
WHEREAS, Air Force Chaplain Rabbi Samuel Rosen, who
volunteered to serve throughout World War II and the Korean War,
died in service of his faith and his country on May 13, 1955;
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and
WHEREAS, Air Force Chaplain Rabbi Joseph Hoenig, who traveled
all over the Arctic to serve military personnel in Alaska, died
in service of his faith and his country on December 29, 1966;
and
WHEREAS, Air Force Chaplain Rabbi David Sobel, assigned to
southeast Asia, died in service of his faith and his country on
March 7, 1974; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the
dedication of a monument at Chaplain's Hill in Arlington
National Cemetery to remember the fourteen Jewish chaplains who
died in service to our country; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
service and patriotism of these chaplains who gave their lives
for their country; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives express its
profound thanks to the family and friends of these chaplains and
also extend its heartfelt appreciation to the bipartisan,
interfaith efforts that led to the construction of this
memorial; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the House of
Representatives deliver a copy of this resolution to the
National and Pennsylvania Headquarters of the American Legion
and to the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, which provides full
support services to Jewish chaplains and administers
ecclesiastical approval for chaplain candidates and Jewish lay
leaders in the military.
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