Dear MRFF:
I am a practicing Jew and have an obvious Jewish last name. I was commissioned from a small Texas school in a small Texas town in 1962. I was thrust into the cauldron of subtle and occasionally blatant anti-semitism which permeated my Army at that time. I had fellow officers refused to interact with me, and found myself being ridiculed and ofttimes outright disobeyed with accompanying religious slurs. Although it did nothing to deter my Jewish identification and beliefs, it did affect my utility to the outfit mission. When I complained to one of the superiors who seemed more “reasonable” to me, his comment was that I should change my last name!
I salute Mikey and his efforts on behalf of all victims of ethnocentrism. I am now 70 years old. Some of those memories still hurt.
Cordially,
(name and location withheld)
Kudos
– July 11, 2010
