On Sunday, April 27, 2014, the American Veterans of Israel Legacy Corporation (AVILC) held the 48th annual Mickey Marcus Memorial at the Jewish Chapel and Military Cemetery of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
The service honored Colonel David “Mickey” Marcus — the former New York City Correction Commissioner who became the first American general to fall in a foreign army’s service since the Revolution, and the first commander of a unified front in Israel’s War of Independence. Marcus was killed on June 11, 1948, and his are the only remains in the West Point cemetery belonging to a graduate who died fighting for another country. His grave monument reads: “A soldier for all humanity.”
American Veterans of Israel, some holding the AVI banner, were joined by a USAG Military Police Honor Guard displaying the colors and by three Military Academy commanding officers for the wreath-laying ceremony and the sounding of “Taps” at the graveside.
The ceremony also remembered the some 1,200 North Americans — women and men, Jews and non-Jews, serving in every branch of the Israel Defense Forces — who volunteered as Machal during Israel’s War of Independence, 41 of whom gave their lives, Marcus among them.
Photo coverage and a full account of the April 27, 2014 ceremony were published by the New York Correction History Society: 48th West Point Rites Honor Col./Commissioner Mickey Marcus.