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Thought-Provoking Article Offers Insights into Mickey Marcus's Illustrious Career, Character, and Courage

Veterans in front of Mickey Marcus Tombstone

An article in the The Jewish Link of New Jersey does not just cover the 50th Annual Mickey Marcus Memorial, it also provides a short biography of Mickey Marcus and offers glimpses into his heart and mind. In this excerpt, for example, the author, Leonard Grunstein, goes beyond mere fact-reporting. He looks at Marcus's public service bent, his first-hand experience with the Holocaust, and his Jewish concept of doing the right thing.

From The 50th Annual Mickey Marcus Memorial Service at West Point by Leonard Grunstein:

Mickey contacted a number of retired generals, but he discovered that they were unwilling to serve in the IDF without assurances that their army status, careers and citizenship would not be jeopardized. Mickey, though, had seen the results of Nazi atrocities in Dachau. He knew, first hand, the suffering of the Jewish Displaced Persons. He understood the urgent need of Holocaust survivors to be in a homeland of their own. It would appear he followed Hillel’s adage (in Pirke Avot 2:5), "B’Mokom Sh’Eyn Ish, Hishtadel L’Hiyot Ish" (In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man). Mickey Marcus, therefore, determined to do the job himself. He reportedly said that he may not be the best man for the job, but he was the only one willing to go.

Grunstein offers inspiration as well, noting that "We live in troubling times, with terrorist threat and actions seemingly a part of the new normal. The brave heroes we honored did not take these kinds of perils lying down."

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