SAN DIEGO – A famous U.S. Navy admiral, two U.S. Air Force officers, and a U.S. Army major currently are being saluted in a display sponsored by the Jewish War Veterans of San Diego at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park.
Honored are Admiral Hyman J. Rickover, Army Major Abraham J. Baum, and Air Force Col. Clark J. Kholos and Lt. Col. Allen R. Miliefsky.
Perhaps the most dramatic description of heroism under fire was accorded to Baum, who headed a controversial World War II task force that General George S. Patton had ordered to charge through enemy German lines to liberate a prisoner-of-war camp where Patton’s son-in-law, John L. Knight, had been imprisoned.
Patton presented Baum with the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in 1945. The citation read: “On March 26, 1945, Captain Baum led an armored force in daring action into enemy territory to liberate Allied prisoners held by the Germans near Hammelburg, Germany. Enroute, as the column entered the town of Germunden, Captain Baum was wounded by enemy rocket fire. Despite his wound, he continued to lead the force throughout the day and the following night until he was again wounded during action on the outskirts of Hammelburg. Captain Baum’s fearless determination and his inspiring leadership and loyal courageous devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.” Baum subsequently was promoted to major.
Admiral Rickover (1900-1986), who is considered to be the father of America’s nuclear Navy, is remembered at the museum with a copy of the citation that had accompanied a commemorative medal that Congress approved in his honor in 1982. It described Rickover as an educator, patriot, and engineer, who made “distinguished contributions to the defense of our nation,” was responsible for the “peaceful development of nuclear reactor technology” and gave “sixty-three years of service to our country and world renowned contributions in development of safe nuclear energy.”
Air Force Col. Clark J. Kholos served during the Vietnam War at Udon Royal Thai Air Force Base, where he “served as a fire control officer on AC-130A and AC-130H gunship aircraft, coordinating and directing combat aircrew missions in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam,” according to the display.
Kholos had flown 269 combat missions, compiling 560 combat flying hours as part of his overall total of 8,600 flying hours. “His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal with to Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Combat Readiness Medal, Vietnam Medal with four devices, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal,” according to a printed resume at the museum.
Lt. Col. Allen R. Miliefsky, USAF Retired, had been trained as a fighter pilot, but because of illness retrained as a navigator. He flew 258 combat missions during the 1968 “Tet” offensive in Vietnam, logging over 860 hours of combat flying and a total of 5,500 flying hours.
“While flying these missions not a single American outpost or fire support base in his area of responsibility, though under heavy attack, was ever overrun by the enemy,” according to the Museum’s display. Among numerous awards and decorations was “The Distinguished Flying Cross for preventing the enemy from overrunning a Special Forces Camp near Da Nang Air Base.” In 1977, “Allen received an assignment as the Air Adviser to the Shah of Iran,” according to the printed legend. “Upon his retirement on October 1, 1978 as a lieutenant colonel, Allen began working as Director of Veteran Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He worked in this position until he moved to San Diego where he assumed the position of Transition Service officer for the Disabled American Veterans.”
A 2005 resolution from the California State Assembly noted that the Jewish War Veterans organization was founded in 1896 by Jewish veterans of the Civil War, and that “thousands of Jews have died in combat for their country and thousands more have been wounded, and thousands of Jews have been awarded combat medals for performing their duty in time of war.”
The resolution went on to state that “a study of Jewish participation in the military during World War II clearly indicates Jews served in the Armed Forces beyond their numerical proportion to the general population, and they received more than 52,000 awards, including the coveted Congressional Medal of Honor.”
Besides honoring Jewish veterans, the JWV also “combats anti-Semitism and bigotry … assists the Office of Special Investigation in pursuing Nazi war criminals, supports American youth through scouting, scholarships, and anti-drug programs, and assists oppressed Jews worldwide,” according to the Assembly resolution.
It added that JWVUSA (Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America) is dedicated to America’s veterans through its hospital, rehabilitation and veterans service programs [and] assists the Veterans’ Service Office in major cities throughout the country, and supports the underprivileged, homeless, and handicapped of the nation through a variety of civic projects including low-cost, federally subsidized senior citizen housing.”
The Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park is housed in the former, multi-religious Navy Chapel that had been part of Balboa Naval Hospital before city-owned Balboa Park and the Naval Hospital participated in a swap of land at Inspiration Point and Florida Canyon. The chapel has numerous stained glass windows relevant to each of the many religions it served. The JWV display case is located immediately below a stained glass window depicting the Tablets of the Law (10 Commandments) inscribed within a Magen David.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World.