Pacifist at Iwo Jima

Lee Mandel is a retired U.S. Navy physician. He served at four Navy hospitals, was twice a staff internist at the Office of the Attending Physician, U.S. Congress, and was the Senior Medical Officer aboard three U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. He has published numerous journal articles both in medicine and history. He lives in Suffolk, Virginia.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionProloguePart I. PacifistOne. Family OriginsTwo. Gifted StudentThree. War No MoreFour. DiscoveryFive. The New RabbiSix. Speaking Out for Peace as the Temple GrowsSeven. Popular FrontEight. “The Next War for Democracy Will Kill Democracy”Nine. “On Three Things Does the Whole World Depend”Ten. MunichEleven. A World on the BrinkTwelve. The War BeginsThirteen. Private LifeFourteen. A Vision of the Common Man at War and a SurprisePart II. WarriorFifteen. Becoming a ChaplainSixteen. The First Marine RabbiSeventeen. The Road to Iwo JimaEighteen. Going Overseas with the 5th Marine DivisionNineteen. InvasionTwenty. In the Heat of Battle­Twenty-One. Uncommon Valor­Twenty-Two. Coping with Hell on Earth­Twenty-Three. Endgame­Twenty-Four. The Purest Democracy­Twenty-Five. Aftermath­Twenty-Six. Why Pacifism Failed­Twenty-Seven. Once a Marine …­Twenty-Eight. ­Post-War YearsEpilogueChapter NotesBibliographyIndex

“Lee Mandel traces the unique and well-documented story of Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn, grandson of an Orthodox rabbi from Lithuania who became one of the most famous (Reform) US rabbis by the end of World War II. Originally a pacifist, Gittelsohn found himself changed by the totalitarian threats of the late 1930s. He volunteered to serve during World War II as a military chaplain, becoming the first Jewish chaplain in the United States Marines. He survived the famous battle of Iwo Jima and numerous antisemitic incidents to thrive after World War II. A moving blend of social and military history.”—Richard Breitman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, American University, author of The Berlin Mission: The American Who Resisted Nazi Germany from Within