Bipartisan Bill Aims to Correct Headstones of Jewish Veterans 

A bipartisan group of members of Congress and senators on Monday introduced a bill that would ensure hundreds of Jewish-American service members are buried under grave markers that reflect their religion. 

Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, R-Fla., and Max Miller, R-Ohio, are seeking through the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act to honor the estimated 600 Jewish-American service members who were improperly buried beneath Latin crosses. 

One such Jewish-American service member, Pvt. David Moser, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917. He went on to fight in a string of battles across France before the signing of the Armistice of Compiègne that ended the fighting in World War I. His unit was dispatched to Kaisersesch, Germany, in November 1918 to continue training. 

Moser succumbed to the Spanish flu on March 1, 1919, at 20 years old while deployed in Germany. He was buried in the American section of a civilian cemetery before his remains were reburied beneath a headstone engraved with a Latin cross—a Christian symbol—in Arlington National Cemetery in 1920. 

The nonprofit organization Operation Benjamin on Monday unveiled new headstones etched with the Star of David for Moser and for Pfc. Adolf Hanf to properly reflect their Jewish faith. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., wrote on X about his experience representing Moser’s niece as she advocated for a Star of David headstone for her uncle. 

“I represent Private Moser’s 102-year-old niece, Deborah Eiferman, who has spent nearly a century advocating for a headstone that reflects her uncle’s true faith: one bearing the Star of David,” Torres said. “Now, 105 years after his burial, a new headstone has finally been unveiled—and I had the profoundly moving experience of witnessing it firsthand.” 

Shalom Lamm, co-founder and chief historian of Operation Benjamin, told The Daily Signal, “The soldiers in question gave their very lives in the service of our country. It is basic that one of the things owed to them is a proper burial.” 

Operation Benjamin is a donor-supported organization that ensures Jewish-American soldiers mistakenly buried worldwide under Latin crosses are properly honored with a Star of David headstone at no cost to their family members. 

Lamm said the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act would enable the American Battle Monuments Commission and other relevant agencies to work more effectively with organizations such as Operation Benjamin “to do the necessary meticulous research in a timely fashion.”  

Each service member’s case must be thoroughly researched, as a high standard of proof is necessary to have their headstones changed. 

“Our goal has always been, and remains, to get the job done, and then salute, and go quietly into the night,” Lamm explained. “Our goal is to go out of business with the pride of knowing we completed a good and important service for our soldiers.” 

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