“Mickey”... Born to Romanian immigrants on the Lower East Side in 1902, Marcus moved to Brooklyn with his family as a young child. His older brother Michael was big and strong, and formed a self-defense group that protected elderly Jews from neighborhood street gangs. ‘Big Mike,’ as he was called, worked out daily. When young David started following his older brother around, and even sparring with him at the local gym, people started calling him ‘Little Mike,’ which soon was shortened to ‘Mickey.’ The nickname stuck throughout his life.

West Point, Brooklyn Law, and Emma... Mickey was brilliant, and along with his secular studies, he also studied Talmud. After a year at City College, he enrolled in the US Military Academy at West Point. In addition to his studies there, he also excelled in sports, winning the Intercollegiate Welterweight Boxing Championship, and a letter in football as well. Upon graduation from West Point, he was assigned to the Army base on Governor’s Island, and attended Brooklyn Law School. During this time (1927) he met and married Emma Hertzenberg, whom he loved passionately to the end of his life.

A career of service... After his graduation from Brooklyn Law, he became an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District, and then went to work for the City, rising through the ranks to become Commissioner of Corrections, appointed by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. He led a police raid on the corruption-ridden prison on Welfare Island, and successfully prosecuted several Mafia gangs, Lucky Luciano’s crime ring notoriously among them. Though he had resigned from the Army, he maintained Reserve status. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Marcus was re-activated, and his outfit was deployed to Pearl Harbor. During that year he commanded a Ranger school there, training some 8,000 men. In the spring of 1943, Marcus returned to the Pentagon to become Chief of Planning for the War Department’s Civil Affairs Division, headed by Maj. Gen. John Hilldring. Rising to the rank of full Colonel, Marcus served as legal and military advisor for some of the war’s most important Allied conferences: Cairo in November 1943; Dumbarton Oaks, where the United Nations was born; Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam. According to the citation for his Distinguished Service Medal (an unusually high service decoration for a colonel), Marcus played a key role in the “negotiation and drafting of the Italian Surrender Instrument, the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Germany, and the international machinery to be used for the control of Germany after her total defeat.”

Courage, Bravado, and Menschlichkeit... In early May 1944, Marcus convinced Gen. Hilldring to send him to London as an observer in the implementation of military government policies for France. While Marcus did fulfill this role, he also managed to finagle his way onto a plane in order to jump into France on D-Day with the 101st Airborne Division. It was the first time he had jumped from an airplane. Marcus also was involved in the liberation of Dachau, and after the war, participated in some of the Nuremburg prosecutions. Marcus was a hard-driving individual in all aspects of his life. He apparently enjoyed a good party, especially when it involved liquor. He loved his wife Emma with undying passion and devotion. He loved English poetry and quoted it often. He was a fiercely loyal friend and total mensch. Witness this incident. . . Early in his career, while he was away from New York, Marcus received a letter from a close personal friend, in which the friend confided to him his deep despair over serious financial setbacks. Though not a particularly wealthyman, Marcus did have a bit of money saved up. Marcus sent his friend his bankbook, and told him to go to the bank, take what he needed, and then return the bankbook to Emma. A mensch indeed.

Michael Stone... Marcus retired from the Army and retreated into private practice. But in 1947 he was approached in New York by Major Shlomo Shamir, representing the ‘Provisional Jewish Government’ in Palestine. Shamir had been sent to America to recruit a military expert to help organize and train the army of the soon-to-be-born state. Marcus agreed to take on the challenge himself. Though the US government did try to not stop him, it insisted that he not use his real name. Thus he adopted the nom de guerre ‘Michael Stone,’ and flew to Palestine in January 1948. The United Nations had voted to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states effective October 1, 1948, but the British were to remain in control of the Mandate until then. Since 1945, Arabs and Jews had engaged in ongoing guerrilla warfare, both against each other and against the British. Many of the Arab countries vowed that the State of Israel would never see the light of day.

Restructuring Jewish Defense... Until that time, Jewish defense in Palestine consisted of two primary underground organizations: the Hagganah and the Palmach. Often working at cross purposes, they presented an ineffective fighting force. But the Jewish situation was desperate. The surrounding Arab states comprised about 100 times the territory and 60 times the population of the would-be Jewish state. As soon as the Jews declared their independence, the forces of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Trans-Jordan (later Jordan) were poised to invade. The Arab forces, however, were a mixed lot, ranging from the Arab Liberation Army, a ragged collection of poorly trained volunteers, to the 6,000-strong Trans-Jordan Arab Legion, a modern, elite fighting force, fortified and commanded by British officers. Marcus toured the country and assessed the situation, in order to recommend a restructuring of the Jewish fighters’ approach to combat. To assist in the training program, Marcus tried smuggle U.S. Army field manuals into the country, but failed. So, in characteristic fashion, he re-drafted his own manuals from memory, specifically tailoring them to the needs of the fledgling Jewish army. Marcus stressed initiative and decisive action. He also emphasized solid staff work at higher levels and the importance of logistics. Reporting directly to future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Marcus made recommendations he believed necessary to transform the underground organization into a modern, effective strike force. What ultimately emerged was the Israel Defense Force, which has grown into one of the most powerful armies in the world.

Jerusalem in Crisis... In May of 1948 Marcus turned his attention to the crisis in Jerusalem. The key to the ancient city was a series of Arab-held hill fortifications, and a massively fortified police station at Latrun that dominated the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Road. As long as the Arab Legion held those positions, Jerusalem was effectively cut off. On May 25, the Jewish forces mounted an attack on Latrun but were driven back with heavy casualties. Upon close examination of the failure, the Israeli leadership realized that the attack had suffered from the lack of a single unified command. It became clear to Ben Gurion that Marcus needed greater authority, and took counsel with his cabinet. On May 28, the provisional government issued the following order: ‘Brigadier General Stone is hereby appointed Commander of the Jerusalem front, with command over the Etzioni, Har’el and 7th Brigades.’ Mickey Marcus finally had his combat command. Up until that time, brigades were the highest level of field command in the Israeli army. Now Marcus was the equivalent of a division commander. Ben Gurion bestowed upon him the rank of “Aluf,” making him the first Jewish soldier to hold that rank since Judah the Maccabee.

The Burma Road... The building of the Burma Road was a feat of endurance and ingenuity, which Marcus conceived and engineered. He took the name, of course, from the original “Burma Road,” constructed by the Allies in the late 1930’s as an important conduit of supplies to the Chinese during the Japanese occupation during WWII. Marcus’s “Burma Road” basically followed old goat paths through the Judean hills from a point just south of Latrun across to northwest Jerusalem. Marcus’s construction crew consisted of gangs of young Jews brought in from Jerusalem, refugees barely off the ships, and Arab friends from Abu Ghosh, who surreptitiously hacked and bulldozed a lifeline out of the steep terrain. At first, a three mile gap between two sections of the road proved impossible to bridge, so hundreds of men would traverse this area at night on foot, hauling heavy sacks of flour to Jerusalem. Though the road was slow and hazardous, ultimately it allowed the Israelis to circumvent the Arab Legion ensconced at Latrun as they traveled up through the hills to Jerusalem. As Marcus and his men prepared for a massive assault, United Nations mediator Count Folke Bernadotte had negotiated the cease-fire time for 10 AM on June 11, 1948. But the siege of Jerusalem had been broken, and the Israelis had a credible claim on their land link with the city. Two years ago Steve and I located the Burma Road and tried to drive the length of it. Unfortunately the last few meters of the climb proved too much for our little rented 4-cylinder Mazda. But we had seen enough to understand in a way that we couldn’t only from the pictures just how exposed and endangered the Israelis were in constructing it, and what incredible ingenuity and just raw determination it must have taken on Marcus’s part to push them through the labor and fatigue, fear and despair that they must have experienced. Today, on the hills of the Burma Road across from the Har’el Outlook, oversized silhouette figures have been placed to recall the fortitude of those “night shleppers,” as they are fondly called. Just inside the entrance to Har’el, a simple plaque nestled amongst the trees honors those American volunteers who fought in the War of Independence.

Cast A Giant Shadow... The author Ted Berkman wrote a biography of Mickey Marcus called CAST A GIANT SHADOW. The book goes into great detail about Marcus’s colorful personality, his extraordinary menschlichkeit, his athletic prowess, his zest for life, and of course, his professional career. In 1966, MGM produced a movie based on Berkman’s book with an all-star cast, featuring Kirk Douglas as Marcus, Angie Dickinson as Emma, and John Wayne as the character representing Gen. Hilldring. The cast also featured Yul Brenner, Frank Sinatra, Senta Berger, among other luminaries, and archival footage of FDR, Mayor LaGuardia, and Joseph Stalin. The movie focuses primarily on Marcus’s role in constructing the “Burma Road” and mounting the campaign into Jerusalem. Though a bit heavily seasoned with “Hollywood spice,” so to speak, the movie does have its measure of appeal, and most importantly, brings Marcus’s life and heroism to public attention.

A tragic, fatal mistake... The night before the UN cease-fire took effect, Marcus and his staff held a celebration in the Arab village of Abu Ghosh, some eight miles east of Jerusalem. In the early morning hours, Marcus was unable to sleep and went for a walk, wrapping himself in a blanket. On his way out, he was recognized by the sentry, who waved to him. Shortly after, the relief sentry showed up 25 minutes early. Not knowing that his commander was out walking around, the new sentry challenged the blanket-clad figure as soon as he saw him. Marcus replied in English, which confused the sentry, a recent immigrant. The sentry fired a shot in the air, but the figure in the dark kept coming. The sentry lowered his rifle and fired again. Mickey Marcus fell dead at 3:50 AM with a bullet through his heart – the last casualty before the cease-fire. He was 47 years old.

 The funeral for Colonel David Marcus took place at Union Temple on July 2, 1948. I am told that the lines of people waiting to get in wrapped entirely around the block. Rabbi Dr. Sidney Tedesche, with whom Marcus shared an ongoing relationship of mutual respect and friendship, officiated. The cortège passed in front of City Hall, where the then Mayor William O’Dwyer stood on the steps in tribute. It then proceeded up to West Point, where Marcus became the first Jew to be buried in the cemetery there. Moshe Dayan represented David Ben Gurion and the Israeli government, and Rabbi Tedesche conducted the graveside service. Also in attendance were the then Governor of New York, Thomas Dewey, and Yosef Hamburger, the Hagganah commander of the refugee ship Exodus. Colonel David Marcus, a.k.a. “Aluf” Michael Stone, was also the first to be buried at West Point having fallen in battle under a foreign flag. Marcus believed in, fought for, and distinguished himself in the armies of two nations. He was a loyal, courageous, and heroic American, and will forever be a shining star in the Household of Israel. The epitaph on his gravestone reads: “Colonel David Marcus: A Soldier for All Humanity.” Y’hi Zichro Baruch – May his memory be blessed.