pagesofhistory Forever Friends
A survivor of the infamous Dachau concentration camp reunites with the U.S. servicemember who helped liberate him near the end of World War II.
M arcel Levy was just a teenager
when he was liberated from the notorious Nazi concentration
camp in Dachau, Germany, in April 1945. His liberator, retired Army Cpl. Sid Shafner of the 42nd Infantry Division, wasn’t much older. The experience sparked a lasting friendship, and in May 2016, the two men reunited for the first time since 1995 during an emotional cere- mony in Israel sponsored by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a nonprofit organi- zation that supports Israeli troops. German forces were on the run from ad-
vancing Allied forces when Shafner’s con- voy was stopped by Levy, who begged the soldiers to help those who were still at the concentration camp. Shafner was among the first to enter the compound. Levy, now 90, lost his entire family during the war. With nowhere to go, he was befriended by Shafner’s unit, which employed him as a dishwasher. Over the years, the men stayed in touch via letters, postcards, and email. “You know, everything that I have today is because of you,” Levy told Shafner, 94, of Denver, during their reunion. “You saved my life.” But Shafner was modest, saying, “Don’t praise me. If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else.” As part of the meeting, Shafner was hon-
ored during a Holocaust remembrance cer- emony. Levy presented him with a plaque that read, “You came like a warrior angel ... and carried me into the light.”
PHOTO: SHAHAR AZRAN/FIDF; VIDEO: RON BAVARSKY/FIDF
The Nazis established the concentration camp in Dachau in 1933, and nearly 28,000 prisoners perished there.
Marine Finally Receives Purple Heart
O
n Sept. 21, 1944, Marine Corps Pfc. Junior Eugene Howell was hit by shrapnel
while fighting in the Pacific theater with the 6th Amphibious Am- trac Battalion. Seventy- two years later to the day, Howell, now 91, was awarded a Purple Heart during a special ceremony in his home- town of Muncie, Ind. An effort was made
13 years ago for Howell to receive a Purple Heart, but the Ma- rine Corps said it could find no evidence Howell had been wounded in action. Delaware County Veterans Affairs Officer Nate Jones, aided by Sen. Joe Donnelly, renewed the effort on Howell’s behalf and was ultimately successful. The Purple Heart was created by George
Washington in 1782 as the Badge of Military Merit. The Military Order of the Purple Heart estimates more than 1.7 million Pur- ple Hearts have been awarded to date.
MO
— Don Vaughan, a North Carolina-based free- lance writer, authors this monthly column.
To watch a video of Marcel Levy and retired Army Cpl. Sid Shafner’s reunion, visit
moaa.org/pagesofhistoryreunion. JANUARY 2017 MILITARY OFFICER 79
Marcel Levy
(right), a World War II concentra- tion camp sur- vivor, reunited with retired Army Cpl. Sid Shafner in Israel.
History Lesson On Jan. 10, 1944, the G.I. Bill of Rights was in- troduced in the House of Representatives. Millions of veterans took advantage of the education benefits and home loans provided by the new legislation.
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