The first “mercy plane” for Israel left LaGuardia Airport today carrying more than 15,000 pounds of urgently-needed medical supplies, drugs, hospital equipment, dried blood plasma and special foods, it was announced today by Hadassah, which arranged the flight. The four-engined plane, whose cargo is valued at more than $50,000, will land at Haifa.
New York City Commissioner of Hospitals Dr. Edward M. Bernecker, who broke a bottle of Israeli wine across the plane’s open freight doors in a brief ceremony prior to its departure, declared: “As the greatest republic in the world, it is our job to help the fighters for democracy in Israel. There is no better way of doing this than by helping them with our standards of scientific research, modern hospitalization, social welfare and child care.
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