United States Senator Warren W. Barbour of New Jersey paid high tribute to Jewish participation in the war effort today at the presentation exercises of the $1,000 Mordecai ben David Foundation award to Mr. and Mrs. Morris Schleifer of Newark, parents of Private Louis Schleifer, first New Jersey soldier killed in the war. Schleifer, posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valor, fell while trying to rescue the crew of his plane from Japanese attack at Hickam Field on the morning of December 7. The exercises were held under the auspices of Yeshiva College.
The Mordecai ben David Foundation, which was established in 1940 by an anonymous donor, is given to the “individual who shall have achieved the most noteworthy record in the promotion and enhancement among American Jews of a deep and abiding sense of loyalty, devotion and patriotism to the United States of America.” The award of $1,000 was made in war bonds. Lieut. Col. Joseph C. Donoghue of Fort Dix, representing the United States Army at the services, paid tribute to Schliefer’s bravery far beyond the call of duty.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
