Soldiers of Jewish faith at the Army Air Force depot here were presented with an Ark holding the Holy Torah in a ceremony which symbolized the inter-faith cooperation in the armed forces.
The Ark was constructed by personnel of the depot who, with one exception, were non-Jewish, Sergeant Thomas Filip of Detroit, Michigan, supervisor of the work, did not fully understand the significance of the “Aron Kodesh;” Staff Sergeant Theodore Salzberg, of St. Paul Minnesota, and Sergeant Harold Thompson, of Coleman, Michigan, admitted they had never seen a Hebrew service, yet all contributed to the construction of the sacred symbol with skill and enthusiasm.
Presentation of the skillfully painted, curtained Ark, containing an elaborate wood carving of the Ten Commandments tablet, was made by Colonel O. F. Carlson, commending officer of the AAF Guam Air Depot. In a presentation speech, Colonel Calrson pointed out that the ceremony symbolized “one of the very basic ideals for which all the Allies are fighting.”
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.
