The dearest wish of a Jewish soldier who died in action on Guadalcanal was brought nearer fulfillment today as the House passed a special bill to grant posthumous citizenship to Siegfried Oberdorfer.
Oberdorfer fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and entered the American Army. He told his commanding officer: “If I could go into combat as an American citizen I would be the happiest man on earth. My only fear is that I will be killed before that citizenship is granted.”
Young Oberdorfer was killed in action on Guadalcanal on May 20, 1943, as a member of the 35th Infantry Regiment, before receiving his final papers. The House voted that he should be considered to have been an American citizen at the time of his death. The bill now goes to the Senate.
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