Jewish GI’s along with other Americans in the U. S. Armed Forces in the Far East suffer from “a great sense of isolation and are exposed to unwholesome moral influences and attitudes alien to us as Americans and Jews,” S. D. Gershovitz, National Jewish Welfare Board executive vice-president, declared today, Because Jewish community resources in the Far East are inadequate for the tremendous morale job that needs to be done, he urged all-out support by the American Jewish community of JWB aid to overseas communities.
Mr. Gershovitz voiced this view on his return from a tour of U. S. military installations in key areas in the Far East where he conferred with top military officials, Jewish chaplains, special service officers and Jewish communal leaders. Mr. Gershovitz met with Jewish community leaders in Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan and Okinawa. On the tour he studied JWB service responsibilities in the light of possible deployment of U. S. military forces on or near Formosa, including all arrangements for Passover services, which he called “the most extensive in years.”
In Korea, he noted, there is no Jewish community and the Jewish GI’s are entirely dependent on the Jewish chaplains. Mr. Gershovitz stressed the meager community resources he found in the Philippines, Japan and Hawaii. In Japan, a small JWB Armed Services Committee has been set up in Tokyo, where there is a Jewish Community Center. In Hawaii, Mr. Gershovitz helped to reorganize the JWB Armed Services Committee and discussed similar arrangements with Jewish leaders in the Philippines.
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