Local Jewish Veterans Launch a New Group : Thousand Oaks: A ceremony at Temple Etz Chaim marks creation of Conejo Valley chapter. Its goal is to offer services and educational activities.

It felt like a punch to the gut.

Members of a new Thousand Oaks group for Jewish war veterans groaned as one of them recited a comment that political columnist Patrick Buchanan made just before the Persian Gulf War.

While some American Jews are beating the drums of war, Buchanan had said, the Americans who would die in such a war were “kids with names like McAllister, Murphy, Gonzalez and Leroy Brown.”

“It kills me,” said Thousand Oaks resident Milt Piller, who served in the Army during World War II. “But I actually believe there are people out there who think that Jews did not volunteer for the service.”

Hoping to bring attention to the thousands of Jews who fought and died in American uniforms, Piller and 25 other Thousand Oaks residents recently unfurled the banner of the Jewish War Veterans for the first time in Thousand Oaks.

After a ceremony at Temple Etz Chaim, members of the new Conejo Valley chapter of the national nonprofit group, said they were hoping their troop could offer services to local veterans and sponsor educational talks for young people.

“What we really want to do is impress upon the younger generations that we did fight for our country,” said Larry Golland, the group’s program director.

Golland said the troop will visit local schools and attend special educational events to pass along that message. And, he hopes to join the existing Jewish War Veterans post in Ventura at special activities such as last month’s Stand Down, an annual event to provide services for homeless veterans.

The Ventura chapter, which was formed last year and is one of 600 nationwide, headed the clothing committee at Stand Down 1994.

Bill Schmidt, the commander of the Ventura post, said his group plans to visit hospitalized veterans in Santa Barbara or Los Angeles.

Group members in the Conejo Valley said they too will pay hospital visits to local veterans, and they plan to begin raising funds for the families of veterans who have died.

The post will also contribute money to the 100,000-member national organization, which lobbies Congress on behalf of veterans’ interests and runs a Jewish veterans’ museum in Washington, D.C.

Since its inception in 1896, the group has focused on memorializing Jews who served in the U.S. military.

Jewish War Veterans was founded “as a direct result of slander and insinuations that Jews had not participated in the (Civil War),” according to a written history provided to its members.

Among the goals listed in the group’s constitution: “To preserve the memories and records of patriotic service performed by the men and women of our faith.”

To that end, the national group has gathered statistics and historical information about Jewish involvement in the nation’s wars.

Figures released by the group indicate that more than 51,000 Jews were listed as casualties in World War II and 11,000 died in the conflicts in Europe and the Pacific.

Having that information is particularly important, Golland said, because as time passes, memories of war begin to fade.

“The war was 50 years ago, and a lot of people now either weren’t around or don’t remember what it was like,” Golland said. The memories of the war have dulled, even for those who were there.

But as the men stood in the temple last week talking about their hopes for the new group, they acknowledged some wounds would never heal.

Irving Wasserman, who lost his younger brother in combat, talked about his first day lining up before his battalion’s commanding officer.

“He came up to us and said, ‘I want you to know all about me. There are three things I hate most in this world. Jews, dogs and (blacks), in that order,’ ” Wasserman recalled. “Not surprisingly, I ended up on permanent latrine duty.”

Golland said he can still picture the scene that made his heart drop, as his tank battalion rolled through France on the way to Berlin.

He had chosen to ride in a tank because it seemed safe. But as he passed the charred steel skeletons of the battalions that came before his, he realized he was not safe at all.

“My sense of security just disappeared when I saw that,” Golland said. “I had every reason to be frightened.”

Piller, who served under Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines, said he is still haunted by the sight of a Japanese war plane swooping toward his foxhole about 50 feet from the ground.

“I remember the plane was so close, I could see the pilot looking out the window at us as he flew by,” Piller said. “I said to myself, well, I guess this is it, I’m going to die. But he ran out of ammunition or something because he passed right over us without firing a shot. A few seconds later he was hit and his plane went down.”

Every member of the group has a story to tell, a memory that each has been unable to shake.

“Subconsciously,” Piller said, “you have certain things in you that you’re never going to get rid of.”

That is part of the reason he felt that organizing a group of veterans was a good idea.

The men, most of whom are in their 70s, share a bond based on their five-decades-old experiences. It is one that will bring the group a sense of camaraderie, but members acknowledge it also threatens the group’s future.

Two or three members served in Korea and none served in more recent conflicts, Piller said.

“We would like to get some younger people in here, but so far we haven’t had much luck,” Piller said. Members have not yet followed the lead of the national organization, which has started a group called Descendants of Jewish War Veterans.

“It may be something we want to look into in the future,” Piller said. “After all, the whole point of this group is to keep the memories alive.”