A U.S. Army soldier was brutally beaten by other soldiers in his platoon earlier this month following two incidents in which a drill sergeants allegedly used anti-Semitic slurs to address the soldier.
Pvt. Michael Handman, 20, who has just completed his fifth week of basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, was recently released from a hospital where he was treated for a concussion, facial wounds, and severe oral injuries following the attack, according to the boy’s father, Jonathan Handman.
The soldier’s father said he received a disturbing telephone call last week from his son’s commanding officer “to tell me that my son is OK and out of the hospital.”
Jonathan Handman said his son was lured into a laundry room at the Fort Benning Army base by other soldiers, knocked unconscious and beaten while he lay on the ground.
Michael Handman enlisted in the Army earlier this year. He wears a yarmulke with his uniform, which apparently led his drill sergeants to refer to him as a “kike”, various anti-Semitic slurs, and a demand that he remove the yarmulke during dinner, according to his father. The soldier recently wrote a letter to his mother Randi recounting the anti-Semitism he has endured by his drill sergeants and members of his platoon since arriving for basic training at Fort Benning.
“I have just never been so discriminated against/humiliated about my religion,” Michael Handman wrote his mother. “I just feel like I’m always looking over my shoulder. Like my battle buddy heard some of the guys in my platoon talking about how they wanted to beat the daylights out of me tonight when I’m sleeping. And the only justification they have is [because] I’m Jewish. Maybe your dad was right…..The Army is not the place for a Jew.”
A Fort Benning public affairs representative would not comment on the incidents saying the attack and the anti-Semitism are under investigation. Michael Handman’s father said in an interview he fears for his son’s safety and is worried that his son may continue to endure additional beat downs and taunts about his faith by drill sergeants.
“I’m scared he will become a victim of friendly fire.” Jonathan Handman said. “The Army is not doing enough to protect him. They have mentally broken him to the point that he is willing to ruin his life by getting a dishonorable discharge.”
After he was released from the hospital, Pvt. Handman was sent back to the same platoon to face the soldiers who attacked him. He was then moved to a different company within the same platoon. But Jonathan Handman said his son told him the anti-Semitism has continued, according to a conversation he had with his son.
A week ago Jonathan Handman took action and began a fierce letter writing campaign in an effort to get his son some help. He reached out to his state’s U.S. senator, Saxby Chambliss, the Republican of Georgia. Chambliss immediately contacted the Pentagon to investigate and, surprisingly, the Department of Defense sent Chambliss a detailed letter last week confirming that Pvt. Handman was the victim of anti-Semitism.
“Based on [Private] Handman’s statement and the seriousness of the allegations, the command immediately initiated a commander’s inquiry,” stated a Sept. 26 letter sent to Chambliss by Samuel Selby Rollinson, the Department of the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff. “Based on the inquiry, the Army found that two [non-commissioned officers] inadvertently violated the Army Regulation concerning the free exercise of religion by requiring the Soldier to remove his yarmulke and by using inappropriate terms when referencing the Jewish faith.
“While the actions of the NCO’s were not meant to be malicious, and were done out of ignorance for regulations and cultural awareness, this does not excuse their conduct. The command intends to reprimand both NCO’s for their conduct; require them to present formal blocks of instruction on what religious are authorized for wear; and finally, the battalion chaplain will instruct all cadre members on the Army policy concerning religious accommodation.”
The investigation by the Pentagon was limited to the anti-Semitism and did not include an inquiry into the beating.
Prior to receiving a copy of the letter from Chambliss, the elder Handman contacted Mikey Weinstein, the president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a nonprofit government watchdog group that aims to keep a close eye on the military to ensure its adherence to the law mandating the separation between church and state. Weinstein spent a decade working as a U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate (JAG), was formerly legal counsel in the Reagan White House and was General Counsel to Texas billionaire and two-time Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot.
This is not the first incident of anti-Semitism that Weinstein’s organization has exposed that has resulted in the Army running for cover.
Weinstein and MRFF exposed a pattern of anti-Semitic Biblical teachings by chaplains at Fort Leavenworth. He also signed on to help defend former Army Chaplain, Rabbi Jeffrey Goldman, a Toronto native, who was taunted by senior military officers at a prayer breakfast one morning in May 2001 as his chaplain colleagues had placed Nazi uniforms and swastikas on the wall of the officers’ club at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Handman and his wife, Randi, continue to worry about their son’s well being.
(The Public–Record)
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23 Responses
“the Army found that two [non-commissioned officers] inadvertently violated the Army Regulation … by using inappropriate terms when referencing the Jewish faith”
How can one inadvertently use anti Semitic terms?
Halocho beyadua EISAV SONEH ES YAAKOV. A halocho they keep with all possible chumros
Sickening! This is a reminder that we are guests in this country and we have to yearn for moshiach.
To think that this happened in American under the US government. Worse even it’s not getting any media coverage. Why isn’t the beating being investigated??? No wonder what happened in Abu Ghraib…….. If the army thinks they can cover than they’ll have worse scandals coming up.
Is it possible to get a link for the original article of this news item? What is “The Public Record”?
Those solders will “get there’s” at the right time !!!
>> http://www.pubrecord.org/religion/362-army-private-subjected-to-anti-semitic-attacks-brutally-beaten-by-soldiers-.html
Guys, wake up and smell the coffee. Here is a Jewish kid lining up to defend his country with his life (hopefully not), and these chayos almost killed him! – This happened in “Die GOldina Medina”
Get those bums out of the army and into a jail cell for assault and battery. They are unfit as human beings and certainly unfit to be counted on by their fellow soldiers during combat. The only tax dollars that should be contributed to those animals is that which puts them in jail.
galus is coming full force. no parnasa no jobs no freedom only worries and tons of ati semitic gathering up all around us.
Get the message my son, you are in the WRONG army!
I agree with # 10’s message all the way. Why would someone put themselves into the lions mouth? I do not blame him for being beaten up, Rachmana Letzlan, but seriously – get the heck outa there! Hashem should avenge those anti-semite animals soon and bring an end to this long galus.
#10, The only RIGHT army is the Yeshiva.
The link at #6 says that the Company Commander said that he has 100 affidavits that there was no anti-semitism and that Pvt. Handman may have brought on the attack by himself. That may mean that there was 100 cases of perjury and a young officer who orchestrated it.
AynOdMilvado1 – Not so fast; This particular situation may in fact have been egregious anti-semetism . . . but don’t tar and ferather the entire United States Army.
My son served 5 years in the U.S.Army and never encountered this kind of problem – I have a personal friend who is a Lt. Colonel in a health services area in the Army, and who stationed at West Point – he wears a yarmulka, on duty, wears a black hat and hat when off duty, and has been able to lead a frum life in uniform.
Also, one needs an appreciation of the social setting of a training base like Fort Benning – soldiers training specifically there are destined for combat infantry units – the culture of the put down and insult is normal, and even necessary to harden soldiers – I AM NOT CONDONING ANTI-SEMETISM – but in an environment where soldiers are regularly shouted at and called all sorts of names, I could see epithets like “Kike” flying with much less venom than is present when we hear “Schvartze” or “Goyte” used in our own communities. A git yor to all
Re # 10 I’ve missed you Joseph – tell me, in the idealized Torah community, who will man the infantry lines, fly the combat missions and crew the warships? Are we to be parasites everywhere? I hope both your Yom Tov and fast have been meaningful
While the situation is certainly tragic and our prayers are with PVT Handman for a speedy recovery we need to be cautious about over reacting. Certainly the soldiers responsible for the beating need to be punished, and the NCO’s also need to be seriously disciplined. I can only hope that the Army Criminal Investigative Division will prosecute this seriously. You can help too by writing to your Congress Representatives and Senators to take the beating seriously. It is an election year, if there is any question that the people we vote in to office are willing to listen, now is the time they are listening. But we cannot go down the path of this is the wrong army for Jews. Jews serve in every capacity for our country, both in private sector and in the government. Jews need, now more than ever, to increase our presence in the United States Military. We need to be seen as willingly joining in the fight to prevent the spread of global terrorism and defend America. If this attack had happened on a street corner would you say Jews should leave the country as it is no place for us! We need to make it a place for us. The fact that PVT Handman and many others are allowed to wear a Yarmulke in the first place is only thanks to the sacrifice of many others who came before. I served in a combat unit during the initial invasion of Iraq and only retired after the combat injury I sustained prevented me from continuing with my military service. While I never encountered overt hostility due to my being Jewish, (I also wore a Yarmulke, and am probably the first person to daven inside of Saddam’s palace compound in Tikrit) it does exist. The army also has people who don’t like blacks, or Hispanic people. The army also has people who come from very wealthy families as well as people who are beyond what is considered poor. The military is based on a cross section of American life. There is hate there; there is also a population of very rare and great people. People who are willing to lay down their life so that we can continue to have the freedoms we enjoy today. We as Jews must be among the first to show our support for those who can put the greater good above our own. I am very proud of PVT Handman for enlisting, and I pray he finds the strength of character to continue on and Soldier.
if you can make your way through #16’s megillah you will see that he has a point.
Thanks #16, I agree with you.
And #10: if there is *any* military in the world that Jews should join, it is the US military. No Jew should want to serve in any other military. The US is indeed the one country that protects freedom around the world and doesn’t hesitate to intervene against despotes such as Saddam Hussain and soon, possibly, Ahmedinejad.
When I was younger, I seriously considered going to America and joining the military there.
By the way, I should note that according to the best of my knowledge, the Army is the home of many right-wing extremists (white supremacists) – much more than is the case in the Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force. I think the Army is pretty well known for that.
If I would have joined the US military, it would have been the navy, by the way.
14 & 16 have it right.
16: Goldstein sais he was the first one to daven there, was there are minyan? -:)
He should take that Dishonorable Discharge and get out of the Army – ASAP. He also should not worry about what his record will be like – potential employers will probably never ask or care. He will probably get a General Discharge or Other Than Honorable – but once again who cares! Jew aren’t liked in the military and it is no wonder there are 100 affidavits confirming there was no antisemitism. They are all the “good-ole-boys” who hate “niggers and Jews”. Seen it with my own eyes! It is very UGLY.
I know no one will probably see this, but I still feel it’s important to say:
#10- Which Army is the right one? The one that’s more anti-Frum?
#15- R’ Orlofsky spoke about that, and he was very straight forward. You’re right- if there was no one else to fight, we’d do it. But no one thinks that 100,000 Yeshiva boys are going to change the distribution of power in the middle east.
#16- HUA! One or two cases shouldn’t be used to tar a whole community. We’ve been discriminated enough like that- we should know how it feels.
#21- Do you have any idea what a Dishonorable Discharge means?????? It will be on your record permanently and yes, employers care very, very much. Not only that, but if you apply for any kind of Federal Aid at all, they’ll always see that. Yes, it will ruin your life, and no, it’s not worth it to take one voluntarily.
On my own note, I feel that I should make things clear. I have never, ever, [u]ever[/u] been discriminated against in any way. In fact, I’ve been treated with only the utmost respect with regards to anything from having to miss training due to Shabbos/Yom Tov to not sitting between two girls. All the others have treated me absolutely no different than anyone else, except for the occasional question about why I do/don’t do certain things.
Besides for that, everyone, from my fellow cadets to my Flight Commander to the Detachment Commander has treated me perfectly fine, and I can say personally that you simply cannot make one remark for everyone.
Cadet Chaim Shmuel, U.S. Air Force
I was one of two witnesses that watched him get into the fight and I also stopped it from going further. Half if not most of this information is misleading and incorrect. Nobody dragged or told him to go into the laundry room. He went in there to get his laundry and another private came in behind him and shut the door. This same private had a very bad temper problem and had problems in the past, but not with fighting. He came up behind Private Handman and punched him in the back of the head. He stumbled a bit and faced his attacker just as he was hit again. He wasn’t completely beaten to the ground or anything or hit after he was on the floor. There was maybe a total of 5-6 punches thrown and after he fell and was on the floor another private and myself rushed in and broke it up. He clearly was not knocked out because his eyes were still open he was looking around and he was mumbling. The other private walked away and I ran off and got the DS that was on CQ that night. We called the MP’s and EMT’s. Me and the other private along with your company C.O. and DS went off with the MP’s to do a sworn statement. I wrote down everything I saw and knew about the whole thing and I swore a oath on every part of it. He was not beaten because of his religion at all! That is the dumbest thing that all 220 people in the company ever heard. The DS’s did not single him out by any means. No DS called him any racial slures our platoon had the best DS’s in the company and the nicest. He was beaten up because he was constantly doing the wrong thing at the wrong time and getting our free time taken away or getting us “smoked” which is A lot of push ups and sit ups and so on. He was on his second time around for boot camp and you would think he would have done his part and done well. But he didn’t and instead he was getting our platoon in trouble. I was the person who woke him up on my fireguard shift to warn him about what the platoon planned to do to him that night. And I stayed up for hours to make sure nothing happened to him while he was sleeping. I don’t believe he is a bad person I just don’t think he belongs in the military at all and should probably not try to re-enlist. He had no respect for authority and could not complete any task the military set before him and got our whole platoon in trouble for it because of it. A good example would be the movie The Full Metal Jacket when the guy keeps messing up and getting the rest of his platoon in trouble finally they got sick of it and beat him with soap in a sock. He was not beaten because of his Religion whatsoever!! He was trying to get attention as he always tried to do in the military and special treatment. I have sworn statements on all of this. I will answer any questions to clear this mess up as best as I can. My email is [email protected] or [email protected]