%r f^ ^> r ..1^'* -^c 0^ *'*^- '^^ %. e wO ^^ '■' t^ 94, *••" A° «,. ^* .'«S^-. *«„ .-J^* .W % ** •iilsf*,'^* ,0* .••1!-. V 4* .»iL**,^v "•e • ^^.^ 5-. *^. '' .s*^ V* .♦. *' '♦ K^ >-v *^ ^^ ^^rr^T*^ ^^^ ^o. '•.^^* .0 S> .,.£<^?\%. -.-,. »* 4* ^O ^' ""^ 9 ^' •^^*" <#''%. "^'M:^' ^**' ^ ^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/jewsinunitedstatOOIand JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND NAVY BY LEWIS LANDES Executive Secretary Army and Navy Department, Council of Young Men's Hebrew and Kindred Associations [Reprint from American Jewish Year Book 5677] * * JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND NAVY BY LEWIS LANDES * As the question of preparedness is before the public, and as the Council of Young Men's Hebrew iissociations extend their activities to the soldiers and to the sailors, it is naturally of interest to know how many Jews there are in our Army and Navy. The Jews constitute only two per cent of the country's population ; what percentage do they form in the military and naval service ? For the past four months the Statistics Bureau of the American Jewish Committee, in conjunction with the Council of Young Men's Hebrew and Kindred Associations, has been endeavoring to answer this question. This is the first attempt that has been made to secure such figures, and the task has been a difficult one. It is not half completed. The method employed was as follows : A letter was written to all regimental post commanders throughout the Army, asking them to send the names of Jews in their commands; and a similar letter was written to the commanding officers of ships in the Navy, asking the names of the men of Jewish faith on the ships. These answers, of course, were purely voluntary. Accordingly 757 letters were sent to such commanding officers, 383 to the Army and 364 to the Navy. Of the total number of 757 letters sent, 181 replies have to date been received from the Army officers and 149 from the NavalJ officers. In very many instances these answers have been incomplete. * Executive Secretary Army and Navy Department Council of Y. M. H. and Kindred Associations. In the following resume, which gives the results and esti- mates thus ascertained, the different branches of the service are arranged not according to the military requirements, but according to the larger numbers as secured by the Statistical Bureau. 1. Infantry. 5. Signal Corps. 2. Coast Artillery. 6. Engineers. 3. Cavalry. 7. Hospital Corps. 4. Field Artillery. 8. Ordnance Corps. Infantry At present there are 30 regiments of Infantry, one regiment consisting of colored men. Our estimate is therefore based on 29 Infantry organizations. Eeplies were received from 12 regimental commanding officers with a total of 729 names of Jewish men. The average for a regiment would be about 1, although in many instances the figures given amounted to more than 100 to a regiment. The estimated result would, therefore, total 1709 Jews in the 29 Infantry regiments. Coast Artilleey There are 170 companies of Coast Artillery. Figures were secured from 59 companies with a total of 377 Jews; the average would, therefore, be about 6 to a company and a total of 1020 for 170 companies. Cavalry There are 15 regiments of Cavalry, one being colored. Our estimate is, therefore, based on 14 organizations. Of 14 commanding officers, 6 replied as having 336 Jews. The average secured, therefore, would be about 56 to a regiment, or an estimated total of 784 for the 14 reo^iments. Field Aetilleey Of the 6 regiments of this branch of the service, 5 organiza- tions sent complete returns, with a total of 188 Jews. That gives an average of 38 to an organization and a total of 228. Signal, Hospital, Engineers and Ordnance Corps did not send in complete returns, and for that reason no estimate can as 3^et be presented. According to the available records, the number of men serving with the different military organizations of the country is given below, and directly opposite is placed the estimated number of Jews in these branches of the service. War Department Estimate of Jews June 1915 January 1916 Infantry 28,998 1,709 Coast Artillery 17,901 1,020 Cavalry 12,82B 784 Field Artillery 4,992 228 Total 66,182 3,821 These figures do not include the Porto Eico regiment and the Philippine scouts. It will, therefore, be noted that these estimates and the figures given by the War Department show that Jews serving in the Army amount to six per cent of the total enlistment. It may be asked, if the War Department does not keep a record of Jews, how can the commanding officer reply to our question ? In investigating this matter, it was found that in nearly all cases notices were placed on the bulletin board of barracks, with a request that Jews send in their names to the office. In many cases the men failed to do this; one company in the vicinity of New York City is known to have over eight per cent of Jewish men in it, yet only one sent in his name to the office. It can readily be seen, therefore, that the figures upon which our estimates are based are probably much below the real figures. According to information furnished by officers, the actual number of Jews who are serving on 128 ships is 844. These figures do not include the men on the ships of the dreadnought type in the Navy, for which no estimate can be made. It, nevertheless, appears that there are 4665 Jewish officers and men serving in our moderate military establishment. M ■'>'^^, • ^ '^ ■y *o. S\*^r^^ %: Jff?^^ * ^^s %X/ ,^-%. • .*" "6 • » ' »^ -^^ *>>. <>'- .4q a3'