By Herbert Brichto, USA
Excerpted from Rabbis in Uniform
The coming of Passover was well publicized in Korea in 1952 by directives, by news items in Stars and Stripes, by spot announcements of the scheduled service over the Armed Forces Radio Service, and by a special program of Passover music (records provided by JWB) that included greetings from General James A. Van Fleet.
Chaplain Schreiner and I almost despaired of finding a room capable of seating the 600 men we expected. We were all set to build a tent city in Seoul, when we found, on the crest of a hill, a Korean schoolhouse three stories high and a block long. The gymnasium of the school had been taken over by the 59th Ordnance Group for recreational purposes, but when the officers were apprised of our predicament, they threw all their resources behind us.
The school building was littered with wreckage. With funds supplied by the Armed Services Division of the JWB we recruited 60 Korean laborers and put them to work rehabilitating the place. In three days the building was livable. Hundreds of canvas cots were brought in from Quartermaster Depots and set up in the classrooms. Outside one corner of the gymnasium, the 14th Engineers put up a 3,000 gallon water tank and arrangements were made with a water supply company to pump it full daily. Other Army engineers wired the building for electricity. Meanwhile, we requisitioned three field kitchens, complete with brand new equipment and set up tables and benches, which had been built at the request of the I Corps Engineers by a Panel Bridge Company just two miles from the front line.
The morning before the first seder, Wednesday, April 9, we were all set. At 11:30 AM a special train from the front pulled into Seoul with some 600 men. They were quickly ferried to “Nob Hill,” registered, assigned to rooms, relieved of their weapons by a checking system, and funneled into the auditorium. All afternoon troops continued to pour in, and Koreans busily unloaded and opened huge cases of food supplies, including JWB matzah, wine, chicken and gefilte fish.
At 5:00 PM, while the Korean waitresses were setting the tables in the auditorium and the cooks were revising their estimate of the number of mouths they would have to feed up to 1,000, we held our first services in the open air. An impressive sight it was. The portable altar had been set up on the steps of the school building. Despite the wind, the candles burned bravely and throats, in a melodic roar, gave voice to the triumphal “Yigdal Elokim Chai.”
An hour later the men filed into the auditorium, with its gleaming white sheet-covered tables, shiny red wine bottles and colored boxes of matzah. They took up every available seat and lined the walls.
Among those at the head table were Lieutenant General F. F. Everest, Commanding General of the Fifth Air Force; Colonel Foy, Commanding Officer of the Seoul Area Command; Colonel Wild, I Corps Adjutant; Colonel Meyer, Commanding Officer of the Royal Engineers (British Commonwealth Division); Mr. Samuel Pasco of the JWB; the serviceman acting as cantor; and Chaplain Schreiner and myself. Among the assembled GIs were men from five American divisions, a few Marines and Seamen, many Air Force men and officers, Britishers, Canadians, one Luxemburgian, one Israeli, one Greek from the Hellenic Forces, and three from the Turkish Brigade.
The seder began with the cantor’s magnificent rendition of the kiddush. Thanks to the Haggadah which we had specially prepared and published in Korea, the service was smooth, dignified and inspiring. Although the power failed, the service continued without interruption. From the stage we were awed by the sight of that huge auditorium, extending almost without end in all directions, ablaze with the lights of thousands of candles.
There were many highlights this first seder, not the least being the superb meal. The general delivered a beautiful sermon and Mr. Pascoe was enthusiastically greeted by the men as a welcome reminder of home. The rafters shook with cheers when a dazed captain learned unexpectedly over the public address system that his wife had presented him with a son. But the heartwarming scenes were the reunions. Captain Dunn of the 45th Division came up to the platform to ask that an announcement be made: “Is Captain Dunn’s brother here tonight?” Came the ecstatic answer from the rear of the auditorium: “Here I am, Jimmy!” And there were other equally moving reunions. Brother met brother, and uncle found nephew at that Passover seder in Korea.
“Operation Matzah” was indeed a mammoth success. For three glorious days away from the war, it provided 1,000 men with food, lodging, religious services, recreational facilities, gifts and comfort items. Even the weather was beautiful. It was not until the last of our guests had departed, carrying boxes of matzah and cans of gefilte fish and kosher beef back to the front, that the spring rains came.
Republished in the Pesach 5784 issue of The Jewish American Warrior.
