View Full Version : Who Am I...test your knowledge
Ok, clue: A hero to two countries.
H
Is it 1st Viscount William Slim?
Ok, another clue, 1942 (not a reference to WWII) and close to many here......
H
COL David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus, USA, USMA '24. Later appointed a General in the Israeli Army.
COL David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus, USA, USMA '24. Later appointed a General in the Israeli Army.
I'm impressed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Marcus
David Daniel Marcus (22 February 1901–10 June 1948), commonly known as Mickey Marcus, was an American United States Army colonel who assisted Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and who became Israel's first Major General.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he served as executive officer to the military governor of Hawaii. In 1942, he was named commandant of the United States Army's new U.S. Army Ranger school, which developed innovative tactics in unconventional warfare. He later participated in the Battle of Normandy in 1944.
Marcus helped draw up the surrender terms for Italy and Germany and became part of the occupation government in Berlin after 1945. During that time, Marcus was placed in charge of planning how to sustain the starving millions in areas liberated by the Allies, and clearing out the Nazi concentration camps.
He was subsequently named chief of the War Crimes Division, planning legal and security procedures for the Nuremberg trials.
Marcus was appointed as Commander of the Jerusalem front, and given the rank of Aluf, major general.[1] As no ranks were granted to Israeli high command at that time, he became the first general in the Israeli army. (In the present-day IDF table of ranks, "Aluf" is equivalent to major general.)
He commanded several operations of the breakthrough to Jerusalem when the Jewish section of the city was about to fall. To lift the siege, Marcus ordered the construction a make-shift winding road through the difficult mountains to Jerusalem—known as the "Burma Road" (named after its namesake built by 200,000 Chinese laborers during the Second Sino-Japanese War and served the Allies to transport goods from Burma to China during World War II) bringing in additional men and equipment to break the Arab siege just days before the United Nations previously negotiated cease fire took effect on June 9, 1948.
[edit] Death
As a mostly assimilated English-speaking American Jew, Marcus knew very little Hebrew, but mainly New Yorker Yiddish. A few hours before the cessation of hostilities, Marcus, unable to sleep, went for a late night walk outside the security perimeter which he had established. On his return to the monastery, he had a white bedsheet wrapped around him, appearing to be in Arab dress.[2] Marcus was confronted by a nervous young Israeli soldier who spoke no English who demanded that Marcus reveal the "sisma" or password to approach. In the confusion, the sentry shot Marcus and killed him. It was the only shot the Israeli guard ever shot. The bullet went right through Marcus's heart. The man who shot Marcus lives in Tel Aviv, and never recovered from the trauma of killing his commander.[citation needed] Marcus, who braved so many battles in World War II and in Israel's Independence War, was killed by an Israeli soldier following Marcus's strict West Point security protocol. Marcus wore no rank that night due to the Israeli forces' lack of decorating ribbon. As Marcus's body was removed from Abu Gosh, a ribbon was found and placed on his casket.
Ben-Gurion, in writing to Marcus's wife Emma in Brooklyn, New York stated that: "Marcus was the best man we had".[3]
Excuse me for posting some of the article here. Anyone interested on the Israeli part of his life should see the movie "To Cast a Giant Shadow" with Kirk Douglas.
H
Okay, next one.
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Artur Phelps
The symbol on this ace's fighter plane eventually became the mark of a different kind of high-performance machine.
Went to the Concorso Italia de Little Italy in Baltimore (Balmer, Hon!) over the weekend and found another hint.
AngelsSix
09-30-2007, 22:34
Is that the Ferrarri you wish for or the one you own???
The Reaper
10-01-2007, 08:06
Went to the Concorso Italia de Little Italy in Baltimore (Balmer, Hon!) over the weekend and found another hint.
Francesco Baracca.
TR
Correct, Sir.
A6, I definitely don't own that car, or any other Ferrari for that matter. One of my wife's clients was judging the show, so we went up to check it out. This particular model reminded me of how the billionaire Robert L. Johnson managed to get on the front page of the Washington Post several years ago whining about the injustice of the gray market laws. Not willing to wait for a US-certified car, he purchased one in Europe only to have the government block him from bringing it back into the States.