Capt. Mikhael Smits of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment salutes Pvt. Hyman Aronoff’s grave in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026. After being marked with a Latin cross for over a century, the grave of the Jewish soldier from World War I received a Star of David headstone. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
ROMAGNE-SOUS-MONTFAUCON, France — A handful of Jewish U.S. soldiers killed during World War I whose graves at the largest American military cemetery in Europe had been marked by crosses now have the Star of David as their headstone.
The changes at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in northeastern France followed months of research by Operation Benjamin, an organization that identifies Jewish American service members whose graves were marked incorrectly.
It then seeks corrections through the American Battle Monuments Commission, which oversees 26 American military cemeteries worldwide.
Retired Gen. Michael X. Garrett, chairman of the commission, told attendees at a ceremony Tuesday that the new headstones offer a better reflection of the soldiers and history.
“It ensures the memory we pass to future generations is as accurate as it is reverent,” Garrett said, adding that the changes also “remind us that America’s story of service has always been written by people of many backgrounds and faith traditions united in the defense of liberty.”
American Battle Monuments Commission workers install a new Star of David headstone for Pvt. Hyman Aronoff at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026. Aronoff, who was killed in France in 1918 while fighting in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, had been buried under a Latin cross grave marker for more than a century despite being Jewish. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Danielle Millien, superintendent of the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, welcomes visitors to a ceremony on June 2, 2026, that saw five Latin cross grave markers replaced by the Star of David. Newly uncovered evidence showed that the five U.S. soldiers buried in those graves were Jewish. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner recites the kaddish, a traditional Jewish prayer for the dead, at the grave of Pfc. Barney Bardman at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026. Bardman was a Jewish soldier whose headstone for more than a century was a cross. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner, who is Jewish and is the father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, recited the kaddish, a traditional Jewish prayer for the dead, at each grave.
Following remarks outside the cemetery chapel, attendees, including relatives of the fallen, watched as workers removed the white marble crosses, wrapped them in white cloth and replaced them with the symbol of Judaism.
The headstone of Pvt. Samuel Tamkin was the first to be changed. He was born in Massachusetts to Russian Jewish immigrants and served with the 147th Infantry Regiment, 37th Division. Tamkin was mortally wounded during the Meuse-Argonne offensive and died in October 1918.
Most of the more than 14,000 Americans buried at the cemetery were killed during the offensive, the largest U.S. military operation of World War I and the deadliest campaign in U.S. Army history.
According to the commission, hundreds of Jewish service members may have been buried under the emblem of Christianity.
Retired Gen. Michael X. Garrett, chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission, speaks to ceremony attendees at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026. Onlookers saw the replacement of cross headstones with the Star of David at the graves of five U.S. soldiers killed in World War I. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Attendees take part in a ceremony at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026. During the ceremony, five Latin cross grave markers were replaced with Star of David headstones marking the places where five Jewish U.S. soldiers killed in World War I are buried. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
American Battle Monuments Commission workers pack away the Latin cross headstone of Pvt. Samuel Tamkin, which was replaced by a Star of David at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026, after newly uncovered evidence showed that Tamkin was Jewish. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Some Jews have associated the cross with persecution, violence and exile, said Shalom E. Lamm, chief historian of Operation Benjamin. That often stemmed from Christian attempts over the centuries to hold Jews in general responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion.
The five crosses that were replaced with the Star of David “are not symbols that we cast aside in anger, nor symbols that we say good riddance to,” Lamm said.
“They guarded them with dignity, they marked their sacrifice, they bore witness,” he added. “And so today, we lower our heads in gratitude and respect as we bid them a fond farewell.”
The grave of Pvt. Hyman Aronoff had likewise been marked with a cross until Tuesday.
An immigrant to the U.S. from what is now Belarus, Aronoff was killed by shrapnel while serving with the 129th Infantry Regiment, 33rd Division, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Efforts to locate his mother after the war were unsuccessful.
The new headstone of Pfc. Barney Bardman stands at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026. Bardman, who was proven to be Jewish by Operation Benjamin, had been buried under a Latin cross after being killed in France during World War I. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner wears a kippah with a logo of the U.S. Embassy in Paris during a ceremony at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France on June 2, 2026. At the ceremony, the Latin cross headstones that had marked the graves of five Jewish American soldiers were replaced with the Star of David. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Another headstone changed during the ceremony was that of Pfc. Barney Bardman, who served with the 307th Infantry Regiment and helped rescue survivors of the famed Lost Battalion during the offensive.
While serving as a scout, Bardman was struck by machine gun fire on Oct. 16, 1918. Despite being mortally wounded, he warned fellow soldiers to take cover rather than seek help for himself.
He was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest military decoration. Operation Benjamin researchers found records showing that Bardman was initially buried with a siddur, a Jewish prayer book.
“We have every reason to believe that that siddur ... is with him to this very day,” attendee Judy Faber said during remarks beside his new headstone.
For the families, Operation Benjamin’s work brought to light stories that had been largely forgotten for generations.
“This is one of the most touching things I’ve ever experienced in my life,” said Hiday Biran Belahuski, a relative of Pvt. Samuel A. Backer. Belahuski grew up in Israel knowing only that a family member had died fighting for the United States.
Backer was born Shmuel Abram Piekar in what is now eastern Poland and immigrated to the United States alone at age 14.
After serving on the Mexican border, he deployed to France with the 78th Division and participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. He was killed near Grandpre in November 1918.
Repeated efforts to contact Backer’s parents failed because of incorrect records, and there is no indication military officials knew he was Jewish.
Rabbi Wayne Franklin, a distant relative of Pfc. Maurice W. Akabas, said the headstone changes offer a timely reminder that Americans of many faiths have fought and died for the country.
A photograph of Maurice W. Akabas. (Courtesy Photo/ABMC)
“There’s a whole issue right now with some people speaking of America as a ‘Christian nation,’ but it was founded as a nation for all people,” Franklin said.
Akabas, whose headstone was the last to be changed Tuesday, is the only one of the five soldiers known to have a surviving photograph.
Born in what is now Lithuania, he immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s, was drafted in 1917 and assigned to the 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division.
On Oct. 18, 1918, while serving at regimental headquarters in Vaux-Champagne, Akabas was killed instantly when an enemy shell exploded nearby.
With no burial preference communicated by his family, his remains stayed in France, and he was permanently laid to rest at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery on Nov. 5, 1921.
Lamm, the Operation Benjamin historian, said the ceremony reflected the United States at its best.
“The greatness of a nation lies in its willingness to continue seeking truth, even generations later, even when it’s inconvenient, even when painful, and even when the men who must be honored are long gone,” he said. “That is the work of moral seriousness.”
