For decades, the Intermountain Jewish News has proudly published an annual Memorial Day tribute to the Jewish men and women who have given their lives in service to our country as members of the Armed Forces, as well as well as all of the deceased Jewish military veterans in our state.
The list grows each year as veterans pass away and are added to our roster. But this year’s list has grown even more so, not because so many more veterans have died, but because of the indefatigable efforts of Aaron Ainbinder, who himself passed away just a few weeks ago.
Ainbinder was a behind-the-scenes community servant, who quietly contributed his time and talent to many facets of our community.
Going beyond his duties as assistant director at Mt. Nebo Cemetery, he took it upon himself to walk the cemetery’s grounds, study the gravestones and identify the Jewish war dead and deceased veterans who were laid to rest at Mt. Nebo. He then checked these names against the annual IJN list and discovered 46 missing veterans, whose names we have now added to the annual tribute. Sadly, Aaron Ainbinder died unexpectedly before he completed his project, but Mt. Nebo Executive Director Jay Siegel shared Ainbinder’s findings with the IJN so we could properly pay tribute to these Jewish war dead.
It is indeed an honor — and obligation — to do so.
A Denver rabbi, in a dvar Torah, once stated that, outside of Israel, the US has been the most welcoming and safest place in the world for Jews, and this has not been lost on the tens of thousands of Jewish Americans who have stepped up to defend our country, some making the ultimate sacrifice, from the Revolutionary War through this very day.
Especially poignant are the Holocaust survivors who, after being liberated from the death camps, in many cases by American soldiers, served the US military after they found refuge here.
Memorial Day is often characterized by cookouts, swimming pool openings and the Boulder Marathon. These celebrations of the freedoms and lifestyle we enjoy in this country would not be possible if it were not for the bravery and sacrifices made by the men and women who volunteered or were conscripted to defend and protect us all.
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News
