This image is the cover for the book Unlikely Warrior

Unlikely Warrior

A brilliant student, orator, and debater, Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn was an outspoken social activist and frequent lecturer on political topics during the 1930s. Despite his passionate support of pacifism, Gittelsohn voluntarily joined the navy when the United States entered World War II, becoming the first Jewish chaplain assigned to the United States Marine Corps. Gittelsohn's remarkable story, told here from his surviving notes, chronicles the evolution of his crisis of conscience and gives an insider's view into the Battle of Iwo Jima. Author Lee Mandel's research provides an unprecedented look at how the US Navy took clergymen of all religions and molded them into a highly effective support force for America's fighting forces.

Mandel traces the Gittelsohn family from their emigration from Russia through Roland's ordination and his excursions into the political and Zionist movements that shaped the 1930s. Delving into Gittelsohn's pivotal decision to join the armed forces as a chaplain and his experiences in battle, Mandel details the behind-the-scenes anti-Semitic power struggles that almost prevented what was to become one of the most famous oratories in military history. At the dedication of the Fifth Marine Division Cemetery, Gittelsohn delivered a eulogy known as "The Purest Democracy" and often referred to as the "Gettysburg Address of WWII." In this dramatic narrative, Mandel draws from many historical sources, including Gittelsohn's 1988 autobiography, extensive personal papers, and the rabbi's unpublished war memoir-including his analysis of why pacifism failed-to present a complete picture of this unusual man.

Lee Mandel

After serving as a physician in the United States Navy for more than twenty years, Captain Lee Mandel retired to pursue his passion: military history. His first novel, Moryak: A Novel of the Russian Revolution, won the Santa Fe Creative Arts Council Grand Prize for Fiction in 2010. Throughout his distinguished career, he has served as the official historian and lecturer on three military ships and has published dozens of articles in medical journals. Beginning as a staff internist and working his way up to the position of command flight surgeon, Mandel was consistently recognized for his superior medical skills. Many of his posts included a significant teaching component, where he instructed students on the difficulties of caring for soldiers overseas. He is a highly sought-after public speaker who presents at universities across the country on military topics. Mandel graduated from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. During his time in the navy, he accumulated numerous awards. In addition to many letters of appreciation from his commanders and a Legion of Merit, he received five Meritorious Service Medals and three Navy Commendation Medals. Mandel is a board member for the Society for the History of Navy Medicine and was president of the Society of U.S. Naval Flight Surgeons. An authority on John F. Kennedy, he has also been featured on "Ten Things You Didn't Know About JFK," an episode of the History Channel's Ten Things You Didn't Know About series. Mandel is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Omega, and the Aerospace Medicine Association. During a ten year stint as a physician in the private sector, he owned an internal medicine practice, ran a large health organization, and served as an assistant professor of medicine. When he is not writing or researching, he works part time as a medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and as a staff physician at Newport News Shipyard Clinic. He lives with his wife in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Pelican Publishing Company