A Day in the Life of: Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus

"Hi, I'm Mickey Marcus, but you must never call me that. Here, in Palestine, I am Mickey Stone. Got it?"

After the Biblical scattering of the Jews before and during the World Wars, the Jews were at last released from concentration camps etc. throughout the world after the Second World War. Deprived of their former homes, the Jews had no place to go after the release and gradually, a new hope and dream began to inspire them all. The historically and culturally rich significance of Jerusalem was calling the Jews throughout the world, and most answered that call. As Christians, we all know that the Biblical regathering of the Jews was accomplished in 1948 when the Jews became a nation once again. Many of us however, are unaware of some of the most exciting events that occurred to bring the Jews to the point where they could declare themselves a nation.

In the intervening time before the Jews returned to Palestine, the Arab people had come into the beautiful land and claimed it for their own. When the Jews returned, something, or someone, had to give place. There wasn't room for two nations in the tiny country.

The Arabs were well supplied with weapons and supplies. Not only this, but the British were biased towards them. The British at the time were executing a withdrawal from Palestine. The Jews had returned to their historic homeland immediately after a period of helplessness and despair. As prisoners, they had owned nothing in the shape of weapons. They had not fought against anyone in such a long time that they had few ideas about how to manage and create an army, let alone an army that would defeat the well-equipped Arabs. David Ben-Gurion, and the other leaders of the Jewish people, knew that they needed the help of a real military advisor. For this reason, they turned towards the recently victorious country of America.

Mickey Marcus, after an extremely successful and colorful career in the military during WWII, had turned down the offer of brigadier-general and returned to his very beloved wife, Emmy, or "Snippy," and a successful law practice. He was interrupted one day by Major Shamir, from Palestine.

Mickey was a go-getter kind of guy. If somebody needed something, he didn't sit around talking about the problem and the various solutions. Instead, he got started doing something to fix it; immediately. When Major Shamir asked Mickey to help the Jewish people find a military expert, Mickey instantly called up all of his qualified friends. None of the viable options he came up with however were available. In the meantime, Major Shamir was sizing Mickey up. The Major was impressed with Mickey's quickness of action, his ability to see a situation from all its angles, and his willingness to help with all of his energy. Mickey was startled when he was asked to consider going to Palestine to help.

The idea however, grabbed his mind and would not leave. He fretted about how to tell his wife. But his wife eventually came around to his views. Mickey needed to be doing something for a cause.

Because of the British occupation, Mickey had to go under another name; thus, Mickey Stone was born. If it became known that an American officer was helping the "insurgents and rebels," American and British relations would go down the hole. That would be bad.

Mickey had planned to take the relevant parts of the American military manual with him, or have them shipped undercover when he arrived. Unfortunately, his undercover contacts for that part had to lie low. Instead, Mickey began memorizing huge portions of the manual. When he arrived in Palestine, he instantly jumped into the work of re-writing the manual from memory. The Jews were astonished. Mickey was one of those fortunate people who could escape with only a few hours of sleep. He was on the go almost 24-7. He not only met and advised the Jewish officials such as his "Boss" David Ben-Gurion, and other leaders of the Haganah and Palmach, but he also took the time to visit with the actual soldiers. The Jews appreciated his out-going helpful but teach-able attitude. Many other "experts" had told them things like "Put two battalions of tanks here, machine guns there." Mickey was the only one who came and used the resources which they already had. As Mickey said, why use what you haven't and can't get. Mickey came to help, but he knew that European modern warfare doesn't always work in the desert. (Much like the American Colonials and General Braddock). He was willing to be taught the methods that were viable for Palestine.

Before Mickey arrived, the Jews' fighting method was strictly individualistic. They used night raids, usually with only 1-3 people striking at one place. While it worked for the time being to keep the lines defended, attack by the modernly-equipped United Arab League was imminent. Mickey saw that individual attacks would not be enough to stem the tide. He liked to use the example of a finger versus a fist. "Look Boss, if I poke you with my finger, or even all five finger, but separately, it doesn't hurt. But if you put the fingers together like this...WAM!" Mickey's examples were always apt, even to the very different culture he was in. Within a few weeks, they all loved him.

The Haganah and Palmach leaders were anxious to get a real army going, and Mickey was too. However, he did realize that time was getting short. Unfortunately, he felt the Jews were being a little too impatient when they said they wanted a fully trained army within a month. "Make it six" Mickey said. After a little argument, Mickey relented, "All right, three, no less." The Jews still wanted it sooner. "Listen," Mickey replied, "how long does it take for a woman to make a baby?"

"Nine months,"

"Right, and what happens if she has it in four?"

This time, the Jews relented.

And so, in about three months, with the help of Mickey's prodigious energy, the makings of a real army began to show through. After a trip home, where Mickey pulled strings to ensure that the U.S. would recognize an Israeli state, Mickey returned to Palestine to help some more. He promised his wife he'd be back in June. He was, but not in the way they both thought. Always one to visit the front lines and be with the 'boys' (literally, some of them) he was killed by friendly fire a few weeks later. His body was shipped to America a few day's later in June.

Colonel David "Mickey Marcus was the only soldier buried at West Point while fighting under a foreign flag. A champion boxer, trusted Pentagon aide, one of the few who actually put together the surrender terms for WWII, one of the first parachuters (clandestinely) to land on D-day, cleanser of the New York corrupted Tammany jails, and possessor of numerous medals, Colonel Marcus was killed in Palestine on June 11, not 10 feet from where his name-sake, the David of the Bible, had danced after Goliath. Without him, Israel may not have been. Almost single-handedly, (figuratively speaking) he had won the Israeli War of Independence. According to David Ben-Gurion, "he was the best man we ever had."

You can read more about him in Cast a Giant Shadow, by Ted Berkman. It is an excellent book.

(This has been: A Day in the Life of: Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus. Look in next time to read: Snippets of:__)