On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Congressman Steve Israel presented six service medals to the family of a fallen WWII veteran, Private Gilbert Malkin, at the Oyster Bay American Legion Post 4. Private Malkin was killed in action on Feb. 10, 1945 and was never properly recognized for his service.
“Today we honor, recognize and repay a debt that has been long overdue,” said Israel.
The congressman gave some background on Private Malkin, explaining that he enlisted in the Army in 1944 at the age of 18, was assigned to Patton’s Army and was shipped overseas.
“He fought in one of the most important and dangerous battles, the Battle of the Bulge, in December of 1944. Just two months later, he was mortally wounded from gunfire in Luxembourg, in February 1945. All those years went by without him, but with his memory.”
Malkin’s niece, Rachel Heller of East Norwich, reached out to the congressman’s office for help in obtaining long-overdue service medals. She told the Enterprise-Pilot that her uncle, the youngest of four children, died just five days shy of his 19th birthday. Another uncle, who died in January at the age of 92, “wanted more than anything to recognize and memorialize his kid brother.”
Congressman Israel presented Heller and her husband, Arnold, with the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, WWII Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
“On behalf of the President of the United States, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Defense, I am so proud to present to you and your family these medals that were earned by your uncle in fighting for our freedom and democracy.”
Heller thanked the Congressman and his staff, as well as her husband, who she said has “phenomenal passion for history.”
“It was Arnold who knew that my uncle, in his dying breath, wanted to memorialize his kid brother, who he pretty much didn’t know past the age of 15, because he left to fight in WWII and the war of Independence in Israel. My uncle Aria in his last days, at the age of 92, erected a monument in Israel honoring and memorializing three soldiers who were killed around the same time.”
She said that the family was too grief stricken to even talk about her Uncle Gilbert, and so she knew very little about him growing up and was determined to find out more him.
“I contacted three friends who knew him. One woman described him as a ‘doer’ who always lending a hand and active. Another described him giving and sweet, and very friendly and social. He was involved in…the Israeli movement that formed groups to help build the state of Israel…this probably would have been his destiny had he lived. I learned so much more about my uncle so many years later.”
Congressman Israel concluded the presentation with an explanation for giving medals decades after a person has earned them with his or her sacrifice.
“As a military historian, one quote has always guided me. Somebody once said, ‘Dying for freedom is not the worst thing in the world; being forgotten for dying for freedom is.’ So, this memorial just ensures that we remember. Your uncle and all these people in the room has helped to shape the future…what you have done helps ensure a brighter future.”
