It may very well be that the main reason Gen. George Washington welcomed Jews into the army was because he desperately needed more men. Whatever the reason, “bringing diversity aided America to victory and hurt the British,” who didn’t allow Jews to become officers, according to historian and author Adam Jortner.

Jortner spoke at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History in Washington, D.C., on June 11 along with Col. Frank Cohn, Adm. Paul Becker and Col. Rebecca DeForest. They were part of a panel discussion on Jewish heroes of the Revolution.

Although there weren’t many Jews living in America during the time of the Revolution, they played important roles both on and off the battlefield, aiding in the struggle for independence and religious liberty.

“Jews are considered a member of the body politic from the very beginning,” Jortner noted. Jews participated from the beginning. “They were welcomed. They were appreciated.”

Washington accepted Jewish Americans into the army, “no questions asked,” Jortner said, noting that he needed the men. In December 1776, he was “down to 3,000 men.”

Although small in number, there were 15 Jews who attained officer rank, Jortner said. In South Carolina, Charleston’s Jewish merchants created a unit known as the Free Citizens of Charlestown. Its nickname was the Jew Company.

With Jews, Catholics, Baptists and others serving in the Revolutionary War, Washington’s army prospered, as did religious liberty, Jortner pointed out.

DeForest noted that religious diversity continues to benefit America’s fighting forces. She was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot and combat veteran with the U.S. Army Reserve.

Being Jewish and being a woman gave her “different ways of thinking,” she said.

“We had something in common with the Revolutionary War. We were all seeking belonging. It’s like showing up and participating in service. We earned our citizenship,” DeForest said.

She recalled that while serving in Iraq, she traded the ham in her MRE (Meals, Ready to Eat) with another soldier’s fish. Food gave her a chance to be a Jewish ambassador, she said.

While stationed in North Carolina, she was often asked what church she belonged to before being asked her name. “I was the first Jew” many of the people she served with had ever met.

It made her appreciate Reuben Etting, a Jewish American who served in the Revolutionary War. He refused to eat pork and possibly starved because of that, she said.

But still, being Jewish while serving in a Muslim country came with its drawbacks. “I have multiple sets of dog tags,” she noted. While flying, she wore her Protestant dog tags in case she was shot down and captured by people who hated Jews.

All four of Becker’s grandparents grew up in shtetls, and he decided to serve in part, “because I felt I had some skin in the game, and I wanted to pay it back.”

Becker served 30 years as a Naval intelligence officer. He began his career at the Naval Academy, which was like culture shock for a young man who had grown up in the Bronx and Long Island in New York. “I had never seen people wear docksider shoes. I had never seen a crab.”

He recalled the story of Francis Salvador of South Carolina, who was the first Jew to hold public office in the colonies. “He was both shot, and he was scalped by the Cherokees,” Becker said. “His dying words were, ‘Did we win the battle?’”

Until he was told that his unit was victorious, he refused to die, Becker noted.

During the presentation, Cohn told his story of growing up in Germany as Stormtroopers put a chill on Jewish life and even killed his uncle simply because he was Jewish. “And this was before Hitler rose to power,” he said.

There was anti-Jewish graffiti everywhere, including one that said Jews belonged in concentration camps. His father had a sporting goods store but was forced to sell it as the Stormtroopers constantly demonstrated in front and kept business away.

One day, a British lady came to his home and said she was to live with them. His mother explained that he should not tell her anything as she was an informant for the German Gestapo secret police.

His family fled Germany and headed to the United States soon after he became a bar mitzvah and right before the anti-Jewish pogrom of Kristallnacht.

He listened to the radio as often as he could, copying the words he heard without understanding any of them. All he cared about was losing his German accent. He also frequented the movies. For 10 cents, he watched many films and war newsreels, which helped him learn to speak English.

Cohn was drafted into the United States Army, serving in England, France and Belgium. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was proud to serve and fight against his former homeland. “I felt very good. I was no longer a victim.”

When asked if he faced antisemitism, Cohn, who will turn 101 in August, said most people were very happy that he could speak German. Also, he said, “I made sure they knew I had shed everything” of his former country. He added, “I never had an experience of antisemitism. I knew it was there.”

To those who served with him, “I was just another American officer.”

Suzanne Pollak is a freelance writer.