An Air Force veteran, who believes his story is no different from other chaplains who served in the military, remembers the challenge of dealing with people who were young, something not usual in a civilian congregation.

Born in Pittsburgh, Rabbi A. James Rudin's father, a dentist, was called to active duty in the summer of 1941, leading to the family's move to Virginia. The family rented a house in Alexandria, Va., which was thought at the time to be only for a year. Later that year, Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the stay extended for six years to 1947, when his father was "separated from the Army" from active duty.
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Rudin recalls spending time at Fort Belvoir, just south of Alexandria while his father ran dental clinics, during the war when Jewish children his age in Europe were being rounded up and killed in the Holocaust.

(RNS) Veterans Day reminds me that I come from a military family. I call myself an “Army kid,” although some people surely consider me an “Army brat.” Growing up in Alexandria, Va., I spent much of my youth at nearby Fort Belvoir where my father was stationed.

He served as an Army officer for 25 years, including six years of active duty, and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. Both my parents are buried in Arlington National Cemetery not far from Alexandria, and their shared grave is in full view of the Pentagon building that houses the Department of Defense. My late brother was also an Army officer and served at Fort Bragg, N.C., the home of the famous 82nd Airborne Division.

So when I entered the U.S. Air Force as a chaplain immediately following my rabbinic ordination, I simply traded my family’s Army khaki uniform for Air Force blue.

​For nearly twenty years, from 1950 until 1969, there was a significant practice in American Jewish seminaries and rabbinical associations, a practice whose memory is quickly becoming enveloped by the mists of historical forgetfulness. During these years, newly ordained rabbis were systematically “drafted” into the United States armed forces to serve as military chaplains. Unlike the Selective Service draft, these were self imposed policies developed within the religious communities. Because of church-state separation, legislation could not be used to draft clergy into military service; in fact, a 1917 federal law specifically provided for clergy exemptions. As a result, many religious communities were compelled to develop policies and strategies to ensure that a sufficient number of clergy served in the military. 

​The first American Jewish chaplain served on the Union side during the Civil War. Tere were 23 rabbis who served during World War I, and that number rose to 311 in World War II when, it is estimated, more than 600,000 American Jews were members of the U.S. armed forces. However, few rabbis made the military their career following demobilization at the end of the war in 1945. Therefore, when the Korean conflict began in June 1950, it necessitated a rapid buildup of military personnel, and the U.S. government responded by broadening the Selective Service process to include physicians, dentists, optometrists, lawyers, and members of other professions. As a result, an increased number of clergy was required to meet the needs of a larger military force, including 150,000 Jews on active duty during the Korean War and, later, 30,000 Jews during the Vietnam War.