Savannah, GA – Army Dismisses Soldier Who Assaulted Jewish Trainee

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    Savannah, GA – The U.S. Army punished a Fort Benning recruit who assaulted Pvt. Michael Handman in a barracks laundry room last month. The Army announced that the soldier was “punished under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and administratively separated for misconduct.”

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    The ADL worked with the Army to resolve two incidents involving Handman, as was reported here by VIN News. First, was the subject of anti-Semitic taunts by two drill sergeants who forced him to remove his yarmulke during dinner in a Fort Benning dining hall. The drill sergeants were reprimanded, sent to a program that teaches respect for diversity and will now teach the lessons of that program to other soldiers.
    In the other incident, Handman was attacked and sent to the hospital with a concussion.

    The ADL Southeast Regional Director Bill Nigut attended a series of meetings with Army officials at Fort Benning. The meetings included the Army’s Chief of Chaplains Major General Douglas Carver, Senior Army Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, and Col. Chuck Durr, Fort Benning Chief of Staff.

    “ADL’s top concern in dealing with the Handman case has been to make sure the Army sends a strong message that they will punish acts of bigotry and bullying severely,” said Mr. Nigut. “We applaud them for terminating the recruit who attacked Pvt. Handman and for disciplining the two drill sergeants who taunted him.”

    Army officials insist that their investigation showed that the attack was not related to Handman’s religion. But the ADL continues to believe that the previous anti-Semitic slurs directed at Handman may have singled him out for the beating.
    Mr. Nigut said that the meetings at Fort Benning yesterday were a good opportunity to discuss how Fort Benning officials can improve efforts to promote respect for religious diversity. “It was gratifying to learn that Rabbi Goldstein has spent two days at Fort Benning assessing the climate for Jewish soldiers there and that he plans to develop a set of recommendations for giving soldiers at the base a better sense of Jewish religious practices and customs.”
    Army officials reported that Pvt. Handman continues to be housed in a secure location at Fort Benning. He was moved to that facility after ADL expressed its concerns for Handman’s safety after the attack.


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    2 Comments
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    bigwheeel
    bigwheeel
    15 years ago

    It shows that the Army is run as a fair [but tough] and capable organization! We must remember that Drill Seargents are non-Commissioned “officers” and their Educational and social backgrounds are limited! Also, their mission is to toughen up the recruits! They [probably] thought that wearing the Yarmulka (by the soldier) is another whim! In their limited Social and Educational perspective (having failed to learn about past anti-Semitic experiences suffered by the Jews) they did not realize the consequences of their action! The Army should (especially today, with the diversification of the force), train [even] their non-coms to be more socially diversified, rather than limited to their regional native environment!!!

    Brian dick
    Brian dick
    4 years ago

    As a Pvt that was in this unit with Handman, I have to say that his claims are 100% false. He wasn’t beaten because of his religion, he was beat because of his actions. He constantly did things that would lead to the whole platoon to get punished. He constantly fell asleep while the rest of us conducted pt, which in turn got us all smoked bc of our failure to correct his actions( wake him up and keep him awake). I was also present for both incidents with the drills. The one asked if hed remove his yarmulke in the dfac out of fairness to the rest of the unit. Handman refused and the drill said it was fine that he didnt, just thought hed ask out of fairness to the rest that removed their headgear while inside a building. The 2nd drill is 100% Geman so asking him if he was a “jüden” was in no way antisemitic. Handman caused as much trouble as he could in our unit from day 1 and looked for the easiest way to get out of trouble for his actions. The soldier that beat him up had dislocated both his shoulders from one of the smoke sessions that was brought on by Handman, which in turn ruined his military career( army will discharge you if you dislocated joints while in basic/ait). The article is correct stating that the investigation showed it wasn’t religiously based because it most definitely was not. Handman is what you consider a “shitbag soldier” or “blue falcon”. I was his “battle buddy” when he went to the hospital, and as soon as he found out how long he would have to stay in the hospital for tests for his claimed of neck injuries, he changed his tone and told the dr he felt fine and wasn’t hurt at all. Once he was back from the hospital not a single person talked or interacted with him in any way, so for him to claim he feared for his safety is also false. I would love to see Handman again just so I can call him out on all his false claims and statements . Both drills were investigated and cleared of any wrongdoing and the only soldier discharged was the one that dislocated his shoulders. That soldier was medicaled, not dishonorably discharged for the beating of Handman, because he to was cleared .