Sidney Shachnow
Sidney Shachnow | |
---|---|
Born | Kaunas, Lithuania | March 5, 1934
Died | September 28, 2018 | (aged 84)
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1955-1994 |
Rank | Major General |
Commands | U.S. Army Berlin John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
Awards | Combat Infantryman Badge Silver Star Purple Heart Bronze Star |
Sidney Shachnow was a Holocaust survivor who attained the rank of Major General in United States Army.[1] He retired in 1994, after 40 years of active service.
Biography
Surviving the concentration camp
Sid Shachnow was born in Kaunas, Lithuania on March 5, 1934. At the age of seven, Shachnow was imprisoned in the Kovno concentration camp during World War II because his family was Jewish. For three years he endured countless brutalities in the camp and was forced to watch helplessly as almost every single one of his extended family were slaughtered. To increase his prospects of survival, young Shachnow performed heavy manual labor under harsh conditions. He narrowly escaped death only days before Kovno's gruesome "Children's Action", of March 27–28, 1944, when Nazi troops rounded up all children in the camp and marched them to The Ninth Fort for execution or to Auschwitz to be gassed. After smuggling out of the camp, Shachnow lived in hiding for months, mostly in austere seclusion, where he nearly expired from starvation and malnutrition. Shachnow fled west after the Soviets liberated Kovno from the Nazis and began to implement Communism. His 2,000 mile, six-month journey across Europe, mostly on foot, took him across Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, and finally to American occupied Nuremberg, Germany where he hoped to obtain a visa to the United States. To make a living in war-torn Nuremberg, Shachnow resorted to pirating black market contraband such as nylon stockings and chocolate.
A new life in the new world
In 1950, Shachnow obtained a visa and immigrated to Salem, Massachusetts where he attended school for the first time in his life. After working his way through high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army. As a Sergeant First Class he entered Officer Candidate School and received his commission in the U.S. Infantry.
Special Forces
In 1962 he volunteered for the United States Army Special Forces, also known as the "Green Berets", where he served for the next thirty-two years. After joining special forces, Shachnow was promoted to Captain and assigned as Commander of Detachment A-121, at Vietnam's An Long Camp near the Cambodian border along the Mekong River.
After Vietnam
In the 1970s he served as Commander of Det-A, Berlin Brigade, a clandestine unit of Cold War* Green Beret commandos on high alert 24-hours a day. This covert unit was made up of selectively trained and language qualified members of Special Forces, as well as many Eastern European immigrants who brought much needed culture, geographical and language skills to the assignment. Their missions were classified; they dressed in civilian clothing made in East and West Germany, and carried appropriate non-American documentation and identification. Many of its members later went on to help form Delta Force (Det A did not itself become Delta Force). Shachnow's status grew as Special Forces grew, rising to the rank of Major General, receiving both a masters and an honorary doctoral degree along the way. He traveled the world, from Vietnam to the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Korea and back to Germany for the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Education
For a time, Shachnow attended the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston. While in the Army, he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska. He also earned a Master of Science in public administration from Shippensburg State College in Pennsylvania. He also graduated from the Executive Management Program at Harvard University.
Retirement
Sidney Shachnow is an honorary member of Rotary Club Berlin-Luftbruecke (Berlin-Airlift) since March 13, 1990.
In 2004, Shachnow authored Hope and Honor, an autobiographical account of his childhood experience in the Nazi Kovno concentration camp of Lithuania, his immigration and assimilation to the United States and his 40-year career in the U.S. Army, Special Forces.
Shachnow was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment in 2007.[2]
Politics
On September 6, 2016 he endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.[3]
Death
Shachnow, who lived with his wife in Southern Pines, North Carolina, died on September 28, 2018.[4]
Service history
Assignments and Commands
Maj. Gen. Shachnow's past assignments have been as commander or staff officer with Infantry, Mechanized Infantry, Airmobile, Airborne and Special Forces units. Gen. Shachnow's most recent assignments include:
- Commanding General, John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Airborne, Fort Bragg (1992–1994)
- Commanding General, United States Army Special Forces Command, Airborne, Fort Bragg
- Commanding General, U.S. Army Berlin
- Director, Washington Office, United States Special Operations Command, Airborne
- Deputy Commanding General, 1st Special Operations Command, Airborne, Fort Bragg
- Chief of Staff, 1st Special Operations Command, Airborne, Fort Bragg
Awards and honors
Maj. Gen. Shachnow is the recipient of:
Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Silver Star with Oak Leaf Clusters
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Clusters and Valor Device
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters
Air Medal with the numeral "12"
Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters and Valor Device
Army of Occupation Medal
Combat Infantryman Badge
Master Parachutist Badge
Ranger Tab
Special Forces Tab
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross
References
- Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow, USA (ret.) Biography at Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs website.
- ^ Goleman, Daniel (1992-10-06). "Holocaust Survivors Had Skills To Prosper". New York Times. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ http://www.fayobserver.com/news/20181002/maj-gen-sidney-shachnow-special-forces-legend-holocaust-survivor-has-died
- ^ Reinhard, beth (2016-09-06). "Donald Trump Receives Endorsement of 88 Military Leaders". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ Brooks, Drew (October 2, 2018). "Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow, Special Forces legend, Holocaust survivor, has died". Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- United States Army generals
- American military personnel of the Vietnam War
- Members of the United States Army Special Forces
- Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
- University of Nebraska alumni
- Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania alumni
- Recipients of the Silver Star
- Recipients of the Legion of Merit
- Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)
- Recipients of the Air Medal
- 1934 births
- 2018 deaths
- American Jews in the military
- Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal