Nolan Gershenzon

11/11/17 - 7/23/87

gershenzon1.jpg Picture courtesy of Capt. Paul Cellecz

Nolan Gershenzon enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1940. He served as a navigator during World War II. After his bomber was shot down, he spent 13 months in a German prisoner-of-war camp. One day, German SS troops demanded that any Jewish prisoners step forward. At the direction of the colonel who was the senior American prisoner, every American prisoner stepped forward. The SS then gave up efforts to single out the Jews in the camp. As one of very few Jewish prisoners in the camp, Nolan never forgot that extraordinary act of courage. He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces / U.S. Air Force for twenty-five years and rose to the rank of Colonel. He is survived by two daughters, Mauria Hirning who was a Seaboard flight attendant, and Monica Gershenzon. His wife Ann died in 2013.

Noel is seen here at the navigator's station of a DC-8-63CF.


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