A lengthy but interesting article by US Marine Lt Sam Jacobson covers his experience as a Jew in the Marine Corps, from his drill instructor asking if he needed kosher meals to the US military flying “interested Jews” to special religious services while fighting in Iraq.  At points he describes a “generous mood of religious accommodation” and even the presence of a “no preference” room during a time dedicated for religious services.

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of Jacobson’s story is the theme he reveals of how gruff military members sometimes deal with the increasingly “sensitive” subject of religion.

He gets ‘scolded’ for sleeping during the time dedicated for religious exercise, but admits sleeping was a closely controlled exercise in training: 

I woke to the sound of the door flying open and a sergeant instructor’s query. “Is this part of your rituals, Jacobson?” Sleeping, as a matter of discipline, is strictly forbidden except during authorized hours, yet the instructor wasn’t yelling as he usually would for such an infraction. I knew I was out of his jurisdiction, safe, for the rest of the hour anyway, in my office-room embassy.

When the drill sergeants toss the barracks after finding contraband, they react strongly to the Koran in his locker, knowing he is Jewish.  Still:

After inspection, I found my Koran sitting alone in my footlocker, unharmed. The sergeant instructors had meticulously strewn everything else we owned in all directions. It took hours — of our designated sleep time, of course — to get everything back in its place.

On the often politically incorrect tenor of the military culture:

Jibing, like chewing tobacco, is a pastime in the Marine Corps. It is often caustic, mostly lighthearted, and always equal opportunity. Once, one of the corporals in my platoon wanted to get his squad excused from a particularly unpleasant duty and asked: “Sir, Don’t you remember what it was like when your people were in bondage? Why won’t you be our Moses?”

On discrimination or favoritism:

When we returned home from Iraq, my commanding officer sat us down for a talk after an alleged incident of discrimination in another section of the battalion. “I treat you all as equals,” he said. “Equally worthless.”

Finally, from a fellow officer, seeing Jacobson’s faith on his dogtags:

“I didn’t know you were Jewish, Jacobson. It’s good that it says it here. That way when you’re captured, al-Qaeda will know to arrange for kosher meals.”

Read the rest of Jacobson’s first person article.

First noted at Jews in Green.