Retired General Robert Magnus to speak at Jewish Center
When General Robert Magnus retired in 2008 after nearly 40 years of service, he was second in command of the US Marine Corps and the highest ranking Jewish member of the US military.
He was also a Naval aviator, though a transport helicopter pilot, so even he received a “callsign:”
The assignment prompted a friend to bestow on him a “call sign,” a nickname given to a military pilot as a substitute for the officer’s given name. “Fighter pilots and attack helicopter pilots all had call signs, but I was a transport helicopter pilot and we didn’t,” he explains. His friend insisted and Magnus became “Heeb,” short for “Hebrew.”
Think a callsign like that would last long in today’s politically correct environment? Interestingly enough, it did last more than 30 years: Read more