The Algemeiner, a self-described Jewish newspaper, recently had an interesting article chronicling the military service of Jews in the world’s and the US military.

The reason for the article was to address a historical meme:

Throughout history, a common anti-Semitic method of incitement has been to accuse Jews of being unpatriotic. This was often largely expressed in the accusation that Jews were unwilling to join their military.

After a bit of history, the article explains the demographics of the military and its Jewish population.  Some tragic statistics held an unusual bit of interesting information:

According to the president of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, 44 Jewish servicemen and women have died in the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan. Of these 44 fallen soldiers, approximately one-third had not registered as Jews and their religious background only became apparent after their deaths. Thus, experts have suggested that there may be a lot more Jews in the military than previously assumed.

The article concludes that lends credence to the belief Jews are statistically “underreported” in the US military.

In some respects the article seems like a defense looking for an accusation.  Apparently this has been a historical anti-Semitic theme, but it has not been a widespread issue within the US military, nor does it appear to have seen much mainstream stereotyping in the greater American culture.

On the other hand, the article attracted a commenter with precisely the meme the article was meant to address.