Happy Veterans Day, everyone!
Every November, the United States honors its service members on Veterans Day. This national holiday serves as an opportunity for us to remember our nation's veterans and to be thankful for our freedoms. This year's Veterans Day falls on 11/11/11. Most importantly, this year marks the beginning of our nation's 11th year of engagement in Afghanistan. As a result of our engagement in recent conflicts overseas, many veterans return home, as our newest heroes, just as others did before after other conflicts. This is why the California Department of Veterans Affairs will be profiling eleven veterans beginning November 7th thru Veterans Day. These profiles will include veterans from different generations and backgrounds and hopefully shine a light on the challenges our veterans have and continue to face.
Bea Hirschkovici was born in 1910 in Bucharest, Romania. She remembers well her family's migration from Romania to the United States in 1920. Hirschkovici's family made the journey to Fort Worth, Texas by sailing from France and registering in Ellis Island.
Hirschkovici remembers the difficult times that World War I had created in Europe and was thankful for the opportunities and safety that the United States offered. In 1929 she and her family moved to California where she lived until she enlisted in the Army at the beginning of World War II.
Hirschkovici was sent to Des Moines, Iowa to serve in the Women's Auxiliary Core which later became the Women's Army Core before being sent overseas to Scotland where she served as a Private First Class in the communications department working with top secret mimeographed documents.
In 1945, Hirschkovici returned to Los Angeles where she met her future husband a former POW, Ray Cohen. After her service in the military Hirschkovici got heavily involved in veteran causes which she still participates in till this day. This year she celebrated her 101st birthday.
CDVA: What was the most memorable thing about your service?
Hirschkovici: The training at Buckley Field in Denver, Colorado. I remember learning discipline, learning respect, being an American and realizing what America meant to me. Also, meeting the other women soldiers all over the United States. I also remember being on a train on June 6, 1944 and the sky became filled with planes and gliders. It was the Normandy invasion, only we did not know it at the time. It was the beginning of the end of World War II.
CDVA: What made you want to join the military?
Hirschkovici: I wanted to pay America back for having become an American. I came to this country in 1920 as a Rumanian immigrant. I was proud to be an American and I still am.
CDVA: What if any effect did being in the military have on your family life?
Hirschkovici: Being in the military gave me an extended family. I am proud of having been a member of the military. There is camaraderie among other veterans and we have so much in common. When I am sitting outside the VA hospital for a cab to take me home, and Veterans are sitting right beside me, we always talk about our service and experiences. I feel so home among other Veterans. The VA is my second home.
Bea, we thank you for your service.
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