Newspaper Page Text
Page 8A, The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, May 25,2022
The Army Dentist Who
Traded Teeth for
Special to the Ledger
by Gail Drake
“Whatsoever your
hands find to do, do it
with all your might.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10
It was graduation day
in sunny California in
May 1937. Benjamin Sa
lomon marched in with
his fellow classmates,
received his diploma,
donned his hood, and
moved his tassel, now
as Dr. Salomon, a proud
graduate of the Henry
Ostrow School of Den
tistry at USC.
His doctorate was
the second degree he
had earned from the
University of South
ern California, having
transferred from Mar
quette University in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He had fought to enroll
USC, as many American
universities at that time
had quota limitations on
the number of Jewish
applicants that were
accepted. Dr. Salomon
immediately tried to
join the U.S. Army but
was rejected. So he set
up shop in Beverly Hills
and began a successful
dental practice. Little did
he imagine that a few
years later he would be
performing surgeries in
the jungles of the South
Pacific as an Army
officer.
After growing a client
base of aspiring Holly
wood actors, in 1940 he
was drafted into the U.S.
Army Infantry - as a
private. Having achieved
the rank of Eagle Scout
as a boy, he quickly
excelled in military
training and qualified
as an expert in rifle and
pistol. He also trained as
a machine gun operator.
His commanding officer
quickly promoted him to
Sergeant and appointed
him to serve as an in
structor. When he wasn’t
fixing teeth for free, he
was training troops on
weapons.
In 1942 the Army noti
fied him of his appoint
ment to the Army Dental
Corps, commissioned
him as first lieutenant,
and assigned him to the
102nd Infantry Regi
ment. In August 1942,
he was recognized as the
unit’s “best all-around
soldier”. In May 1944,
he was appointed dental
officer of the 105th
Infantry Regiment, then
promoted to the rank
of Captain. He was 29
years old.
A month later, in June
1944, the 105th Infantry
Regiment set sail for the
Pacific Theatre and came
ashore on the island
of Saipan. A battalion
surgeon was wounded
during the Marianas
Island Campaign, and
Dr. Salomon volunteered
to fill in until another
surgeon
could be as
signed. The
American
military was
advancing in
this region
despite the
desperate
resistance
of Japanese
forces. Ja
pan’s Gen
eral Saito
ordered his remaining
5000 troops to advance
with suicide attacks.
“We will die an honor
able death. Each man
will kill ten Americans.”
On July 7, 1942, Dr.
Salomon’s medical sta
tion was set up only 50
yards from the foxhole
line. Fighting was fierce
and soon the Japanese
assault overran the area,
then the aid station. A
Japanese soldier ran out
of the brush with a bayo
net and attacked soldiers
lined up for treatment.
Salomon grabbed a rifle,
shot the assailant, then
returned to his patient.
When the next Japanese
attackers broke into the
tent, he clubbed one,
knifed one, bayoneted a
third and shot another.
Dr. Salomon ordered
the evacuation of all the
wounded while he cov
ered the retreat of his pa
tients. With combatants
invading, he continued
to shoot, club, and bay-
Bullets
onet. Then he grabbed
a M1917 machine gun
whose gunners had been
killed.
Days later when an
Army team returned,
Dr. Salomon’s body
was found
slumped
over the
machine
gun, sur
rounded by
the bodies
of 98 ene
my soldiers
piled up.
His body
bullet and
bayonet
wounds, several that
were inflicted while he
was alive.
Sadly, it took another
58 years before Salo
mon’s heroism was rec
ognized despite multiple
recommendations. The
review board ruled that
the Geneva Conven
tion prohibited medical
officers from bearing
arms. Further inquiry
clarified that medical
officers could engage
in defensive actions but
not assault tactics, but
the machine used was
considered a crew assault
weapon. The denials per
sisted besides the state
ment of Officer Edmund
Love, WWII military
historian who stated,
“During the war in the
Pacific, in seven battles
with four divisions, I
studied the actions of
thousands of men. I do
not know of a man more
richly deserving of this
award than Captain Salo
mon.” Finally, Dr. Robert
West of the USC School
of Dentistry labored to
honor this alumnus. In
2002, President Georgia
W. Bush awarded the
Congressional Medal of
Honor to Dr. Salomon
posthumously.
Dr. Benjamin Lewis
Salomon, DDS, Cap
tain, U.S. Army, 105th
Infantry Regiment;
Congressional Medal of
Honor, Purple Heart: An
American hero.
Lest we forget.
Gail Drake practices
probate, adoption, medi
ation and children’s law
in Albany GA
\r?e thank dtt
Veterans anA
those tyho are
presently
Serving in
our military.
\pfie fcememfar f }-}onor 'Von!
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Community Calendar
• LCHS Class of 2022 Graduation Friday,
May 27 at 6:30 p.m. at Albany Civic Center.
• Lee County - Leesburg - Smithville Plan
ning Commission will meet Thursday, June
2 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at
the T. Page Tharp Governmental Building.
Opal Cannon Auditorium, 102 Starksville
Avenue North, Leesburg
• Leesburg City Council will meet Tuesday,
June 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the Leesburg City
Hall.
• Veterans join the camaraderie of fellow
veterans at the Leesburg American Legion
Post 182. Leesburg American Legion Post
182 meets the first Monday of each month at
7:00 p.m. at J&E Restaurant on Walnut Ave.
in Leesburg.
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