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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! lfl'IN(j&COOLING www.southgeorgia heatingandcooling.com #5“' Healing & Cooling Syrtems WHATEVER IT takes: 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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