A Medal Of Honor For Sargent William Shemin…a Century Long Odyssey
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine|Issue 60

A Medal Of Honor For Sargent William Sheminâ Century Long Odyssey.

Dan Burstein
A Medal Of Honor For Sargent William Shemin…a Century Long Odyssey

I am in the east room of the White House on June 2, 2015 for what is turning out to be the most amazing family reunion I could ever have imagined.At the podium, President Barack Obama is presenting the Medal of Honor to my 86 year-old cousin, Elsie Shemin-Roth, and her sister, Ina Bass, who are both daughters of Sargent William Shemin, a man who fought bravely in World War I almost a century earlier. This is an extremely rare posthumous presentation of the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award for battlefield valor, in consideration of Sgt. Shemin’s “extraordinary heroism and selflessness, above and beyond the call of duty.”

William Shemin, whom we knew in our family as Bill, was a younger first cousin to my grandmother (Leah Shemin). Leah—my father’s mother—and many of my Shemin relatives had their origins in a small town called Orsha in what is today Belarus. Around the turn of the 20th century this Russian town near the Dnieper River had a population of about 13,000—a little more than half of them Jewish. My grandmother’s branch of the family, and a whole generation of our forebears, including Bill Shemin’s parents, fled Tsarist pograms, famines, and a general lack of opportunity in Russia to come to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. (If you’ve seen Fiddler on the Roof, you can imagine Orsha back then, even though Fiddler is set in Ukraine, a few hundred miles to the south).

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 60-Ausgabe von Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 60-Ausgabe von Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS LITCHFIELD COUNTY COUNTRY CAPITALIST MAGAZINEAlle anzeigen
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Black Edge

The Fall of SAC Capital.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Issue 60
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Brain Fitness - It’s All In Your Mind

Frozen in mid-sentence, you forget a name. With your pen poised over a check, you cannot recall the date. You’ve gone into the kitchen, but you can no longer remember what for. And where is that damned cell phone? Are you one of the worried well? Many of us are anxious to live a long life, but fearful of our potential for the humiliation and debilitation of dementia. What to do? Should you try a computer game? Magnesium tablets? A week at an expensive brain training center? Brain fitness is the new buzzword and wealthy aging baby boomers are eager to buy a healthier brain.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Issue 60
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Our Little Racket

Our Little Racket.

time-read
10 Minuten  |
Issue 60
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Test of the Champion: The Story of the Belmont Dynasty

Test of the Champion: The Story of the Belmont Dynasty.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Issue 60
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Statue Of Limitations

Statue Of Limitations.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Issue 60
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Hamptons International Film Festival’s Silver Anniversary

Hamptons International Film Festival's Silver Anniversary.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Issue 60
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Saint In The City

Seeking the star man on the streets of soho.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Issue 61
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Mah Jong Memory

I remember mah jong through a haze of memory and my mother’s Benson & Hedges cigarette smoke.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Issue 61
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Scott Swimming Pools

Scott Swimming Pools, Inc. is a luxury design-build swimming pool company celebrating its 80th year in business this year.

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 61
Rye's Megyn Kelly, in the Spotlight
Litchfield County Country Capitalist Magazine

Rye's Megyn Kelly, in the Spotlight

SUDDENLY, Megyn Kelly is everywhere. Her tell-all memoir, “Settle for More,” from Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, came out in November and immediately hit the best seller list.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Issue 59