My father, Stanley Braunstein,was a WWII veteran of the Army Air Corps. He was born in Brooklyn in 1921. His mother was a Russian immigrant fleeing pogroms. He lied about his age and at 17 enlisted.  My father served in both Europe and Iceland. His company has the distinction of shooting down one of the first German aircraft (over Iceland) during the war. I retain the engine plate as a memento (see image). His salvage truck was called Hitler’s Hearse. He was fluent in Yiddish and was one of the first Jews his company ever met. They had never seen a circumcised man. Some thought Jews actually had horns. The anti-Semitism was palpable. He came home from the war damaged. He shortened his last name from Braunstein to Braun in order to assimilate better. He no longer kept kosher. His first wife was not a Jew. By the time I was born  in 1966, my father was remarried and had rediscovered his heritage. He raised me to be proud who we are. -Shared by Alison Braun