This Day in History: Isadore Jachman's single-handed attack

On this day in 1945, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Isadore “Izzy” Jachman would take on two enemy tanks, single-handedly, forcing them into retreat.

Perhaps the incredible feat wasn’t as surprising as you might think. After all, the young staff sergeant had a personal stake in World War II: His family had fled rising antisemitism in Germany when he was just a toddler. Worse, he was surely worried about his relatives who’d remained behind. Several of his aunts and uncles had been taken into concentration camps.

Jachman enlisted in the Army in 1942, but he was posted stateside at first. Apparently frustrated, he volunteered to train as a paratrooper, hoping he’d be sent to Europe to fight the Nazis. He soon got his wish. By the fall of 1944, he was fighting with the 17th Airborne in frigid temperatures at the Battle of the Bulge.

His determination to get to Europe was no small thing.  “For those [Jewish Americans] serving in Europe,” National WWII Museum Senior Curator Kim Guise notes, “being in the fight came with added motivation and also added risk should they be captured. . . . One cause of concern was the possibility of being identified as Jewish and being singled out by the enemy.” 

Jachman’s Medal action came as his company became pinned down near Flamierge, Belgium, on January 4. Artillery, mortar, and small-arms fire fell all around, which was bad enough, but then two tanks joined the attack.

Jachman’s action was simple, but stunningly brave. His Medal citation notes that he saw “the desperate plight of his comrades” and swung into action. He dashed across open ground, even as he was being fired upon, grabbing a bazooka from one of our fallen soldiers. He turned and faced the tanks, boldly advancing on them and firing as he went.

His daring stunt worked: One tank was damaged and the other was forced to leave, and Jachman is credited with “disrupt[ing] the entire enemy attack.”

Unfortunately, the cost was great: Jachman was mortally wounded during his advance.

Jachman was initially awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for his action, but the Cross was upgraded to a Medal after one of his parent’s neighbors wrote a letter asking for the Cross citation to be reviewed. The award makes Jachman one of three Jewish Americans to receive the Medal of Honor for an action during World War II.

A postscript to the story might surprise you. Those in the Belgian village of Flamierge knew that an American had stood, alone, fighting the enemy and saving their village. The townspeople erected a statue in honor of the unknown soldier. His name was added to the statue when they finally figured out his identity.

Just another member of the Greatest Generation doing what had to be done. RIP, Sir.

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Primary Sources:

• Army Staff Sergeant Isadore Jachman - World War II (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services)

• Bob Raimonto, Mundane Prose Manages to Ground ‘Airborne’ (Staten Island Advance; May 4, 2003) (p. E5)

• Father Will Get Medal for Son (Baltimore Sun; July 21, 1950) (p. 30)

• Jachman  Isadore Seigfreid “Izzy” (American War Memorials Overseas)

• Jason Dawsey, PhD, Sacrificing Everything: Isadore S. Jachman’s Medal of Honor (The National WWII Museum; June 1, 2023)

• Katie Lange, Medal of Honor Monday: Army Staff Sgt. Isadore Jachman (Dept. of Defense; Jan. 4, 2021)

• Kim Guise, Pride and Peril: Jewish American POWs in Europe (The National WWII Museum; May 26, 2021)

• Meade Memorial Service Set for Medal Winner (Evening Sun; June 9, 1965) (p. A24)

• Medal of Honor Bestowed Posthumously on Baltimore Jewish Soldier (Southern Jewish Weekly; Sept. 8, 1950) (p. 135)

• Medal of Honor citation (Isadore S. Jachman; WWII)

• Michael Lee Lanning, Jewish Medal of Honor Recipients (2022)

• Posthumous Award of Medal of Honor Announced (Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle; Aug. 4, 1950) (p. 1)