The American Battle Monuments Commission in coordination with Operation Benjamin changed out three Latin cross headstones for Stars of David May 13 and 14 in Italy.  

Headstone changes were done at the request of the service members’ families who, along with Operation Benjamin, presented the required research to ABMC to warrant the change. Operation Benjamin is a non-profit dedicated to identifying and correcting burial errors of Jewish-American service members buried under Latin crosses. U.S. and Italian military and government officials were on hand, as well as family members of the three service members, and members of the local and international Jewish community, for the two ceremonies. 

Tech. 4 Ben Zion Bernstein and 2nd Lt. Paul S. Singer 

At Sicily-Rome American Cemetery May 13, headstones were changed for U.S. Army Tech. 4 Ben Zion Bernstein from Illinois who served with the 2nd Special Service Regiment, and for U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Paul S. Singer from Wisconsin who served with the 506th Bomber Squadron, 44th Bomber Group (Heavy). 

Bernstein, a Jewish service member who reported to service under a false religious identity to escape persecution, was the oldest of six children, studying to be a writer and working as a farmer on a kibbutz in what is now Israel. Born in 1915 in Ohio, he moved back to the U.S. in 1940 and enlisted in the Army in January 1941. A part of the First Special Service Force, known as “The Devil’s Brigade,” Bernstein was killed on Dec. 2, 1943, ascending La Difensa on the Italian front to take on a heavily fortified German position. The operation was a success, but 72 others were killed along with Bernstein and more than 300 were wounded. 

Research into Singer’s burial showed that his dog tags were lost after his initial burial in a civilian cemetery in Italy, so it was unknown what religion was identified on the tags. If his tags did include a “P” for Protestant, he was one of many Jewish soldiers who purposefully hid their religious heritage to avoid possible persecution if captured in Europe. 

Singer, who was born in 1918 in Wisconsin, enlisted in the Canadian air force before the U.S. entered WWII. He transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps as a corporal in May 1942. He was trained as a B-24 navigator and flew on a B-24 nicknamed “Southern Comfort.”  

Singer bailed out of the aircraft when it was hit by a German fighter aircraft head-on on Aug. 16, 1943. Singer was the only crew member of the nine who bailed out who didn’t survive the descent. He was buried by Italian civilians along with the crew’s bombardier, 2nd Lt. Sheldon Finder, in the town of Filiano, and the rest of the crew was taken prisoner. Singer was initially reported to his family as missing in action but was positively identified in early 1944. During the May 14 ceremony, after replacing Singer’s headstone, the group also said Kaddish for Finder who was buried near Singer at Sicily-Rome appropriately under a Star of David. 

Pfc. Frank T. Kurzinger 

At Florence American Cemetery, the headstone was changed May 14 for U.S. Army Pfc. Frank T. Kurzinger from Missouri who served with the 85th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division. 

Kurzinger, was born in Würzburg, Germany, and immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1930s with his parents. He registered for the draft two months before his 19th birthday, was drafted the following spring and became a medic.  Like many of the Jewish faith, Kurzinger reported Catholic as his religion in his Army paperwork in case he was sent to fight in Europe. According to the ceremony program, Kurzinger often expressed anxiety about being captured by the Germans and tried as a traitor. He even wore a Catholic medal to conceal his faith if captured. Kurzinger’s family knows of his last moments from fellow soldier Del Riley who called to the medic Feb. 20, 1945, as the unit ascended Monte Belvedere in Italy. Kurzinger was killed by a mine while making his way to help his wounded comrade. 

Florence American Cemetery Operations and Technical Manager Oscar Tranchina, Maintenance Worker Alessio Bellini and Mason Domenico Beccia place the new Star of David headstone May 14, 2025 at the gravesite of Pfc. Frank T. Kurzinger who was originally laid to rest under a Latin cross.