http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06149/694041-85.stm

Band of brothers recalls WWII service
Monday, May 29, 2006

Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette
The Ziskind brothers -- Gerald and Jack -- served simultaneously in Europe during World War II, along with brother Sam, who now lives in Alexandria, Va.

By Ryan Haggerty
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Gerald Ziskind, 87, couldn't help himself.

"Tell him about the time you met the pope," he said, laughing and leaning forward in his chair as he interrupted his older brother, Jack, who was about to begin discussing his most vivid memories from the three years he spent in the Army during World War II.

Gerald, sitting across a shiny wooden desk from his brother in his Squirrel Hill home last week, had just finished recapping his recollections of the war, including the day he, Jack and their brother Sam, 88, met at the French Riviera, the only time the three brothers were together while serving simultaneously in Europe.

Gerald's prodding left Jack with no choice, so he launched into the tale about his trip to Vatican City, saving his stories about other wartime adventures for later in the conversation.

Jack, who never gives his age, was working as an intelligence officer in Rome when he was ordered to join a group of American servicemen about to take a tour of the Vatican before meeting Pope Pius XII.

"I said, 'Colonel, sir, I'm not Catholic, and I don't know if I should go or not,'" Jack said. "He says, 'Look, when I tell you to go, you go.'"

So Jack went, staying at the end of the line of servicemen as they toured the Vatican, hoping to follow their lead when the time came to meet the pope.



The Ziskinds together in Nice, France, during World War II.

But the pope decided to begin the greetings at the end of the line, making Jack the first to step forward. After some last-minute coaching from a papal attendant, he approached the pope, received his blessing and returned to the line, finally able to breathe.

As Jack finished his story, he and Gerald broke into laughter again, enjoying the humor of a young Jewish man timidly approaching the pope just as they did more than half a century ago.

Not all the memories were humorous. They recalled the anxiety of their parents, who hung a framed picture of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the front window of their home on South Evaline Street in Friendship in support of the war that three of their five children were fighting.

Their son Albert had multiple sclerosis and was not allowed to serve, and their daughter, Zelda, went to medical school in Philadelphia.

"They were deeply concerned, but they cooperated in every way," said Gerald, who volunteered for the Army just after enrolling in law school at the University of Pittsburgh and eventually became a first lieutenant in charge of five tanks. "They were highly patriotic and devoted to their country."

But they weren't willing to let Zelda go off to Europe to help with the war effort, as she hoped to do. Instead, she opened her own practice in Pittsburgh, eventually "delivering half the babies born in East Liberty," according to Gerald, who worked as an attorney in Pittsburgh after the war.

"I wanted them back, naturally," said Zelda, 91, who sat in on her brothers' conversation, laughing and nodding as they reminisced about their war service. "I kept records of everything they sent -- letters, post cards, V-mail. I thought it was very interesting, and I talked to my mom and dad about it all the time."

Jack, who has been writing his wartime memoirs as part of a writing class at Carnegie Mellon University for the past eight years, rose to the rank of colonel.

Sam was drafted after finishing graduate school at Yale University and now lives in Alexandria, Va. He was a technical sergeant and edited for Stars and Stripes, eventually becoming managing editor of Army Digest after the war.

Though decades have passed since their service in World War II, both Gerald and Jack believe their experiences hold lessons for today's world.

"It's a new generation, and they are concerned with new problems," Gerald said. "But they should refer back to World War II. The only just war ever totally accepted by the American people was World War II, because it was fought for a purpose."