Our Forgotten but Notable Neighbors – David J. Hirsch

By :Jerome Kleiman

On a marble memorial in front of the Rockland County Courthouse are 6 columns, each engraved with the names of 40 men – the 240 Rocklanders who died in uniform during WWII.

Half-way down the third column appears the name David J. Hirsch, who is the only person from Rockland County who took part in the infamous Bataan Death March.

If the name Hirsch sounds familiar to you it might be because there are two streets named after him — Hirsch Drive and North Hirsch Drive – adjacent to each other, and just off Route 202 in Garnerville. David’s first name does not appear on either street sign, nor is there any biographical information. As you drive a bit on Hirsch Drive it branches off into side streets which are named after other North Rocklanders, soldiers who lost their lives during wartime – Heck Road (Charles Heck, WWII), Mackey Road (Joseph F. Mackey, Jr., WWII), Rakentine Lane (Kenneth Rakentine, Vietnam).

Born in Brooklyn in 1919, but raised in Rockland County, David graduated from Haverstraw H.S. in 1937, smack-dab in the middle of the Great Depression. He then started college while also working in his father’s local knitwear manufacturing company. He hadn’t been a football star or the class valedictorian, and he didn’t get in trouble with the cops. He was just a low-key, typical kid, growing up in small-town USA.

During the mid-to-late-1930s, as the winds of war began to pick up in the seemingly far off continents of Europe and Asia, most Americans felt relatively safe, and wanted to stay out of foreign conflicts. However, as Japanese and German aggression increased, it seemed inevitable that the US would be able to avoid direct involvement.

On April 28, 1941, David J. Hirsch put his educational aspirations on hold and enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was trained as an Air Corps bomb specialist.

Then, as a member of the 27th Bomb Group, he sailed to Manila aboard the S.S. U.S. Grant, arriving on November 20, 1941. The 1209-man contingent included the pilots and crew members who were trained to fly, arm, and keep the 27th ’s fifty-two Dauntless A-24 Dive Bombers operational. There was one major logistical problem, however. The planes and their armaments had been shipped on a different vessel that was not scheduled to arrive in the Philippines until mid-December.

By late November of 1941, the threat of war with Japan was palpable. Not long before, under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. had called up over 100,000 Filipino reserve troops, most of whom were inadequately trained. The plan was that if the Philippines were attacked by Japan, the Pacific Fleet, based in Hawaii with its huge battleships like the USS Arizona, would come to its rescue.

But, on Dec. 7, 1941,” A Date That Will Live In Infamy”, Pearl Harbor was surprise- attacked by Japanese planes, sinking the Arizona and many other American ships.

Several hours later, Japanese planes attacked the Philippines, again catching the Americans off-guard and causing extensive damage.

The Filipino-American troops, with the Pacific Fleet out of commission, and separated from mainland US by 7,000 miles, were now effectively cut-off from supplies and reinforcements. The ship transporting 27th’s Dive Bombers had to be redirected to Australia. David Hirsch and the other plane-less airmen of the 27th bomb group were converted into infantry soldiers, a role for which they had not been trained. On the Bataan Peninsula, near Manila, the Provisional Air Corps Infantry Regiment would fight bravely against a Japanese military composed of well-trained, well-armed, and highly motivated combat troops for over three months.

Eventually, the Filipino-American troops’ food supplies, medicine and ammunition began to run out. Yet, despite the overwhelming odds against them, the Filipino-American troops, continuing to show tremendous courage and fortitude, fought on. Daily reports of their exploits inspired the folks back in the States. In homage, they earned the nickname The Battling Bastards of Bataan.

On April 9, 1942, the 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were surrendered by their commander. This would culminate in what has become known as the Bataan Death March. Taking place during the Philippines’ hottest season, the Japanese guards forced the Fil-Am Prisoners of War to walk to a POW Camp about 100 kilometers away. Those who couldn’t keep up with the group, were summarily killed. They were denied water, despite artesian wells being plentiful. Tortured by excruciating thirst, men would make a mad dash toward a source of water only to be shot or bayoneted to death.

David Hirsch survived the Death March, but an estimated 600 Americans and as many as 10,000 Filipinos were not as fortunate.

As horrendous as the Death March was, the POW camp, named Camp O’Donnell, was even worse. Although malaria and dysentery became rampant among the prisoners, the Japanese intentionally deprived them of the necessities of life including medication, basic nutrition, and sufficient water. As a result, within a short period of 3 months over 1,500 Americans died at camp O’Donnell. Shockingly, an estimated 26,000 Filipinos, men who had fought so bravely alongside their American allies, also died there.

Thirty to fifty Americans were expiring daily at O’Donnell. Their remains would be placed unceremoniously in hastily dug, shallow mass graves, outside the camp’s perimeter. Among the dead was Pfc. David J. Hirsch. He breathed his last on June 12, 1942, falling victim to bacterial dysentery. His last few days were spent in a shack known as Zero Ward, where dysentery victims who were too weak to even walk to the latrine and who were thought to have zero chance of survival, were sent to die.

In late May of 1942, the Hirsch family received word that David was listed as “officially missing in action”. For five long years, the family received no further update on David’s status until finally, according to a newspaper article dated May 29, 1947, he was classified as “presumed dead”.

Then, in October 1947, a branch of the Department of War, tasked with locating the bodies of dead servicemen and women, fortunately found and was able to identify the remains of David Hirsch.

The process for identifying the remains of those buried in mass graves in the Philippines is normally unpredictable and time-consuming. In fact, men are still being identified. Just a few months ago, the remains of POW Pvt. William E. Calkins, age 20 at the time of his death 82 years ago, were identified. He will be buried with full military honors on Sept. 13, 2024, in his hometown of Hillsboro, OR.

The body of Private First-Class Hirsch was transported back to the United States, and on October 15, 1948, Rabbi Alexander Friedman conducted a memorial prayer service at the Hirsch family’s home, chanting the Kaddish prayer for him. He was then taken to a cemetery and hastily reinterred.

By 1970, the parents of David had passed away and were buried at the Jewish Community Center Cemetery in Spring Valley. At some point, the decision was made to transfer David’s remains there. And so it was that Pfc. David J. Hirsch, who had made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of our freedoms, was buried for the third and final time, and laid to rest beside his loving parents. He was home at last.