Joshua L. Goldberg Military person

Joshua Louis Goldberg (January 6, 1896 – December 24, 1994) was a Belarusian-born American rabbi, who was the first rabbi to be commissioned as a U.S. Navy chaplain in World War II (and only the third to serve in the Navy in its history), the first to reach the rank of Navy Captain (the equivalent of Army Colonel), and the first to retire after a full active-duty career.He had a highly unusual military background for a U.S. Navy chaplain, having been drafted into the Russian army when he was a teenager, then deserting to make his way to the United States where he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in an infantry unit in Europe during World War I before beginning rabbinical school studies in New York City after the war.

Personal facts

Birth date	January 06, 1896
Birth place	Belarus , Russian Empire
Date of death	December 24, 1994
Place of death	West Palm Beach Florida
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery

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Military person

award	Legion of Merit
military operations	World War II World War I
military branch	United States Army United States Navy Imperial Russian Army
service start	1914
service end	1914