Ralph Hartman

Trial by Choice Ralph Hartman

There are no atheists in the foxholes-William Thomas CummingsThere is certainly no atheist in one foxhole because in its freezing mud and snow we find Rabbi Melvin Epstein, United States Army chaplain, shivering in the frigid atmosphere of another Korean sunrise and wondering what the future holds for him. In his new requested assignment to a frontline infantry company he must interact with-among others-the unit's Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist soldiers, a commanding officer who is not in favor of his being there, an army nurse with pretty eyes, a Catholic chaplain to whom he reports, and his favorite of them all-an acerbic, booze-swilling, unreligious, first sergeant. This story follows the rabbi's striving to be accepted, his experiences with the Jewish men, his interplay with the others, a military medal under strange circumstances, his exposures to combat and the subsequent questioning of his faith.