Hyman Josefson was born on April 14, 1909, in New York, to Harry and Lena Josefson of Iasi, Romania. He entered Cornell on a full scholarship at the age of 15, having attained the highest score on the New York state scholarship exam. A first-generation American, Josefson was born in 1909 in Middletown, New York, the youngest son of Herschel and Lena Josefson, Romanian Jewish immigrants.
As a youngster, Josefson was a newspaper boy, athlete and Eagle Scout. Like his older brother, Abraham ’22, Josefson entered Cornell on state scholarships and majored in engineering in the College of Arts and Sciences. He joined the wrestling team and excelled both on and off the mat, with elections to Phi Beta Kappa and Sphinx Head.
After earning his law degree at Cornell in 1931, he became an accomplished attorney and engineer, but at age 32, just six weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the U.S. Army. Josefson was one of 550,000 Jewish American soldiers whose service in World War II was weighted with both patriotism and the knowledge that they were fighting against Hitler for the survival of their European brethren. He trained at Fort Knox and joined the 5th Armored Division’s 85th Calvary Reconnaissance Squadron. After two years of training in the U.S., his unit landed at Utah Beach on July 24, 1944. They marched through Normandy and Northern France, reaching the Belgian border by September 2.
Luxembourg’s Prince Felix and Crown Prince Jean joined the allies, and by September 7 they were fighting alongside the 5th Armored Division, gearing up for a return to their homeland.
As a platoon leader and car commander of the 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Josefson was an advance man. His mission was to find, fix, and fight. In other words, to ascertain the strength and disposition of the enemy, remove obstacles, and clear the way for further combat.
On September 9, 1944, by mid-day, Josefson’s armored M8 Greyhound Patrol car was the first to breach the Belgian border and enter Petange, Luxembourg. But the celebratory air was severely dampened when a hidden Wehrmacht cannon hit Josefson’s Greyhound just as it approached a flour mill. Josefson was killed, and three others in his car were wounded.
Gunner Cyril Mayrose, Technical Sergeant and driver Burt Magee, and Radio Operator John Mitchell escaped the car, which continued to burn for days. The crowd that saw it happen erected a makeshift memorial near the flour mill.
2LT is now buried in the Long Island National Cemetery, East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, news.cornell.edu, www.jwv.org