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Biographies > Sidney
Shachnow
Maj. Gen. (Ret) Sid Shachnow died on September 28, 2018 at the age
of 83. He was a long-time Special Forces officer who lived a
varied and interesting life.
Early Life. Shachnow was born in Lithuania in 1934. Shachnow
lived three years in a Nazi concentration camp during his youth.
He was held prisoner at the Kovno concentration camp near
Kaunus, Lithuania beginning at age seven. He was smuggled out of
the camp only days before the camp was closed and its prisoners
transferred to Auschwitz.
Life in the U.S. He immigrated to the United States in 1950 - living in Salem,
Massachusetts before joining the Army. He got married six weeks
before joining the military.
U.S. Army. Shachnow joined the U.S. Army in 1955 after high
school. He served with infantry, airborne, airmobile, and
Special Forces units. In 1960 he earned his commission through
OCS as an Infantry officer after attaining the rank of Sergeant
First Class. In 1962 he volunteered for Special Forces. Much of
his 39-year long career was in Special Forces. He served with
the 5th Special Forces Group as well as 'Det A' in Berlin.
Vietnam. He deployed to Vietnam twice. His first tour was as
commander of Detachment A-121 at An Long Camp near the Cambodian
border along the Mekong River.
Cold War. During the Cold War he commanded troops in Berlin,
Germany and witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall. He commanded
the 39th Special Forces Company (sometimes called Berlin Brigade
Detachment A). This was a classified unit that existed from 1956
to 1984. [1]
Commands. Some of his senior command assignments included the
U.S. Army Special Forces Command (USASFC), John F. Kennedy
Special Warfare Center and School (JFKSWCS) at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina, and U.S. Army Berlin in Germany.
Awards and Decorations. His long list of awards and
decorations include two Purple Hearts, two Distinguished Service
Medals, two Silver Stars, the Defense Superior Service Medal,
the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Stars, Combat Infantryman
Badge, Ranger Tab, Special Forces Tab, Master Parachutist Badge,
Air Medal (12), and many others..
Education. Shachnow earned degrees from the University of
Nebraska and Shippensburg State College in Pennsylvania. He
received an honorary degree from the Harvard Executive
Management Program. In addition, he attended the Army Command
and General Staff College and the Army War College.
Post-Retirement. MG Shachnow continued to serve the SOF
community after retirement on October 1, 1994. He worked on a
number of boards, provided services as a volunteer, and
performed duties as a 'senior mentor' during a number of
exercises and conferences. [2] In 2007 he was inducted as a
Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment. He is
also included on the Honor Roll in the Infantry Officers' Hall
of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 2004 he authored an
autobiography entitled
Hope and Honor which earned the Colby Award.
Footnotes:
[1] A Unit 'Truly without Equal", WeaponsMan.
http://weaponsman.com/?p=13835
[2] Shachnow served on the
board of directors of the Airborne & Special Operations
Museum Foundation. He also served on the board of advisors of
the
Jewish Institute for National Securty Affairs.
References:
"Maj.
Gen. Sidney Shachnow, Special Forces legend, Holocaust survivor,
has died", The Fayetteville Observer, October 2,
2018.
"Interview with Maj. Gen. (R) Sidney Shachnow", Jewish
Post, October 2012.
Sidney Shachnow, Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Shachnow
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