Tank Gunner’s WWII Story Preserved

The extraordinary wartime service of a Jewish tank gunner from Brooklyn is brought to life in a new episode of “The Fog of War and Humanity,” hosted by South Shore Press historian Richard Acritelli.

Presented by hmTv at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, the program features retired educator Mark Drexler recounting the experiences of his father, Leon Drexler, a World War II veteran who fought across Europe during the final year of the conflict.

Leon volunteered following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and eventually joined the 745th Tank Battalion, attached to the famed 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One.” A skilled marksman, he became the gunner aboard an M4 Sherman tank, operating its 75-millimeter cannon and machine gun.

Drexler told Acritelli that his father spent 11 months in combat and escaped from three tanks that were destroyed beneath him. Leon frequently criticized the Sherman’s relatively thin armor compared with German Panther and Tiger tanks, although its speed, maneuverability and ease of repair gave American crews important advantages.

The episode also examines the antisemitism Leon encountered while training. After fighting an officer who had allegedly harassed him for being Jewish, he was given a choice between remaining in the stockade or joining a tank crew.

Following training at Fort Hood, Texas, Leon traveled to England and prepared for the Normandy invasion. His battalion was assigned to Omaha Beach, where he landed in the Easy Red sector amid devastating German fire.

“He was so frightened that his knees shook,” Drexler said of his father’s first combat experience. Surrounded by explosions, dead and wounded soldiers, Leon continued firing to support infantrymen struggling to move inland.

Acritelli said the conversation preserves more than one soldier’s memories. It captures the transformation of ordinary Americans into citizen-soldiers who confronted Nazi Germany and helped liberate Europe.