Joshua L. Goldberg
| Joshua Louis Goldberg | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
January 6, 1896 Belarus, Russian Empire |
| Died | December 24, 1994 (aged 98) West Palm Beach, Florida |
| Buried at | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
Russian Imperial Army United States Army United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1914–1916 (Russia) 1917–1920 (U.S. Army) 1942–1960 (U.S. Navy) |
| Rank | Private (Russia) Sergeant (U.S. Army) Captain (U.S. Navy) |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II |
| Awards |
|
| Other work | Rabbi Columnist |
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.
Goldberg was born on January 6, 1896, in Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire), the son of a lumber merchant in Babruysk, and educated in Odessa, Russia and Tel Aviv (then part of Palestine).
He was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army when he was 18, serving as a Private until deserting his unit to flee Russia after the collapse of the Russian western front. He was able to reach the United States in 1916, after an eight-month journey by way of Siberia, Manchuria, Korea, and Japan.
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