“There are no atheists in foxholes.” We’ve all heard that aphorism – attributed to several individuals, notably Dwight Eisenhower and Ernie Pyle. While I (thankfully) never served in a combat situation, I’ve been through realistic enough training exercises that I occasionally heard muted prayers and cries for “Mommy” from some of my comrades. So, it was with great interest I read one of “Omer-Czar” Ben Simon’s suggestions for an Omer contribution: “Does or did the US Military issue siddurim to its Jewish troops?”

Years ago, Sharon found two small, worn volumes in a used book store. One entitled “Prayer Book, Abridged, for Jews in the Armed Forces of the United States,” originally published in 1917, and the other “Readings from the Holy Scriptures for Jewish Soldiers and Sailors,” also originally published in 1917. The copies I have were republished and issued to Jewish troops during World War II, and from what I’ve discovered, apparently the last time Jewish prayer books were officially issued to US servicemembers.

“Readings” is a selection of readings from the Tanach, with a list of suggestions for the major holy days. For example, the suggestions for Shabbat are Genesis 2, 1-3; Exodus 20, 1-14 and 16, 1-36; Leviticus 23, 1-3; Deuteronomy 6, 4-9 and 11, and 13-21; Isiah 58, 13-14; and Psalms 23, 92, 145, and 150.

The “Prayer Book” is more “Siddur-like,” being a selection of the major brachot, prayers, and readings found in today’s Siddur Sim Shalom.

These appear to be the only “official” prayer books issued by the US military. Since the publication of these books, Jewish chaplains have used a variety of prayer books to lead services. But there was no standard, “official” uniform publication – requiring Jewish members of the armed forces to adapt to different worship services as they were transferred from duty station to duty station.

To remedy this situation, the Jewish Chaplains Council of the Jewish Welfare Board commissioned a group of rabbis from the three major denominations to collaborate on a version that military rabbis around the world can use differently, but which will be uniform and familiar to service members world-wide. It was used for the first time at Shabbat services on Friday and Saturday, March 28-29, 2014 during the JCC Association Biennial in San Diego.