Jewish Military
Samuel Meisenberg, US Marine
A Jewish US Marine who was, at eighteen years old, one of the first killed in the Battle of Veracruz.
The story of Samuel Meisenberg offers a personal entry point into the Battle of Veracruz. On April 21, 1914, U.S. Marines came ashore in the Mexican port city, and Meisenberg was among the first Americans killed in the fighting, and newspapers immediately propped up this young boy as the human face of the United States' intervention in Mexican internal affairs. Meisenberg’s story—young, local, and abruptly killed in the nation’s first major foreign military action of the decade—had a powerful emotional impact and gave the public something concrete to hang onto, turning an abstract conflict into a personal one.
Important Moments
April 15, 1894
Born in Odessa, Russia.
May 17, 1913
Enlists in the US Marine Corps.
1907
Moves to Chicago with his parents.
May 3, 1914
Following Meisenberg's death, his public viewing in Chicago draws a crowd of 5,000 mourners.
Highlights from the Collection
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Another 1914 memorial pin commemorating fallen US Marine Samuel Meisenberg.
A memorial card for Samuel Meisenberg, "the hero of Vera Cruz."
Meisenberg's mother looking at her deceased son's Marine portrait.
The May 15th edition of the Chicago Sentinel newspaper included a writeup of Meisenberg's funeral procession, along with a brief timeline of his life.
A press photo of the American flag being hung outside of Samuel Meisenberg's family home in his memory.
Meisenberg's ship was the USS Prairie, and this real photo postcard shows the first marine landing party leaving the ship on the precipice of battle.
A funeral ribbon in memory of Samuel Meisenberg.
The refrain reads, "Far away in Illinois a mother now must year, grieving for her sailor boy who never will return; 'Twixt his love for home and flag her darling had to choose. n the fight for truth and right, he died at Vera Cruz."
A postcard illustrating the funeral procession for Meisenberg and his fellow deceased servicemen as their caskets were transported from Battery Park to the New York Navy Yard.
