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thedrifter
06-03-09, 08:08 AM
June 3, 2009
Iowa boy reunites WWII Marine, prayer book

JOHN CARLSON
jcarlson@dmreg.com

The 12-year-old Iowan didn't know Teddy Mogil, the man whose signature was carefully written in the old, orange prayer book. He didn't know where Mogil lived or even if he was alive.

"I just saw his name written in there and knew I wanted to find him," said Wil Beach, a seventh-grader from Harlan. "I decided Mr. Mogil should have his book again."

And that's why a thoughtful, dedicated Iowa boy used his lawn-mowing money to buy a seemingly worthless little book and bring some joy to an aging veteran.

"That book was awful special to me," said the 85-year-old Mogil, who lives in Mercer Island, Wash. "I had it with me all through the time I was in the South Pacific during the war. It got me through some tough times, and I never really knew what happened to it. Now, I'm sitting here holding it after all those years. That's really something."

Wil was with his parents at a book sale at Temple Israel Synagogue in Omaha and spotted the prayer book. Written in Hebrew and English, it is titled, "Prayer Book for Jews in the Armed Forces of the United States."

Inside the cover was written:

Pvt. Teddy Mogil

Nov. 5, 1942

The cost of the book was $10 - a lot for a kid who earns a few dollars baby-sitting and mowing lawns - but Wil paid up. Not because he wanted the book for himself. He bought it because he wanted it returned to the Marine who received it 67 years ago on the day he enlisted in the Marine Corps in Des Moines.

"We were at this book fair at Temple Israel (synagogue) in Omaha," said Wil. "I saw this tiny, worn-out prayer book, and I told my dad we just had to find that man. World War II means a lot to me. We have this 86-year-old friend who was a prisoner of war. He's told me about the war and I really like him. And we learned about World War II in school."

So Wil and his dad, Ron, did some looking on the Internet for people named Mogil. Dozens around the country had the surname, but there was one Ted, in Mercer Island, Wash. It was the first call they made.

"A man answered and I told him who I was," Wil said. "I told him where I lived and asked him if he was in the Marines. He said, yes he was a long time ago, and I told him I found a World War II prayer book with his name in it."

"You found what?" Mogil asked Wil.

Wil told him again and that's when Mogil realized it wasn't a scam or a crank call.

"Yes, I had a book like that," Mogil told the boy. And the old Marine heard young Wil yelling, "Dad, Dad, it's the right guy."

Etta Mogil said she sat on the couch and cried, listening to her husband's end of the conversation.

"I couldn't imagine a boy doing such a nice thing for my husband," she said.

Mogil said he and Etta were from Omaha and he received the book from the Jewish Welfare Board when he entered the service in Des Moines.

"I kept it with me the whole time I was gone," Mogil said. "I was the only Jew in my outfit - there wasn't any rabbi around - and it was something I looked to for strength. There were plenty of times I needed strength. My whole duffel bag went in the drink once, but not that book. It was always in my pocket."

Mogil thinks the prayer book - known as a "siddur" - might have been inadvertently included in some things he and his wife donated to their synagogue when they moved to California in 1948.

"I lost track of it about that time," he said. "I try to imagine this young boy in Iowa finding this book and tracking me down and mailing it to me out here. I just can't get over it."

Wil said his hope is the two can meet someday.

"Mr. Mogil said he'd like to come to my bar mitzvah. That's May 22, next year. I sure hope he can come."

It's certain they will remain friends.

"I told him I did it because it was the right thing to do," Wil said.

Which was a good lesson.

Things tend to work out well when you do the right thing.

http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=D2&Date=20090603&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=906030359&Ref=H3&Profile=1001&MaxW=180&Border=0

Ellie