SERGEANT MEYER (MIKE) LEVIN, The Hero Who Gave His Life To Protect Our Country In WWII:

 SERGEANT MEYER (MIKE) LEVIN, The Hero Who Gave His Life To Protect Our Country In WWII:

Sgt Meyer (Mike) Levin, WWII B-17 Flying Fortress bombardier, pilot, and war hero, was born on June 5, 1916,  in Rochester, NY to Jewish parents, Leah and Samuel Levin.

 The family moved to Brooklyn when Meyer was 14 years old. 

His father was a tailor and clothing inspector for the Navy; they lived at 1504 E 33d St. and 3210 Church Ave.  

After he graduated from Brooklyn Technical H.S. (1934) (later became Brooklyn Tech's first WWII war hero), and enrolled in Brooklyn Engineering School for Aviation where he graduated second highest in his class. 

 He spent the next three years trying to find work in the aircraft industry, but was continually denied a job due to his Jewish heritage.

  He then decided to enlist in the military.

Three days after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, he flew on a mission with pilot Colin Kelly against the Japanese navy. 

Kelly died trying to save his crew and became a war hero.

 On that mission, Levin became the first American to blow up a Japanese warship.

 During his subsequent 60 combat missions, Levin also sank an enemy ship during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

A year later, on although he was off duty, he volunteered to be the spotter and bombardier for a combat mission near New Guinea.

 During its return on 1.7.1943, the B-17 ran low on fuel and made a forced landing into stormy seas.

 Levin remained in the plane and released the life raft which saved the lives of the three other crew members. In doing so, however, Levin was injured and died when the plane sank. 

  A few months after Levin's death, over 1,000 people attended a memorial service for him in Brooklyn.

Levin won the distinguished flying cross for being the first to successfully bomb a Japanese battleship, Haruna, the silver star for a direct hit on a 15,000 ton Japanese transport, and the oak leaf cluster for gallantry.

 He is remembered as one of the first American heroes of WWII for sacrificing his own life to save members of his crew.  He was listed as missing in action.

To honor Levin, the United Jewish War Effort, in February 1943, through its chairman rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise, sent the Soviet Red Army 100 medical field units bearing Levin's name. 

It then began another campaign to produce Memorial Medical Field Units for the U.S. Army.

[19] In March 1943, the Jewish War Veterans organization raised $75,000 toward a goal of $350,000, to replace the plane in which Levin lost his life.