Lester Kaplan - Father, Grandfather and WWII US Army TEC 5
I’m writing this on the 40th (or so) Yahrzeit of a wonderful man, my father-in-law, Lester Kaplan. Lester and his twin brother Murray were born in 1905 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Here are the boys at the turn of the 19th Century:
Lester went to Pharmacy college and became a Pharmacist in Brooklyn. Here he is at the front of his store in the 1930’s.
And here’s a shot of the twin brothers together in the late 1920’s. My made-up description is that Lester has just gotten out of Pharmacy class at the end of the day and sees his brother Murray playing basketball in a Brooklyn park. Someone has one of those new-fangled Kodaks, so the boys sit down and pose for the photograph.
In World War II, the two brothers served their country. Murray was stationed in a supply depot in Brooklyn. I still have a nice wool US Army blouse that he brought home with him one day and later gave to me. I will always regret selling the M1 Garand bayonet and scabbard that he also gave me from that time.
Lester, with his pharmacist skills was assigned more interesting duty. He became a pharmacist on the US Army Troop Transport USAT Frederick Lykes and spent most of his war years in the Pacific, prescribing meds for Army troops being picked up and delivered to the islands we fought for.
Here’s the only picture of Lester serving in the Pacific, standing with one of his mates by a 5 inch anti-aircraft gun on the poop deck of the Lykes:
Frankly, this is the picture that inspired me to write all this down. Lester was a calm, gentle and wise man. I never heard him get excited or yell. He gave me life-advice and told me stories only when he was asked. His face glowed with pleasure when looking at his children or grandchildren. He usually had a playful gleam in his eye. In most of the pictures of him that we have, he’s laughing. But I love this one so much. Take a look at this crop:
Seemingly completely at-ease, in his Army-issued M-41 field jacket and wire-rimmed glasses, he leans on the Lykes’ deck gun and smiles with those gentle eyes. You wouldn’t guess that he’s in harm’s way thousands of miles from the only home he’s ever known in Brooklyn. The Army let him keep his trim mustache. And in his right hand, casually held under his forefinger is the ubiquitous cigar he was so fond of.
In September, 1945, Lester came home and was honorably discharged from the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
He returned to New York, married the love of his life, Evelyn and raised two little girls: Susie and Ellen.
I married Ellen, the little girl on the right in 1976, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Here’s the Lester Kaplan that I knew during the part of his life that I had the great privilege of knowing him:
RIP you great man. I only hope that I have lived my life in a way that you would have approved of.