Jewish soldier who was beaten moved to new battalion

SAVANNAH — A Jewish Army trainee who was beaten days after commanders investigated his complaints of religious harassment at Fort Benning has been moved to a different training unit at the Georgia Army post.

Pvt. Michael Handman’s transfer to a new battalion of about 900 soldiers in basic training has separated him from the fellow trainee suspected of attacking him, who has not been charged, and two drill sergeants who have been reprimanded for religious discrimination, Fort Benning spokeswoman Monica Manganaro said Tuesday.

“It’s a different building altogether, it’s a different unit altogether,” Manganaro said.

Manganaro said the decision to move the 20-year-old from Atlanta was unrelated to the Sept. 24 beating in which he suffered a concussion and bruising to his face. She would not explain why he was reassigned.

Jonathan Handman, the soldier’s father, said his son was moved because he had undergone a medical procedure in July before starting basic training that was limiting his ability to do physical exercise.

“His medical condition was the military’s reason for moving him,” the father said. “But the real reason was he still didn’t feel comfortable in his old unit.”

He said his son’s new unit was located about a mile away from his former battalion on Fort Benning, and none of the soldiers he’s training with now even know about the attack or that he reported being harassed.

Handman began basic training Aug. 29 at Fort Benning in Columbus. He soon wrote a letter to his parents in which he said, “I have just never been so discriminated against/humiliated about my religion.” He told them he feared for his safety.

Handman’s parents contacted U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who forwarded their concerns to the Army. Four days after commanders interviewed Handman about being harassed, he was beaten in a laundry room near his barracks and treated at the Army post’s hospital.

Manganaro said investigators don’t believe religious bigotry was the motive for Handman being attacked, though she could not explain why.

The Anti-Defamation League sent a letter to Fort Benning’s commander, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, saying it remained concerned for Handman’s safety. While he was initially moved to another platoon in his unit, Handman still lived and trained in the same company with the soldier suspected of attacking him.

Bill Nigut, the ADL’s southeast regional director in Atlanta, said Tuesday the general wrote back that Handman felt “we have taken appropriate steps to ensure his safety” after he was reassigned to a new battalion.

“They moved him to a much more secure facility,” Nigut said. “He doesn’t have any reason to believe he’ll be in contact with the soldier who allegedly beat him up, or any guys in his original company who may have been harassing him.”

The investigation of Handman’s allegations of harassment found that one drill sergeant had ordered Handman to remove his yarmulke, which he wore with his uniform, as he ate in a dining hall. Another had called him “Juden,” the German word for Jews.

Both drill sergeants were reprimanded and required to complete courses reviewing Army regulations on religious tolerance, though the Army concluded their actions “were not meant to be malicious.”

A fellow trainee suspected of attacking Handman has been interviewed by investigators but had not been charged Tuesday, Manganaro said.

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Russ Bynum has covered the military based in Georgia since 2001.