Levit, Sydney

Sid Levit was born in Philadelphia July 17, 1924, and he has spent a good portion of his life in New Jersey. He attended Hebrew School, where he said he was not a good student. Sid said all families were affected by the Great Depression: he recalls that his father lost his sales job, but the family managed to get by. He was sitting on the front porch of his Philadelphia Irvine St. home on Sunday, December 7, 1941 listening to the radio when he heard the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Sid received his induction notice during his senior year, and he said he was happy to be drafted. He had wanted to volunteer, but his mother would not sign for him as the oldest and only son. He trained with the 17th Airborne Division/193rd Glider Infantry at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. He transferred to Camp Forest, Tennessee to train with the 17th AB Infantry Waco Glider infantry/paratroopers in 1943. He transited the Atlantic on a converted cruise ship with thousands of other troops without any convoy. After D-Day they arrived at Liverpool in late 1944 and were sent to an old English WWI camp. Sid said London was very interesting; he visited family living there and even had a girlfriend. He spent about 6 months there, and when the Battle of the Bulge broke out he and the men of the 193rd were flown to France and then transported by truck to the front lines. Sid recalls the bitter cold and that he was hospitalized with frostbite in Paris for 3-5 days before being shipped back to the front. The 193rd took heavy casualties and was consequently merged into the 194th Glider Infantry. Sid’s next action was Operation Varsity on March 24,1945, the final major allied airborne operation of WWII with the goal of securing the Rhine bridgehead. Sid went on to participate in the Ruhr Valley Campaign in Central Europe, receiving his parachute wings and Combat Infantryman’s Badge. Sid spent two years in combat, during which time he observed two concentration camps with Polish men and women. After the war in Europe was over, Sid was transiting the Atlantic to the US, where he expected to go into training to fight Japan. The atomic bombs obviated that possibility, so Sid utilized the GI Bill and VA benefits. Sid met and married Eleanor Green in Philadelphia in 1947, and they went to raise a family and find their way into the rhythms of postwar American life. Sydney Levit was interviewed over zoom by Crestwood students in April 2026, and that was followed up by an in person visit and interview with Scott Masters in July 2026.