Mickey Marcus - Death

Death

A few hours before the cease fire, Marcus returned to his Central Front headquarters. He and his commanders were billeted in the monks' quarters of the abandoned Monastere Notre Dame de la Nouvelle Alliance in Abu Ghosh. Shortly before 4:00 a.m., a sentry, Eliezer Linski, eighteen years old, and a one-year Palmach veteran, challenged Marcus, who he saw as a figure in white. When Marcus failed to respond with the password, Linski fired in the air and the man ran towards the monastery. He fired at the man, as did one or more fighters in a nearby sentry post. Marcus was found dead, wrapped in a white blanket. As an American Jew, Marcus knew very little Hebrew and failed to understand the Hebrew challenge, and Linski did not understand Marcus who responded in English. Marcus wore no rank, although officers had been recognized by a ribbon pinned to their uniforms. As Marcus's body was removed from Abu Ghosh, a ribbon was found and placed on his casket.

His body was returned to the United States for burial, accompanied by Moshe Dayan and his wife Ruth, Yoseph Harel, and the wife of his aide de camp, Alex Broida.

Ben-Gurion was suspicious of the initial report that Marcus had been shot accidentally. The Haganah was composed of several factions whose lack of consensus over strategy and tactics was one of the reasons for Marcus's appointment as commander for Jerusalem, and Ben-Gurion suspected that elements in the Palmach may have conspired to kill Marcus so he would be replaced. On the same day Marcus was shot, Ben-Gurion summoned Yaakov Shimshon Shapira - later Israel's Attorney General - and asked him to investigate the incident. Shapira's investigation was cursory. Despite conflicting reports concerning the number of shots fired, how many wounds Marcus suffered, whether the fatal wound could have been caused by Linski's rifle, and how and why Marcus may have been outside the monastery, he concluded that Linski shot Marcus in the line of duty. The report has never been made public.

His is the only grave in the West Point Cemetery at the United States Military Academy for an American killed fighting under the flag of another country. His gravestone at West Point reads: "Colonel David Marcus — a Soldier for All Humanity". A memorial plaque in his honor is located in the lobby of the Union Temple of Brooklyn where his funeral service was conducted. It reads "Killed in action in the hills of Zion while leading Israeli forces as their supreme commander in the struggle for Israel's freedom - Blessed is the match that is consumed in kindling flame/ Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart/ Blessed is the heart with strength to stop its beating for honor's sake/ Blessed is the match that is consumed in kindling flame - Dedicated by his fellow members of Union Temple of Brooklyn December 9, 1949." Ben-Gurion wrote to Marcus's wife Emma in Brooklyn, New York: "Marcus was the best man we had". On May 10, 1951, Ben-Gurion laid a wreath at the Marcus grave, accompanied by Emma Marcus.

Kibbutz Mishmar David and the neighborhood of Neve David in Tel Aviv as well as numerous streets are named after him. Colonel David Markus Memorial Playground, on the north side of Avenue P between East 4th street and Ocean Parkway in Borough Park, Brooklyn is also named after him.