Mickey Marcus David Daniel " Mickey " Marcus ( 22 February 1901 – 10 June 1948 ) was a United States Army colonel who assisted Israel during the 1948 Arab - Israeli War , and who became Israel ' s first modern general ( Hebrew : Aluf ) . He was killed by friendly fire , when he was mistaken for an enemy infiltrator while returning to Israeli positions at night . Marcus is the best known Israeli Machal soldier . He was portrayed in the 1966 Hollywood movie " Cast a Giant Shadow " that starred Kirk Douglas as Marcus . Early life . Marcus ' s parents , Mordechai Marcus and Leah ( " née " Goldstein ) , came from Iași , Romania . Born on Hester Street on Manhattan ' s Lower East Side , Marcus was bright and athletic . He attended Boys ' High School , in Brooklyn , and was then accepted at West Point in 1920 and graduated with the class of 1924 . After completing his active duty requirement , he attended Brooklyn Law School . He spent most of the 1930s as an Assistant United States Attorney in New York , prosecuting gangster s such as Lucky Luciano . New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia named Marcus Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction for the City of New York in 1940 . World War II . After leaving active duty , Marcus continued his army service as a member of the Judge Advocate General ' s Corps in the Organized Reserve Corps . After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , he was recalled to active duty . He served initially as executive officer to the military governor of Hawaii . He was assigned ultimately to Civil Affairs in Washington whose mission was to plan for the establishment of occupation governments after Axis - occupied territories were liberated . Despite having no paratrooper training , Marcus volunteered for the D - Day invasion and parachuted into Normandy . Marcus helped draw up the surrender terms for Italy and Germany and became part of the occupation government in Berlin after 1945 . During that time , Marcus was placed in charge of planning how to sustain the starving millions in areas liberated by the Allies , and clearing out the Nazi concentration camps . He was subsequently named chief of the War Crimes Division , planning legal and security procedures for the Nuremberg trials . Israeli military career . In 1947 , David Ben - Gurion asked Marcus to recruit an American officer to serve as military advisor to the nascent Jewish army , the Haganah . He could not recruit anyone suitable , so Marcus volunteered himself . In 1948 , the United States War Department informally acquiesced to Marcus ' undertaking , provided he disguised his name and rank to avoid problems with the British authorities of Mandate Palestine . Under the nom de guerre " Michael Stone " , he arrived in Palestine in January 1948 , facing the Arab armies surrounding the soon - to - be declared State of Israel . There , he designed a command and control structure for Israel , adapting his war experiences at the early Ranger school established in the Pacific theater to its special needs . He identified Israel ' s weakest points in the Negev south , and Jerusalem . Marcus was appointed as Commander of the Jerusalem front on May 28 , 1948 , and given the rank of Aluf . ( Prior to the 1967 Six - Day War , " Aluf " was equivalent to a Brigadier General . In the present - day IDF table of ranks , Aluf " is equivalent to major general . ) As no ranks were granted to Israeli high command at that time , he became the first general in the fledgling nation ' s army ( see Israel Defense Forces ) . He participated in planning Operation Bin Nun Bet and Operation Yoram against the Latrun fort held by the Transjordan Legion , which controlled the road and prevented Israeli troops from supplying Jerusalem , which was under siege . While both attacks failed , Marcus helped plan and execute a makeshift winding road through the difficult mountains to Jerusalem — known as the " Burma Road " ( named after the road built by 200 , 000 Chinese laborers during the Second Sino - Japanese War that later served the Allies to transport goods from Burma to China during World War II ) . This allowed additional men and equipment in to break the Arab siege just before the previously negotiated United Nations cease fire took effect on June 11 , 1948 . 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 Marcus Memorial Playground , on the north side of Avenue P between East 4th Street and Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn is also named after him .