Obituary of Lewis Michelson

North Plainfield: Mr. Lewis Michelson, age 100, died Sunday, February 14, 2010 at Runnells Specialized Hospital in Berkeley Heights. Born and raised in North Plainfield, he resided there until recently moving to the nursing care facility. Lewis Michelson was manager of Semer & Co., a wholesale hardware company in New York, for more than 50 years. He served as a Master Sergeant in the US Army during WWII, receiving four Bronze Service Stars for his participation in the Normandy, Central Europe, Northern France and Rhineland campaigns. In June 1944, Lewis Michelson was among the first 100,000 troops to land at Utah Beach in Normandy. At the end of April 1945, he and his first sergeant, while traveling to Munich, arrived at the 4 Dachau concentration camp. The camp had just been liberated, and the atrocities within it were being discovered for the first time by American troops. Michelson climbed on one of the freight cars in the camp and looked down to see that it was full of naked corpses. On July 19, 2007, his service during WWII was recognized by the state of New Jersey, and he was awarded the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Lewis was predeceased by his five brothers, Ralph, Morris, Conrad, Morton and Herbert Michelson; a sister, Eva Michelson, and a nephew, Harold Michelson. Surviving is a niece, Sara Bloom, of Southold, NY. Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday at 10:00 am at the Higgins Home for Funerals, 209 West Eighth Street in Plainfield followed by interment at Gateville Cemetery in Bridgewater.