The Title

It comes from the book of the same name, and it's a metaphorical description of the real Mickey Marcus. Marcus was not tall or athletic looking, although he was a good athlete in football and boxing at West Point. The author wrote that he was in fact rather short, but he "Cast a Giant Shadow".

His death and funeral:

Marcus’ troops brought him back to Tel Aviv in a coffin strapped to the hood of a jeep. Robert Capa, the internationally famous war photographer, accompanied the body. When they returned him to New York City, Marcus was escorted by Moshe Dayan and Yosef Hamburger, the Haganah commander of the blockade-running ship Exodus. After a funeral service at Union Temple, they took Marcus back to West Point, where he was buried on July 2, 1948 – 28 years to the day after he first reported there as a plebe, and 24 years after he graduated. Among the mourners were Thomas E. Dewey, then governor of New York, and Maxwell Taylor, the superintendent of West Point.

In 1962, author Ted Berkman wrote Marcus’ story in Cast a Giant Shadow. Four years later, the book was made into a movie, starring Kirk Douglas. Although the film’s story line typified Hollywood’s general lack of respect for historical fact, Douglas’ portrayal of the irrepressible Marcus vividly captured the fiery spirit of the man.

David Ben-Gurion later said of Marcus: ‘He was the best man we had.’ His gravestone at West Point reads: ‘Colonel David Marcus–A Soldier for All Humanity.’

Marcus is the only person buried at West Point who died in the service of a foreign country. His wife Emma is buried next to him.


Most of my friends who have inferiority complexes are absolutely right.