Dreben, Sam

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DREBEN, SAM

DREBEN, SAM (1878–1925), U.S. soldier of fortune. Born in Russia, Dreben immigrated to the United States in 1898 and volunteered for the army. He fought in China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and later in Nicaragua, where he became known as the "fighting Jew." In 1916 he volunteered as a colonel in the Mexican army and in 1918 fought in France, where he won the Distinguished Service Cross. Dreben donated a large sum of money to the *American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and helped fight the Ku Klux Klan in Texas in the 1920s.