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Concentration Camp Survivor Finally Wins Medal of Honor For His Bravery In The Korean War

I'm a few days late with pointing out this article, since the award ceremony occurred on Friday, 9/23. But the bravery of Corporal Tibor Rubin while a prisoner of war is the story of a beautiful soul.

Toward the end of October 1950, massive Chinese troop concentrations crossed the border into North Korea and attacked the Americans. After most of his regiment had been wiped out, the severely wounded Rubin was captured and spent the next 30 months in a prisoner-of-war camp.

Faced with constant hunger, filth and disease, most of the GIs simply gave up.

“No one wanted to help anyone. Everybody was for himself,” wrote Sgt. Leo Cormier Jr., a fellow prisoner.

All except Rubin: Almost every evening, he would sneak out of the camp to steal food from the Chinese and North Korean supply depots, realizing that he would be shot if caught.

“He shared the food evenly among the GIs,” Cormier wrote. “He also took care of us, nursed us, carried us to the latrine... He did many good deeds, which he told us were ‘mitzvahs’ in the Jewish tradition... He was a very religious Jew, and helping his fellow men was the most important thing to him.”

The long delay until he received the Medal of Honor seems directly attributable to anti-semitism.

A link to the video here.

Additional links here.

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the video links.

posted by Alcibiades @ 1:55 PM