RIP.
Tibor Rubin passed away a few days ago at age 86.
I didn’t recognize the name when I saw some articles about his passing. Now I’m glad I’ve done some research.
Tibor Rubin was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush in 2005. That would have been remarkable in itself, since the award is so rarely given.
But the award was not for service in Iraq. It was for service in the Korean War. Stars and Stripes reported at the time:
Just minutes after Tibor Rubin received his medal of honor at a White House ceremony Friday, he announced he still wanted to do more for his country.
“I’m working on my second Medal of Honor,” the Korean War veteran said, smiling proudly. “This country has done so much for me. I never figured this was going to happen. I’m just as happy as I can be.” ….
Rubin, 76, was born in Hungary and sent to the Nazi concentration camp in Mauthausen, Austria, as a boy. His parents and a sister were killed during their imprisonment, but Rubin survived for 14 months and was freed when American soldiers stormed the camp.
He swore to pay back the country for that freedom, and eventually emigrated to America and joined the Army. He was sent to North Korea in 1950 with the 8th Cavalry Regiment and distinguished himself for bravery in battle during several firefights around Pusan.
In once instance, Army officials said, he took hold of his unit’s only remaining weapon — a machine gun whose previous three gunners had been shot — and held off an advancing force long enough for his troops to retreat.
But that wasn’t all. When captured by the Chinese, they offered to repatriate him to Hungary. He chose to stay with his comrades:
“My English at the time wasn’t so good, but I told them I’d have to go (with the POWs),” he said. “I wouldn’t want to leave without them, because I had my brothers there.”
While imprisoned by the Chinese, Rubin snuck out of his barracks at night to get food for weaker prisoners, and acted as something of a prison doctor, saving more lives.