Medal of Honor veteran will come to Leisure World Nov. 9
by Jan Friedland
LW contributor
During extraordinary times, some rare individuals rise to the challenge to do amazing things. On Sunday, Nov. 9, at 2:30 p.m., in Clubhouse 4, all are welcome to hear the story of Tibor Rubin, a remarkable individual who went from being a Holocaust survivor to receiving the Medal of Honor from President George W. Bush. He is the only Holocaust survivor to ever receive the nation’s highest Medal for Valor.
Tibor Rubin was born in Pásztó, Hungary in 1929 and at only 13 was placed into several concentration camps by the Nazis, where he spent 14 months. His camp was liberated in 1945 by the Army’s 11th Armored Division.
He credited the Army medics with saving many survivors, including himself. The Nazis had killed his father, mother and sister in Auschwitz before he was freed from the camp. Rubin’s story is astonishing. Despite a difficult beginning he became a hero under the most horrific conditions imaginable.
After spending three years in a displaced persons camp in Germany, Rubin moved to the United States enlisting in the U.S. Army so he could pay back the country that gave him his freedom.
Rubin served in the infantry during the Korean War and after an intense nighttime battle where he was seriously wounded and then captured by the Chinese, spending 30 months in a prisoner-of-war camp in North Korea, becoming a prisoner for the second time inhis life. His heroic actions during his experiences in the Korean War were credited with saving the lives of hundreds of his fellow soldiers.
During his time as a POW, he was credited with saving up to 40 of his fellow prisoners, earning him the Congressional Medal of Honor. Bush said during the ceremony that “Cpl. Tibor ‘Ted’ Rubin’s many acts of courage during the Korean War saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. In the heat of battle, he inspired his comrades with his fearlessness, and amid the inhumanity of a Chinese prisoner of war camp, he gave them hope.” His years in a Nazi concentration camp taught Rubin ways of survival that most humans couldn’t imagine. He knew what weeds had medicinal qualities and learned that the human body can prevail if a person’s mind is in the right place. His daughter Rosie Rubin said that her “dad never gave up, he had this positive attitude, compassion, caring for everyone despite the tragedies that he went through which helped him get through life.”
When receiving his Medal of Honor Rubin said: “The real heroes are those who never came home. I was just lucky, this Medal of Honor belongs to all prisoners of war, to all the heroes who died fighting in those wars. I could never have dreamed of being here with the Medal of Honor and joining other heroes, but my dream came true in the greatest country in the world. The real heroes are—the soldiers who give their lives defending freedom.”
Tibor Rubin is being honored to this day because in Long Beach, the VA hospital is named after him: The Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center. In Garden Grove, a library is named after him as well: The Garden Grove Tibor Rubin Library. All are welcome to attend this inspiring event on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 2:30 p.m. in Clubhouse 4.
Tibor Rubin as a young man
Rubin at Medal of Honor ceremony.
