Heroism denied; justice prevails

September 18, 2005

Heroism denied; justice prevails

When the President of the United States drapes the Medal of Honor around the neck of Tibor Rubin on Friday a half-century injustice will be rectified and the 72-year-old Korean War hero will have defeated his last enemy… anti-Semitism.

Rubin is one of 138 Jewish-American war veterans whose combat records have been reviewed by the Pentagon in the same process which resulted in the award of the Medal of Honor to 21 Asian-American veterans, and eight African-Americans in 1996.

Ironically, Rubin’s file was the largest, yet he’d never received a valor medal for his service in Korea, while every one of the other 137 men had received the Army Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross or Air Force Cross.

The review concluded that Rubin had indeed been recommended for the nation’s highest military award, not once, but four times by two separate commanding officers for separate actions and his fellow soldiers, as well as twice for the DSC, and twice for the Silver Star.

Yet Rubin left Korea in 1953 with but two Purple Hearts and a total disability rating.

The reason? First Sgt. Artice V. Watson, Rubin’s first shirt in I Co., Eighth Regt., First Cav. Div.; Watson engaged in a virulent type of hated of Jews, according to Rubin’s comrades, repeatedly ordering the young soldier on the most dangerous assignments.

As the company’s administrative chief, Watson (according to numerous affidavits by Rubin’s comrades) was ordered to forward the recommendations for the numerous valor awards through the chain of command. Shortly after recommending him for the Medal of Honor each of the COs was killed in action.

"I really believe, in my heart, that First Sgt. Watson would have jeopardized his own safety rather than assist in any way whatsoever in the awarding of the Medal to a person of Jewish descent," wrote Cpl. Harold Speakman in a notarized affidavit.

As a result of such hatred, Rubin will not know which of his numerous acts of heroism has brought him the Medal of Honor until the President reads his citation in the White House this week.

It could be for Rubin safely insuring the retreat for his company by single-handedly defending a hill for 24 hours against waves of North Korean soldiers.

It could be for his actions when most of his regiment was wiped out, and he was the severely wounded before being captured by hordes of Chinese soldiers.

It could be for his saving n estimated 30-40 fellow soldiers during 30 months in a N. Korean prisoner of war camp. Rubin repeatedly risked is life to crawl through the camp in the dead of night, stealing food from enemy supply depots for his fellow prisoners; a “crime” which would have meant his immediate execution.

"He shared the food evenly among the GIs," a fellow soldier 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."

What no doubt gave Rubin an edge in brutal and inhumane captivity was his two years in an Austrian Nazi concentration camp where he lost both parents and two of his five siblings before being liberated by the American Army.

The survivors of the POW camp credited Rubin with keeping dozens of them alive, and recommended him for the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star over the two and a half year period.

Friday’s Medal presentation could be for a single act, or it could be for several heroic achievements over a days or weeks of sustained combat, or as a POW. In fact, if Rubin were to receive the Medal of Honor and all the other valor awards for which he was recommended, he would be the most highly decorated soldier in the Korean War and one of the most highly decorated in the history of the American military.

Ironically, Sgt. Watson, by repeatedly ordering the young soldier into the most deadly combat situations, may have assured Rubin the very Medal he appears to have tried to deny him.

Full Story: http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=8584

September 18, 2005 | Permalink

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September 18, 2005

Heroism denied; justice prevails

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