POW/MIA Day

Always remember....Never forget.

John posted a great link for National POW/MIA Day, including an article written about Matt Maupin who lives very close to my house. One day this summer I had the pleasure of meeting Matt's Dad. I've run into him a couple of times since then, but none were as memorable as the first time.

Over the years, the US has been in MANY wars, resulting in hundreds of thousands of injured, killed and missing soldiers. Some POW's came home. Some came home in caskets. Others may never be found.

My birthday was just a couple of days ago. You can see from my Sept. 13 post this is been a VERY difficult week for me. But no matter how tough things get in my life, I can honestly say that I've never endured a life-threatening situation brought on by war. Both of my parents are alive, as is my only sibling, my brother. Today I read about one of our POW's you will all hear much more about in the coming days: Cpl. Tibor Rubin.

On my birthday, the White House announced that Cpl. Tibor Rubin has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and will be presented with the medal by President Bush on Sept. 23. As Matt often says, Cpl. Rubin is someone you should know.

At the early age of 13, he was captured by the Nazi's and sent to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp along with his parents and two sisters. Of the five, he was the only one who made it out alive. Two years after being told by the Nazi guards that "none of you will ever make it out of here alive", he was liberated by American troops. He promised himself he would make it to the United States someday and repay those soldiers by becoming one of them. It took five years, but he did it. As a member of the 29th Infantry Regiment, he was shipped out to Okinawa.

He was deployed with his unit to Korea when the Korean War broke out. It is for his bravery in Korea with the 8th Cavalry Regiment between 1950 and 1953 that earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor. Most military honors are awarded based upon a single incident, however, Rubin is being honored for three years of courageous service.

On October 30, 1950, the 8th Cav was engaged in a heavy firefight around Unsan. Their firepower dwindled to a single machine gun. Three Soldiers died while manning it; no one wanted to take charge of that gun. But Rubin stepped up to the plate, and took over, defending his unit against thousands of Chinese troops. When the battle in Unsan finally ended, Cpl Rubin and hundreds of other US Soldiers were captured and taken to a POW camp known today as "Death Valley".

This young man, who had survived 2 years in a Nazi concentration camp, was now a prisoner of war yet again. His fellow POW's often felt like giving up, but Cpl. Rubin wouldn't let them. He used to sneak out of their barracks at night and steal food from the garden planted by the Chinese guards. He tended to the wounded and sick. He used his survival techniques learned at the hands of the Nazi's to survive and help others do the same. Rubin has been credited with saving the lives of at least 40 Soldiers during their imprisonment at Death Valley and later at Camp 5 in Pyoktong.

This is clearly a man we should know. I'm sure there are many other stories about Rubin and other Medal of Honor recipients. As citizens of this FREE country, we owe it to them to know something about their lives- and in many cases, their deaths as well.

Thanks, Cpl. Rubin. It's been a long time coming, Soldier.