Gents that I'm pinging -- story's a couple days old. Worth reading if you haven't.
I would suppose that the acts of valour which merited the medal were those in the prison camp. He wasn't ordered to do them, and no one would have thought ill of him if he didn't, and they were undertaken at great risk.
In those days, Army policy was not to recognise valourous conduct in prisoner status. That changed after the repatriation of prisoners in Vietnam (indeed, the pendulum swung too far the other way, and unlike the trials that Korean war collaborators got, the Vietnam ones walked -- although one did still have enough manhood to shoot himself).
Poor Rubin, that he first would have his courage ignored and dismissed by a hateful superior, and then have it go unrecognised by a twist of Army policy.
But now, the nation knows about "Ted" Rubin and he has finally been given the credit he is due.
I wonder how many nameless action officers in the recesses of the Pentagon worked on this over the years. It was the very Jarndyce v. Jarndyce of military awards paperwork. Most combat vets have a story about award unfairness, so when we see fairness, however late, we applaud.
Tonight I'll raise a glass to Ted Rubin, and to all those acts of heroism that were never written up, and to all those Americans like Ted who didn't lose faith in their country even when some representative or other of it was mistreating them.
We live in a great place at a great time.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
What a story, what a man! Thanks for the ping!