President Barack Obama on Dec. 16 signed into law legislation introduced by Congressmember Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach as the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in honor of Holocaust survivor and Medal of Honor recipient Tibor Rubin.
The bill, H.R. 6323, was introduced earlier this month with the support and backing of the entire 53-member California House Delegation. California’s two senators, Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, also supported the renaming effort, along with numerous veterans groups in California, including the American Legion, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Jewish War Veterans of the USA and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Rubin was born in Hungary on June 18, 1929. He survived 14 months in a Nazi concentration camp in Austria during World War II, where his parents and sisters died, and was eventually liberated by the US Army. Inspired by the American soldiers who rescued him, he enlisted in the US Army, eventually being deployed in early 1950 as a member of the Army’s 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during the Korean War.
Despite facing religious discrimination from his sergeant, who sent Rubin on the most dangerous assignments and withheld his commendation, Rubin fought valiantly in several notable engagements, according to Lowenthal’s office. In one such engagement, Rubin enabled the complete withdrawal of his fellow soldiers by solely defending a hill under an overwhelming assault by North Korean troops.
On a later assignment, he was severely wounded and captured. During his interment in a POW camp, he disregarded his own personal safety and immediately began sneaking out of the camp at night in search of food for his comrades, Lowenthal’s office said. Risking certain torture or death if caught, he provided food to the starving soldiers and desperately needed medical care for the wounded of the POW camp using improvised medical techniques.
His brave, selfless efforts during his captivity were directly attributed to saving the lives of as many as 40 of his fellow prisoners.
For his gallantry in close contact with the enemy and his unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war, Rubin was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2005. His wartime heroism, both during combat and later as a prisoner of war, are true examples of the Medal of Honor goal to recognize “! conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty,” according to the congressmember’s office.
“I am honored and humbled to see the President sign into law my legislation to name the VA Medical Center in Long Beach after an American hero,” Lowenthal said. “Throughout his life, Tibor Rubin was dedicated and devoted to helping others through acts of kindness, courage and bravery. When challenges came his way, he remained steadfast and determined to help others around him. I am proud to have met and represented such an honorable man like Mr. Rubin. I know the VA Medical Center in our community will pay tribute to his legacy, and it is my hope that it serves as an inspiration to those that come after him.”
According to Lowenthal’s office, Rubin once said that America is “the best country in the world, and I am part of it now. I do not have to worry about the Gestapo knocking on my door tonight. I have shalom peace; people die for it.”
Rubin was a long-time resident of Garden Grove and received services from the Long Beach VA Medical Center. He died on Dec. 5, 2015.
Source: Lowenthal’s office
