His own sergeant tried to kill him. Decades later, the President gave him America's highest honor.
Korea, August 1950. Corporal Tibor Rubin crouched in a foxhole near the Pusan Perimeter, knowing he had been sent there to die.
He shouldn't have even been in Korea. Five years earlier, he had been prisoner 29515 at Mauthausen, a Nazi concentration camp where his parents and sister were murdered. At 15 years old, weighing barely 70 pounds, he watched American soldiers kick down the gates and hand him his first real meal in over a year. In that moment, skeletal and barely alive, he made himself a promise: he would become one of them. He would wear that uniform.
By 1950, he had kept that promise. Tibor Rubin was now a U.S. Army soldier, an immigrant who could barely speak English but who believed in America with the fierce conviction of someone who had seen what happens when freedom dies.
But his sergeant hated him. The man made no secret of his antisemitism. He mocked Rubin's accent. He questioned his loyalty. And he volunteered him for every suicide mission available, hoping the enemy would finish what the Nazis couldn't.
On this particular day in late July, the company needed to retreat from an exposed hilltop position. North Korean forces were advancing in overwhelming numbers. The sergeant pointed at Rubin and gave the order: stay behind and hold the hill. Alone.
It was murder disguised as duty.
Rubin didn't argue. He had survived worse.
For the next 24 hours, he fought a one-man war against an enemy force that should have overrun his position in minutes. He moved constantly between foxholes, firing from different positions to create the illusion of multiple defenders. When ammunition ran low, he scavenged from fallen enemies. When grenades came arcing toward his position, he caught them mid-flight and hurled them back before they detonated.
Hour after hour, through darkness and daylight, he held that hill.
When American forces finally retook the position, they expected to find a corpse. Instead, they found Rubin sitting calmly, surrounded by enemy dead, weapon ready. He had stopped an entire assault force. Alone.
His sergeant never submitted the paperwork for his Medal of Honor.
Months later, Rubin was captured during a Chinese offensive. He was marched to a prisoner of war camp where cold, starvation, and disease killed men daily. Other soldiers gave up. They stopped eating. They stopped fighting.
But Rubin had survived Mauthausen. He knew how to endure when endurance seemed impossible.
Every night, he snuck out of the barracks, risking execution if caught. He crawled through darkness to enemy supply areas, stealing food and medicine. He brought it back to the weakest prisoners, the ones too sick to move. He cleaned infected wounds. He shared stolen rations. He whispered encouragement in broken English to men who had lost all hope.
Fellow POWs later testified that Rubin personally saved at least 40 American lives.
When the war ended and prisoners returned home, several soldiers submitted statements recommending Rubin for the Medal of Honor. His sergeant blocked every one. He took credit for Rubin's heroism and buried the truth in military bureaucracy.
Tibor Rubin returned to civilian life in California. He opened a small store, raised a family, and said little about his service. For decades, the truth stayed buried.
Then, in the 1990s, under Congressional pressure to review cases where discrimination might have prevented proper recognition, the Army reopened old files. They found the witness statements. They found the evidence of sabotage. They found a story of extraordinary courage that had been deliberately suppressed.
On September 23, 2005, a 76-year-old Tibor Rubin walked into the East Room of the White House. President George W. Bush placed the Medal of Honor around his neck and told his story to the nation. The room filled with veterans stood and applauded.
The sergeant who tried to erase him was long dead. But Rubin stood there, living proof that while hatred can delay justice, it cannot destroy truth. While bigotry can suppress recognition, it cannot erase heroism.
Rubin lived another decade, frequently visiting schools to share his story. He died in 2015 at age 86, finally recognized as what he had always been: an American hero who proved that courage has no accent, no religion, no country of origin.
Only character. Only heart. Only an unbreakable will to do what's right when everything is wrong.
On the tribulations of an expatriate in Europe
Saturday, February 07, 2026
Courage has no accent, no religion, no country of origin
Cats can and do get bored of their food
Okay! First of all cats are smart, unlike dogs they never eat more than their stomachs can handle. They eat until they are full. Cats can and do get bored of their food. My Savannah Norwegian mix needs a variety of flavors.
Most domestic cats like a reasonable change in food, but my Savannah mix really gets bored if she eats the same flavor of food or same meat beyond two days in a row. My regular cats just like simple variety. Nika needs a high protein diet, so she eats wild and instinct dry mixed with purina then she gets fancy feast as well as whole meats. She also has a sensitive stomach so to quick of changes she doesn’t like either. Most regular house cats don’t mind as much consistency but sometimes cats leave their food because they are full, noisy or uncomfortable environments, don’t like the food, bored, just not hungry, sensitive or upset stomach, and so on. Cats don’t eat like dogs where dogs often stuff themselves way beyond their stomachs.
I feed the cats at night dry so they can eat it through the night to early morning and between 2 to 4 pm I give them moist. Nika literally does get bored very easily. Cats should always have some kind of real meat content in there diet not just dry food, a simple dry food diet can lead to boredom, teeth problems, urinary infections, poor coat, obesity, and poor nutrition. Cats are carnivores. Cats get their main nutrients from meats such as moist or whole meats, they also get their fluids from meat as cats drink seldomly and leaving on dry food can cause especially males prone to bladder infections as well as a dull coat. Cats like fresh food so they can tell when something is wrong with their food. Just like all cats some cats have particular flavors they like and don’t like for instance some cats like tuna while others don’t; Nika loves all meats except crab or shrimp dishes.
Nika really gets bored so sometimes it’s a challenge to keep her interested all the time. My current other cat blackie boots is an oriental mix and he eats a normal cat diet with normal variety. I prefer using quality cat food for cats. Certain brands like meow mix, whiskers, Friskies, and solely nine lives I would avoid, with nine lives being the best option of the three worst brands. Nine lives actually had the highest meat content in both dry as well as moist. Nine lives does not have any vitamins or nutrients which leaves it at the bottom, so nine lives served with other higher quality brands can do well.
Nika is particular in that she only eats in flat dishes. She doesn’t like to get her face dirty and smooshing it inside of a tight bowl while most cats don’t care as much but your dish sometimes can be a factor. When Nika isn’t bored she eats more then when she is bored of her food and sometimes she just needs a break so I give her smaller portions when I know she already ate dry or is getting bored as it’s hard to always keep a 100 percent variety without upsetting her stomach. As Savannah mix cat she doesn’t do well on fillers or byproducts with fancy feast being the one moist with the highest meat content with the least fillers or byproduct’s. Cats also like soft treats. Some cats like crunchy treats but as a norm most cats like soft treats and I don’t know why so many treat brands have gone to all crunchy because it’s “hard on a cats teeth” which is why most don’t like it, besides the fact that it has less real meat content leaving it unsatisfying.
There is a lot of good brands to choose from now. One of the best are brands like Wild, instinct, Purina, Fancy Feast, Sheba, IAMS is a good brand used for rescue cats as it often has formula in it for kittens, and other new brands I have found are pretty good. My oriental mix right now he doesn’t need as much high protein as Nika. When Nika was just eating Purina she craved real meat such as real chicken mixed with her fancy feast but now that she’s on wild dry mixed with Purina she only wants fancy feast because she’s already getting the extra protein in the wild and instinct brands. She is like a true wild cat. With wedgie and Savannah mix she basically is one.
What are the best locations to visit in Belgium?
Flanders :
Brugge : Historic city. The major attraction in the country. A city that survived the past and remains in it old original state.
Ypres: I see this city as the capital of WWI. Apart from the war nice but also somewhat dull.
Ghent: Vibrant, nice university town harboring several art treasures. Old Town combining an important old heritage with the modern world. Personally I prefer Ghent to Bruges.
Antwerp : Second port of Europe, funky city feeling and behaving much bigger than the actual size
Mechelen : Nice, historic town containing some gems
Leuven : One of the oldest universities in the world, nice and lively, stay away during weekend as it may be deserted
Brussels : in the Flemish region but independent as region. Somewhat crazy and unique melting pot. In fact a patch of 19 smaller cities, Brussels itself being one. As a result it is more complicated than other cities having one city center. Some parts are gems, some are black spots. Very complex but worthwhile the study. Never try to understand this city to his full extent as this is probably not even possible.
You might consider staying in Mechelen as you have frequent trains to Antwerp - Brussels - Leuven only taking 20 minutes to travel.
Wallon region :
Flanders has beautiful nature reserves but the Wallon Ardennes is an amazing and wonderful area for breathtaking hikes. Nature in Belgium - - > the Walloon have it!
Liege : The birthplace of Emperor Charlemagne . Nice city.
Namur : I love this extremely nice city having an unique sphere
Dinant : The hometown of Adolphe Sax, the inventory of the saxophone. Has a large and spectacular citadel with beautiful views. Nice.
Bastogne : Remember the Battle of the Bulge. If WWII is part of your interests you can't miss this one.
What are the best places to visit in Belgium?
Hello;
Here is the list of some best places to visit in Belgium:-
1. Brussels
2. Bruges
3. Ghent
4. Antwerp
5. Ardennes
6. Tournai
7. Dinant
8. Leuven
9. Mons
10. Mechelen
What are some great places to go on vacation in Belgium?
I agree with the previous comment on Ghent and Leuven, but my favorite places so far are Namur (the capital city of the Wallonia region of Belgium. At the confluence of the Meuse and Sambre rivers is the Citadel, a medieval fortress with 7km of underground passages, gardens, views and a golden statue of a giant turtle) - the view of the Citadel and from the Citadel are amazingly pretty -; and Bruges (the capital of West Flanders in northwest Belgium, is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings) - it can be crowded at times, but it is extremely charming.
Bruges
Namur
Adding to those are hundreds of parks, castles and abbeys in Belgium. Two great places near to Brussels are the Tervuren Park with its majestic Colonial Palace, and the Gaasbeek Castle and park with its great collection of antique furniture and art.
Tervuren Park
Gaasbeek Castle
So there you go, an ideal 6-day trip in Belgium would have a 2-day in Brussels (city center + Tervuren Park + Gaasbeek Castle), 1 day in Leuven, 1 day in Namur, 1 day in Ghent and 1 day in Bruges.
