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Honoring Heroes

I was going to go to bed, but I decided to tell you all about this amazing man I know who fights mercilessly for the honor of his older brother, who died 35 years ago in Vietnam and due to a glitch in his paperwork never received our nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.

My friend Rick McKiddy fights everyday for his brother Gary. He has put up with a ridiculous amount of red tape trying to get recognition for the bravery and dedication that his brother gave to our country and his fellow soldiers.

I met Rick through my work at Paralyzed Veterans of America. He is really building support to get his brother the Medal, and I have always done whatever I can to help him. He's been given the run-around so many times...

I read this article today, and it got me to thinking about Rick and his efforts. I'm going to share more about Rick after I share this article. I just don't understand why he's not having any luck but others keep receiving the Medal. Not that I think they are less deserving; I just don't think Sgt. McKiddy is less than deserving. And how great that Ted Rubin gets to enjoy his honor while he's still living. We should cherish our living Medal recipients, like my friend Peter Lemon.

After 55 Years, Vet to Get Medal of Honor

By PAUL CHAVEZ, Associated Press WriterSat Sep 17, 8:52 AM ET

Tibor Rubin kept his promise to join the U.S. Army after American troops freed him from the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria during World War II.

A Hungarian Jew, Rubin immigrated to New York after the war, joined the Army and fought as an infantryman in the Korean War. In 1951, Chinese troops captured Cpl. Rubin and other U.S. soldiers and he became a prisoner of war for 2 1/2 years.

More than five decades later, after a relentless campaign by grateful comrades and Jewish war veterans, President Bush on Sept. 23 will give Rubin the Medal of Honor.

"I was only staying alive to get that medal and now I'm going to enjoy it," said the 76-year-old Rubin, who now lives in Garden Grove.

He was nominated four times for the medal, the nation's highest recognition for bravery in battle. But some believe the paperwork was never submitted because a member of his chain of command discriminated against him for being Jewish and born in Hungary.

When he was at the Chinese prisoners' camp known as "Death Valley," Rubin said he would pray in Hebrew for the U.S. soldiers — about 40 each day — who died in the freezing weather. He also took care of soldiers suffering from dysentery or pneumonia.

Rubin, who goes by the name Ted, called concentration camp good "basic training" for being a POW and applied lifesaving lessons he learned there. For example, Rubin said he would retrieve maggots from the prisoners' latrine and apply them to the infected wounds of his comrades to remove gangrene.

Fellow POW Sgt. Leo Cormier said Rubin gave a lot of GIs the courage to live.

"I once saw him spend the whole night picking lice off a guy who didn't have the strength to lift his head," Cormier told the Army. "What man would do that? ... But Ted did things for his fellow men that made him a hero in my book."

As a POW, Rubin turned down repeated offers from the Chinese to be returned to his native Hungary.

"I told them I couldn't go back because I was in the U.S. Army and I wouldn't leave my American brothers because they needed me here," Rubin said.

Rubin wouldn't say anything negative about the Army and his long wait for the Medal of Honor. But in affidavits filed in support of Rubin's nomination, fellow soldiers said their sergeant was allegedly a vicious anti-Semite who gave Rubin dangerous assignments in hopes of getting him killed.

In 1988, the Jewish War Veterans of the United States urged Congress to recognize Rubin's efforts. And U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (news, bio, voting record) of Florida introduced a bill in 2001 to force the Pentagon to review the records of Jewish veterans who may have been denied the Medal of Honor because they were Jews.

About 150 records remain under review, said Bob Zweiman, past national commander of the Jewish War Veterans.

I think it's great to honor this man to make up for past injustices. I know that I won't do the best job with Gary's story, but the gist of it is that he was in a helicopter that was shot down over Cambodia in 1970. At 20 years old, Gary had flown more than 600 combat missions as an Army helicopter gunner. After his helicopter went down, Gary carried the co-pilot to safety. And then he went back in a plane that was on fire and tried to rescue the pilot. His body was found there. Not only had he been burned by the fire, but he had been shot by the ammunition the plane was carrying.

To receive the Medal of Honor, a soldier must act "above and beyond the call of duty, at risk to life or limb." When you look at the stories of the recipients, Gary Lee McKiddy should have the Medal of Honor. And he probably would've received it in 1970 if his commanding officer hadn't also been killed in combat and the paperwork lost somewhere in Southeast Asia.

President Bush has awarded several Medals long after the fact, including this latest one. Other people keep getting the Medal, but when it comes to Gary McKiddy there is a time limit. It doesn't make sense to me. Currently there is a bill in Congress to have the time limits waived so that Gary Lee McKiddy can be honored for his extreme acts of bravery during Vietnam. This is a list of US Congressman sponsoring HR 561. If your Representative isn't on the list, consider contacting them and encouraging them to help with this.

If you'd like to read more about Rick's fight, here are some links to some great articles for you.

Brother's love pushes quest for soldier who paid ultimate price

Paying homage to a hero

Lynch is hero by hype, Warren man by deeds in Vietnam War

Family keeps medal quest alive for son who died hero in Vietnam

Thank you for reading this. Thanks to all the men and women protecting our freedoms. God bless them and their families. Always.

posted by Laura at 11:44 PM