Saturday Read: Two Heros

Today's OC Register has two wonderful stories about two brave men in two different wars, Korea and Iraq, neither of whom was a citizen when he bacame a hero, both of whom loved this country nonetheless. Both stories are worth reading in full.

Tibor Rubin's story: Liberated by US forces from Germany's Mauthausen concentration camp, Rubin vowed to join the U.S. Army and give back to this country that believed in freedom. He fought in Korea with such valor that yesterday President Bush awarded him with the Medal of Honor -- an honor long delayed because his sergeant was an anti-Semite who refused to recommend him. Rubin holds no grudges:

"I'm not angry with the Chinese, I'm not angry with the North Koreans, I'm not angry even with the Germans because I figure the Lord is going to take care of them. And if I'm going to be angry and everything, I'm only going to hurt myself."

Cpl. Akram Falah's story. Falah, a Purple Heart decorated Marine, is returning for his third tour in Iraq, having recovered from almost losing his arm in a firefight. A Palestinian born in Kuwait, his family fled to Jordan when Arafat supported Hussein's war against Kuwait. Then the family came to America, where despite anti-Arab harrassment, Falah wanted nothing more than to fight for this country.

It took him several tries to get into the Marines, but he made it and served as a translator. He describes the firefight in which he got injured:

One round struck Falah's commander in the body armor. Another round missed Falah's head by inches. The next instant, a round ripped through his left bicep, shredding nerves, muscle and an artery. Blood pulsed out in small gushes. Chunks of flesh landed on the Humvee floor.

"I put my right hand on my arm and, in this anguished animal voice, I kept yelling, 'I got hit! I got hit!'" he says. "I kept hitting my head on the door of the Humvee to calm the pain. I was doing anything to calm my pain down."

Falah saw blood. Lots of it. Then nothing. When he awoke, he was lying on the ground of a landing zone, awaiting a helicopter.

"I remember I opened my hand wide and I was laughing and crying at the same time, and I started yelling, 'I got shot for America. I got shot for America.'"

Falah has applied for citizenship, but it's a long process, and he's shipping back for this third tour as a green-card-carrying legal resident. Do read his story; it's a wonderful counterpoint to ANSWER's anti-American show of stupidity in DC.