LIVING HISTORY
This 1918 poster encouraged the sale of war bonds during
World War II. At right, is the State of Florida Military Discharge
Rubin played it as nothing was about to happen so the stranger would not
become leery. As they talked, he continued to change the subject to nonmilitary
Ralph Rubin trained in 1918 at Camp Jackson in South Carolina. Later, while on leave, he was instrumental in the arrest of a German spy who was trying
to solicit information about the camp from him during a train ride.
52
Record for Ralph Rubin. (Florida State Archives)
>>
items, all the while keeping an eye on their location so he knew
when they were approaching Savannah.
With the train’s arrival at the station, five gentlemen came on the train to
take the stranger in for questioning. Four were in plain civilian clothes and
the fifth was wearing a police uniform. As the men came up the aisle, led
by the conductor, the stranger immediately ran in the opposite direction.
As he did so, he tossed his briefcase in another direction.
The chase was now on, as the men pursued the stranger through several
of the train’s compartments and eventually off the train. The officers were
able to catch up with the stranger, take him into custody and locate his
pitched briefcase. It was eventually learned that the stranger had been an
important German spy in America, trying to learn what he could, especially
about the military training camps.
Pvt. Rubin was thanked by the authorities for his assistance and specifically
for not providing any military information to the spy. Rubin finally