[bearoutwest]

Here's an actual case of a Hungarian Jew refugee, who was stranded(?) in Germany post-1945, eventually immigrated to the USA, served in the infantry in the Korean War, and was eventually awarded the Medal of Honour in that conflict. His name is Tibor Rubin, and his story is detailed in the book: "Single Handed" by Daniel Cohen.

This is Rubin's timeline, post-1945, as extracted from the book.
- May 1945, in one of the concentration camps in Malthausen (Austria) liberated by Patton's army
- eventually returns to home town of Paszto, aged about 15 years
- leaves Hungary in late 1945, before Russian close the borders
- Summer 1945, enters UN-run "displaced persons" camp in Pocking (and ex-Luftwaffe facility, also being used as a PoW camp for German service personnel)
- spends at least 12 months in Pocking, moving into an "emmigration centre" in Landshut in Summer 1946
- six months later (Winter 1947?), offered a place to stay by uncle in New York
- at pre-selection interview with US officials, told that "...as a former ally of Germany, all Hungarians were classified as 'hostiles', and thus were ineligible for entry to the United States. Despite the genocide they had endured, there was no quota for Hungarian Jews. ..."
- 1948, Tibor (and other members of his family) has been selected for immigration to the USA - the laws had been relaxed, leading to signifigant immigration numbers between 1948-1952
- arrives in New York in 1948
- Late-Spring 1950, reports to military recruiting centre in Oakland (California)
- 1950, sent to Okinawa for 2 months advanced infantry training
- July 1950, arrives P'ohang-dong, Korea for combat

So assuming no 'hostile' combatants (i.e. ex-Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe; and definitely no Waffen-SS) would be selected for immigtarion to the USA before 1948; it's not surprising that there appear to be currently no record of ex-Luftwaffe pilots serving in the USAF in the Korean War. As for German ex-combatant 'hostiles', perhaps placed at the end of the immigration queue. They may not have gotten into uniform in time for Korea.


...geoff