While in the Army, many soldiers hear stories of those who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, such as Audie Murphy, or the famous handful of soldiers who were awarded it for their bravery during the Global War on Terror.
On the other hand, the dozens of soldiers who were awarded the Silver Star for incredible bravery are not remembered as much as they should be.
One of those soldiers is Sgt. Shin Woo Kim, whose story of bravery is both inspiring and gut-wrenching- painful to hear.
Wide-grinned Kim was a combat medic assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Carson when he deployed to Iraq during the infamous “Surge.”
“The Surge” was a plan, announced on television by then-President George W. Bush in January 2007, ordering the deployment of more than 20,000 soldiers into Iraq in hopes of securing Baghdad and Al Anbar Governorate.
Sgt. Kim, 23 years old at the time, was already in Iraq and was home on leave not long after the announcement of what was going to lead to a rough road ahead for US forces in Iraq was made.
While home in California for two weeks, Sgt. Kim spent time with his friends and family, binged on the junk food he couldn’t get in Iraq, and even partied in Las Vegas.
But the thoughts of his fellow soldiers back home never left him during that time.
Before returning to the fight in Iraq, he visited a memorial to Iraq’s fallen on a Santa Monica beach and left the name of a fallen friend on one cross in the precise rows of crosses, according to an Associated Press report in 2007.
“It was like something he just had to do,” said his girlfriend Tammy Cho.
After his return to Iraq, US forces went through some of the deadliest months as they attempted to defeat new forms of explosives that were disintegrating their Humvees into ash.
The summer of 2007 was something nobody had prepared themselves for as US forces began to increase their attacks on insurgent strongholds.
The month of May cost US forces 126 lives alone.
On June 28th, while out on patrol, Sgt. Kim’s platoon was ambushed after a deep-buried improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on them.
As casualties were being pulled into a courtyard of a nearby building, Sgt. Kim, the platoon medic was doing everything he could to help save his injured battle buddies.
While providing aid to them, insurgents lobbed grenades into the courtyard from nearby rooftops.
One of them landed just feet from Kim as he worked on his platoon sergeant.
In the moment, Sgt. Kim decided to save the life of his platoon sergeant by sacrificing his own.
Sgt. Kim laid himself between the grenade and his platoon sergeant, taking the entire blast himself.
Because of him, his platoon sergeant survived but he and four other soldiers lost their lives during the ambush.
Sgt. Kim never stopped fighting though, he fought to stay alive as long as he could.
While he may not have been able to voice his goodbyes to his loved ones or fellow soldiers, his family was able to hear some of his last breaths.
While Army doctors attempted to keep him alive, a doctor held a phone to his ear as his family bid the unconscious soldier goodbye from their home in California.
Kim’s parents, Yoo Buk and Kum Ok Kim, emigrated from South Korea with their three children 20 years before his death.
They said they never wanted their son to enlist in the Army but he was moved to enlist by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
After his death, his mother said if she spoke better English she would have demanded the recruiter tear up her son’s enlistment contract.
“The family keeps a shrine with his picture and combat awards in their living room, and a certificate granting the South Korean native posthumous U.S. citizenship,” the AP reported.
Sgt. Kim was eventually awarded the Silver Star Medal posthumously for his actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2017, the Army named a medical home/clinic after him at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, in South Korea.
The Sgt. Shin Woo Kim Soldier Centered Medical Home and Dental Clinic ribbon was opened after a cutting ceremony, Oct. 19th, 2017.
Sgt. Michael J. Martinez, Sgt. Giann C. Joya Mendoza, Spc. Dustin L. Workman II and Pfc. Cory F. Hiltz are the other soldiers who never made it home after the June 28th ambush.
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