This is SGT Shinwoo Kim. He was a Korean-American serving as a medic in the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. He was motivated to enlist after the September 11th attacks. He was deployed to Iraq for the Operation Iraqi Freedom.

It happened on June 28, 2007. SGT Kim and his squadron were in Baghdad, Iraq. A bunch of Iraqi insurgents ambushed, and tossed an IED towards Kim and his squad mates. Knowing that the IED would kill everyone in the squadron, SGT Kim dove over the grenade, sacrificing his life as an attempt to save his buddies. The IED exploded on Kim, and he sustained fatal injuries. A few moments after his family members said their goodbyes (a doctor connected a phone call to Kim’s family), SGT Kim passed away. He was Killed In Action, at a young age of 23. Kim enlisted because he was motivated to fight on the behalf of a country that he wasn’t even born in, and on top of that, he became a medic because he wanted to help people, instead of killing them. From this, I can clearly notice Kim’s devotion and compassion.

Sacrificing your life for the sake of others- that’s something that almost no one would do. However, Kim had enough compassion to do so, and that is what makes me sadder. Kim received accredition from the U.S. Army- he was awarded the Silver Star Medal, given permanent posthumous U.S. citizenship, and there is also a hospital named after him in Camp Humphreys, a U.S. Army Garrison in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.