Minhee Kim
Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves
October 28, 1986 – November 1, 2006
Age – 20
Ann Arbor, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Marine Forces Reserve’s 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Lansing, MI
Killed while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar, Iraq
The second Gulf War lasted a little more than eight and a half years. In that time more than 4,400 service members lost their lives in combat.
But during a particularly brutal stretch between October of 2006 and February of 2007, 22 Marines from Selfridge Air National Guard Base were killed in action.
These Marines went there with the purest of intentions to serve in the cause of freedom and that’s what they did. And I just think it’s something that we have to do. I don’t want them to be forgotten. Andy Kim’s (as he was known) parents were South Korean immigrants. Kim played junior varsity tennis, recreational hockey and violin the school orchestra. He was committed to his faith and to joining the military. He wrote to a Marine recruiter in elementary school, but was turned down for being too young. He wanted to serve his country. He was thankful for being a U.S. citizen and this was a small way to pay back that gratitude.
After graduating from Pioneer High School, Kim enrolled at Purdue University and enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve. After completing a semester at Purdue University, he began basic training. Although he had an opportunity to become an engineer, he wanted to be with frontline troops. After returning from training, Kim enrolled at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and completed a semester before his company was activated to prepare for Iraq.
His fellow Marines were always in awe of his ability to be so soft-spoken in demeanor, yet to fight with sch tenacity. He was remembered as an outstanding Marine. His smile and uplifting spirit will be missed by the Marines in Charlie Company. Andy said he understood the risks, and that it was what he wanted to do.
In September, he deployed to Iraq with the Marine Reserve’s 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division of Lansing, Michigan.
John Thomas, a gunnery sergeant who taught Kim, remembered him as soft-spoken and committed. “The first time I met him, I asked him, ‘Marine, why are you so quiet?’ He replied, ‘Waiting on the gunny to provide instruction!’ He had a quiet, reserved demeanor,” Thomas wrote in an online guest book.
Once, years ago, Minhee Kim came home with his knee covered in blood. Shocked and worried, his mother asked him what had happened. Kim was completely unfazed. He calmly told his mother he had hurt it diving for an errant ball in a pickup basketball game. “He had no fear,” said Kim”s 17-year-old brother, Isaac. “When people read this, they are going to say, ”Oh my gosh, what a waste that he died so young,”” said Isaac. “Yes, his life was short, but he lived a full life and died for something he loved and believed in.”
“I think a lot of people were sad because he died at such an early age,” his pastor said. “But at the same time, all of us are really proud of what he stood for, serving his country and being a faithful Christian. We know he was able to live a full life while he was here.”