WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Army medic who received the nation’s highest military honor Monday for braving heavy gunfire to save lives in Afghanistan was rejected by the military the first time he tried to enlist. “Boy that was a bad mistake. But they made up for it, right,” President Donald Trump said in a formal White House ceremony where 250 people gathered to laud former Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II for his heroic actions in 2008 in a remote part of Afghanistan. “For more than six hours, Ron bravely faced down the enemy. Not a single American died in that brutal battle, thanks in great measure to Ron’s heroic actions.” Shurer, a native of Fairbanks, Alaska, was a senior medical sergeant in the special forces on April 6, 2008 when his team encountered machine gun and sniper fire and rocket-propelled grenades from militants. Shurer stabilized one soldier, then fought his way through a barrage of bullets and up a mountain to the lead members of the unit. There, he treated and stabilized four more soldiers. Shurer helped evacuate them, carrying and lowering the wounded down the steep mountainside, using his body to shield them from enemy fire and shrapnel. After he loaded the wounded in an evacuation helicopter, Shurer went back up the mountain to fight. “Ron was not done yet. He charged back to the mountain — all the way up — and rejoined the fight,” Trump said. “For more than six hours, Ron bravely faced down the enemy. Not a single American died in that brutal battle, thanks in great measure to Ron’s heroic actions.” First rejected by the military because of a medical condition, Shurer enlisted again a year after 9/11. He was accepted the second time around. He was promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant in late 2006 and served with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan from late November 2007 to late May 2008. He was honorably discharged a year later. He began his career with the Secret Service as a special agent assigned to a field office in Phoenix, Arizona, in September 2009. He was selected for the Secret Service’s counter assault team and assigned to the Special Operations Division in June 2014. Shurer lives in Burke, Virginia, with his wife, Miranda, and sons Cameron, 10, and Tyler, 7.<doc-sep>BURKE, Va. -- As Soldiers progress through their career, they often obtain certain momentos that commemorate their time spent in uniform. Having spent six and a half years in the Army, former Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II has many keepsakes. The former Special Forces medic proudly displays his Green Beret next to a folded American flag and a vinyl record by singer/songwriter Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler. The Shurer family's quaint Virginia home is filled with reminders of Ron's time with 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), his two deployments to Afghanistan, and his career with the U.S. Secret Service. However, some keepsakes -- some memories -- are best kept closed. The cases holding Shurer's Silver Star and Purple Heart remain shut as they rest close to his Green Beret. He received those medals for his actions on April 6, 2008. Shurer chooses to conceal his Desert Camouflage Uniform, which he wore during an operation in Afghanistan's Shok Valley. The blood that once drenched his uniform has been thoroughly washed away. The only visible detail from the hellacious battle is a small bullet-sized tear on the uniform's left sleeve. Nevertheless, the memories surrounding the day Shurer almost died still remain. President Donald Trump will present Shurer with the Medal of Honor on Oct. 1 at the White House for his heroic actions on that fateful day in 2008, when he saved four critically wounded Special Forces teammates and 10 Afghan commandos. "I'm not a hero," Shurer said humbly. "I just happened to be the medic there that day. The guys trusted me to help them, and I was going to do everything I could not to let them down." APRIL 6, 2008 It was an early morning departure for the 15 Special Forces Soldiers on April 6, 2008. Boarding a number of Chinooks near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, approximately 100 Afghan commandos joined the Special Forces team in preparation for their upcoming mission. The joint team had recently received information that a high-value target was operating out of an isolated village in the Shok Valley. "We don't go out on a mission where we don't expect to meet some resistance, but this was unlike anything we'd ever faced before," Shurer said. On a map, Shok Valley resembles a lowercase "y" with the enemy's fortification sitting at the heart of the minuscule character, Shurer said. The enemy encampment -- a village recessed on the summit of a mountain -- contained a series of stacked buildings and provided a semi-clear view of the valley below. The joint attacking force was relying on the element of surprise as they infilled just south of their objective. As the team's only medic, Shurer was in one of the last heavy-lift helicopters to arrive on the scene. "I distinctly remember it was taking for what felt like forever for everybody to get off," Shurer said. "As I made it toward the back of the Chinook, that's when I realized that they were having to hover about 10 or 15 feet off the ground. Just like everybody before me, I carefully tried to slide off the back, so I didn't break my leg getting off the helicopter." "Once I hit the ground, I remembered being surrounded by mountains," Shurer said. "After the Chinooks left, it was just kind of cold and quiet." From there, the combined attacking force broke into smaller teams and began the treacherous hike through the river. As a member of the trail element, Shurer and the rest of his team approached the base of the hill while the lead element started their climb, he said. Parts of the mountain were steep, and it felt like the team was trying to scale a straight wall, he added. "I'm not quite sure how long it was, but a few minutes after we started to move up the mountain, we saw a couple people running around on top of the hill," Shurer said. "Just like any of the valleys -- when you fly through, they will know you're coming. "They had a plan for this day, and they began executing their plan as we got into position." Moments later, "it felt like everything exploded around us," Shurer recalled. An onslaught of rocket-propelled grenades and small arms and sniper fire rained down from the enemy's location, forcing the elements to secure cover. Instantaneously, helicopter and fixed-wing close air support started a series of attack runs and air strikes on the enemy. "That's when I first heard the calls for help," Shurer said. FINDING HIS PATH Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, Shurer spent most of his youth moving around the U.S., until his family settled in the state of Washington. "[The] military was always part of my family's history. My grandfather served during World War II. My father did 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. And my mom did time in the Air Force. It was always just something that my family did." While growing up, Shurer never felt any pressure to join the military. Everything changed after Sept. 11, 2001. "I enlisted in the fall of 2002. I was in graduate school at the time getting a degree in economics," Shurer explained. "After 9/11, just seeing the stories coming back from overseas, it felt like the right thing to do. So, I left halfway through the program and enlisted in the Army." Selected to be a medic, Shurer completed his Advanced Individual Training in San Antonio, Texas. From there, he went to Airborne school and eventually made his way to the 261st Area Support Medical Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. "It was a good unit, but I made a choice to put in a Special Forces packet," Shurer said. "In January of 2004, I went through the Special Forces selection process and was selected. I started the actual qualification course in June of 2004. "The only thing that makes Special Forces different is just doing the basics (correctly) while under stress. We drilled those basics over and over again until it became second nature," he added. Around the same time, Shurer met Miranda Lantzwere online, and their conversations developed into a budding romance. "While he was in the Q course to become Special Forces, I was at James Madison University, in graduate school for counseling psychology," Miranda said. "We lived five hours away from each other, and we talked for a few weeks before he offered to drive to meet me. "I just thought he was really sweet, funny, and witty," she added. "He was doing this job where he was going to be one of the toughest Soldiers for our country, and yet Ron would say cute things (like) 'when he eats a bag of gummy bears, he saves one to help repopulate the species.'" To this day, Shurer and his now-wife Miranda still possess a small keepsake from their first encounter. On one of their living room shelves, a framed movie ticket stub shines like a beacon among an assortment of family momentos and photos. "I always knew, as a medic, how invested he was and how much it meant to him," Miranda added. "We would spend weekends together, and we would spend time going over flashcards to study for the course. "To Ron, it wasn't just about passing the course. It was about needing to know the information because it was going to matter one day," she said. "Thankfully, when the time came, Ron had those skills, and he was able to utilize them." Shurer graduated his Q course in May of 2006, and the couple became engaged soon after. A few weeks later, he reported to the 3rd Special Forces Group, which was preparing for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. Shurer and Miranda moved up their wedding date and married. Through time, their family grew to include two boys. "My wife is an amazing woman," Shurer said. "She has put up with a lot." THEY CALLED FOR 'RON' As all hell broke loose in Shok Valley, the calls for help came in. Shurer's training instantly kicked in as he tended to an Afghan commando who had sustained a gunshot wound to the groin. Fortunately, his injury was not severe.<doc-sep>President Trump awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to Army medic Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II for "conspicuous gallantry" for actions he took in 2008 in his role as Senior Medical Sergeant in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the global war on terrorism as coined by the Bush administration. In Afghanistan's Shok Valley in April 2008, Staff Sergeant Shurer and his team were engaged by enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire, according to the White House. Shurer braved enemy fire to treat numerous injured soldiers before evacuating the entire team, shielding the wounded with his own body and later rejoined the fight. "Then-Staff Sergeant Shurer's heroic actions saved the lives of his teammates," the White House said in a statement. Shurer now serves as a member of United States Secret Service. President Trump presents Medal of Honor to former Army Senior Medical Specialist Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer for conspicuous gallantry during Operation Enduring Freedom, at the White House on Mon., Oct. 1, 2018. Getty "We stand in awe of your father's courage," Mr. Trump told Shurer's two sons in the audience for Monday's ceremony. "I wish I was that popular," he added following loud applause for Shurer. The president said Shurer was an "inspiration for everyone in this room" and "every citizen across this great land." Shurer told reporters after the ceremony that he was "incredibly humbled, honored to receive the Medal of Honor today." He dedicated the honor to the men he served alongside with, saying "Without them, this medal wouldn't have been possible. It was truly a team effort." The ceremony was Mr. Trump's second appearance before the press, after a lengthy press conference in the Rose Garden to tout his newly announced trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. The newser also focused on the FBI's investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and Mr. Trump said he was calling for a "very comprehensive" review of Kavanaugh's background, and suggested that there were Democratic senators he knew of who had drinking problems.<doc-sep>
President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor Monday to Ronald J. Shurer, an Army medic credited with saving the lives of his teammates during a 2008 battle in Afghanistan. Now, Shurer faces another battle: Trump said during the ceremony that Shurer has been battling lung cancer for the past year and a half. “He’s braved, he’s battled, he’s worked, he’s done everything he can,” President Trump said. “He’s been fighting it every single day with courage, with strength, and he’s a warrior.” Amid his fight with cancer, Shurer continues to serve his country, as part of the United States Secret Service Counter Assault Team, which protects the president from possible attacks. “Today is a truly special day for us here in the White House, because Ron works right here alongside us,” Trump said. He described calling Shurer and his wife Miranda into the Oval Office to inform them Ron would be receiving the nation’s highest military honor. “It was a moment I will never forget,” Trump said. Shurer was awarded the medal for his actions during the Battle of Shok Valley. In the early morning hours on April 6, 2008, Shurer was one of the last U.S. Special Forces soldiers to exit a Chinook helicopter and land in the Shok Valley of eastern Afghanistan. There was a moment of quiet as the soldiers began to scale a steep hill – when suddenly everything around Shurer exploded. According to a U.S. Army narrative of what happened next, Shurer’s unit took heavy fire, including rocket-propelled grenades, small-arms and machine-gun fire. The forward assault team became pinned down and sustained multiple injuries. That’s when Shurer sprang into action. Disregarding his own safety, Shurer sprinted through the fire to reach the forward team and treat the wounded. Shurer’s heroic actions, moving through heavy gunfire multiple times to provide aid to the wounded, saved the lives of all the U.S. soldiers injured in the battle. Shurer is the 11th U.S. Army soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan and the 15th overall from that war. Though the White House and Department of Defense have recognized Shurer’s heroism, he still gives all credit to his fellow teammates. "I truly want to dedicate this to the men ... who served with me out there. Without them, this medal wouldn’t have been possible, it’s truly a team effort," Shurer told the press after the ceremony. A legacy of service Shurer grew up no stranger to military service. His grandfather was a World War II veteran. His parents were both airmen, and he spent the first few years of his life moving around the country until his family was stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state, where Shurer went to high school. Shurer attended Washington State University and was in the middle of a graduate program when the events of September 11, 2001, inspired him to join the Army in 2002. Two years later, Shurer began the process to become a Green Beret. He deployed twice to Afghanistan before being honorably discharged in 2009. “Unlike anything we’d ever faced before” During that second deployment to Afghanistan, Shurer was part of Operational Detachment Alpha from the 3rd Special Forces group paired with several dozen Afghan commandos, sent to kill or capture terrorist leaders of the militant group Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin in Shok Valley. As militants rained fire down on Shurer’s unit, he heard someone shouting his name. Shurer ran to then-Staff Sgt. Ryan Wallen, a friend who had a shrapnel injury in his neck. The battle raged on. “We don't go out on a mission where we don't expect to meet some resistance, but this was unlike anything we'd ever faced before,” Shurer said. In order to reach the pinned down forward team, Shurer fought his way across several hundred meters, killing multiple militants along the way. When he reached the unit, he treated four critically wounded U.S. soldiers and 10 Afghan soldiers. At one point, a bullet went through one soldier’s arm and struck Shurer’s helmet. “It felt like I’d been hit in the head with a baseball bat,” Shurer said. “But Ron was not done yet. He charged back to the mountain, all the way up, and rejoined the fight. Not a single American died in that brutal battle, thanks in great measure to Ron’s heroic actions,” Trump said. Shurer provided aid and helped suppress the enemy fire for five and a half hours.