Even as Master Sgt. Suran Sar charged multiple enemy firing at him in the mountains of Afghanistan, he knew it wasn’t his turn to die. But he came within a hairbreadth. As Sar burst into a windowless wood-and-earthen mountain shelter near the Pakistan border, an enemy fighter fired a burst from his AK-47 at point-blank range. Two of the bullets missed. A third creased Sar’s Kevlar helmet and snapped his chin strap. Sar won’t give the specifics of what happened next, but the Army Special Forces soldier collected a handful of firearms — most of which weren’t given voluntarily. And yesterday a Silver Star was pinned on Sar’s chest.
Recalling the March 5 firefight, Sar said: “At that point, I knew I’m coming home.” He added, “I already know, if I’m supposed to go, I do believe, I’m Buddhist, and if I’m supposed to go, I’ll go.”
Sar, who is Cambodian and has been a U.S. citizen since 1986, that day flanked a ridge and surprised other militants who had his team pinned down, and is credited with saving the lives of fellow service members with Operational Detachment Alpha 732. Yesterday’s recognition was the latest remarkable turn for the humble man who is based at Camp Smith but grew up under the murderous regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
“He didn’t want this,” Army Brig. Gen. David P. Fridovich, commander of Special Operations Command-Pacific, said of the ceremony attended by more than 100 command members and local media. The attention was not intended to embarrass Sar, 39, which it did. Rather, it was to recognize his achievements and “what he has given back to the nation,” Fridovich said. “You’ve already given us so much more in return than we could ever repay you,” Fridovich said.
KHON
An immigrant soldier was honored on Tuesday for fighting for a country he only became a citizen of 10 years ago. Suran Sar once fought for the Cambodian army. But in 1985 he joined the U.S. Army and became a U.S. citizen a year later.
On Tuesday, that same soldier received the Department of Defense’s fourth highest award — the Silver Star. They’ve come to honor a humble soldier for his bravery. The award is from the President of the United States of America.
Army Master Sergeant Suran Sar recalls that early morning in east Afghanistan.
“As soon as we land the enemy start open fire. We’re in two helicopters and the first helicopter was pinned down,” says Master Sergeant Sar. Master Sergeant Sar is the senior ranking soldier of his 12-member team. He was in the second helicopter. “I jumped out of the helicopter and ran to the enemy. There was quite a few of them in front of me. I engage a few and the rest ran into the wood,” says Master Sergeant Sar.
One escapes and hides in a bunker. Master Sergeant Sar is alone with his sergeant and enters first.
“As I come in I raised my weapon and that’s where he was firing at my weapon and he hit me in the head,” says Master Sergeant Sar. “It feel like somebody hit me with a small hammer. It hurt me, but it didn’t kill me.”
And he never stops. “If I’m supposed to go, I’ll go, and at that point I know that I’m coming home no matter what,” says Master Sergeant Sar. He and his team secured the area.
“His actions under overwhelming direct enemy fire even after receiving a head wound were instrumental in securing the objective area and the survival of his fellow soldiers,” says the announcer at the award ceremony. “Ladies and gentleman, the Silver Star winner.”
“I came from Cambodia and I lost most of my family there and nobody here can tell me like what it’s like to lose freedom,” says Master Sergeant Sar. “This country gives me so much and to me this is a small price to pay. If I had to do it, I give my life again.”
Today he’s called a hero, but he disagrees. “I don’t see myself as a hero. The hero is my guy who is in a cemetery right now. He deserved it more,” says Master Sergeant Sar. “I did something I love to do is fighting and serve my country.”
