South Korean soldier honored at Bagram

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – U.S. and South Korean forces held a memorial ceremony for South Korean Staff Sgt. Jang-ho Yoon at the Bagram Airfield improvised explosive device training lanes named in his honor, Feb. 27.
   
Yoon, who was a counter IED specialist, was killed on Feb. 27, 2007, during a suicide bombing at an entry point into Bragram. To date, Yoon is the only South Korean servicemember to be killed during the war on terror.

After his death, the IED training lanes at Bagram were dedicated the Staff Sgt. Yoon Training Range in his honor on Nov. 1, 2007.

“Staff Sgt. Yoon’s spirit and devotion will not be forgotten by those who train here,” said South Korean Col. Yeo Kyo Lim, defence attaché to Afghanistan. “His sacrifice will continue to save countless lives from the threat of IEDs. His legacy will live on forever.”
    
The range is used by all Coalition force countries and is a symbol of the combined efforts towards having Afghanistan free of IEDs, said U.S. Army Col. Bert Ges, Task Force Paladin and range commander.
 
“Having this facility being named after Staff Sgt. Yoon shows the commitment of the 44 nations who are working together to allow Afghanistan to grow on its own,” said Ges. “This is one team, one fight and it shows that this facility isn’t just for U.S. forces but all Coalition forces.”

Though Yoon was South Korean, he had strong ties to the United States.

Yoon was born in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 21, 1980 and moved to New York in 1994 where he graduated high school. Following graduation, he attended the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University where he graduated with a degree in business in 2003.
   
He returned to South Korea in December 2004 and joined the South Korean Army’s Special Warfare Command and was deployed to Afghanistan in September 2006. 

Yoon was posthumously awarded a South Korean Inheon Order of Military Merit, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.