LEVITTOWN, PA, USA U.S. Army SSG, COMPANY B, 2D BATTALION, 12TH INFANTRY, FORT CARSON, CO BAGHDAD, IRAQ 12/25/2006
Staff Sergeant Jae Sik Moon died at age 21, but seemed much older because so many of his fellow Soldiers looked up to him. “He was an outstanding soldier as well as an outstanding human,” said Sergeant John Villa, who worked with Staff Sergeant Moon early in Moon’s enlistment. Sergeant Villa described Staff Sergeant Moon as a 19-year-old private who was rated as the best enlisted soldier in his battalion. “He did everything perfectly, ” Villa said.
“He wasn’t better than people,” Sergeant Villa said. “He helped other people. If you told people he was only 21, they wouldn’t believe you.” Rather than bragging to other Soldiers about his excellent abilities, Staff Sergeant Moon helped them study for promotion tests and worked hard to share his military knowledge.
When his brigade was assigned to duty in South Korea, the Korean immigrant was well known for showing off his homeland. In 2005 his brigade moved from Korea to Fort Carson, Colorado. Even there, Staff Sergeant Moon struck people with his towering maturity.
While he was deployed to Iraq for a second time in 2006, was severely wounded on December 14th when an improvised explosive device exploded near the vehicle in which he was riding. Two other soldiers were killed and a third lost his leg, according to a statement released by the Army. When Staff Sergeant Moon called his family on Christmas Eve, he said he was OK and needed some food and an air mattress. He also asked for some blankets.
But he did not tell his parents, Young and Ki Moon, that he had been wounded. The next morning, Christmas Day 2006, he died from his injuries. At the time of his death Staff Sergeant Moon was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Carson, Colorado.
At a Memorial Service for Staff Sergeant Moon held at his alma mater, Neshaminy High School, on April 14, 2008, Middletown Township Supervisor Chris Thompson said: “He was a hero in the way he cared for others, he was a hero for his devotion to his mother and his father and last, he is a hero for the sacrifice he made for our nation.” Other speakers who lauded his accomplishments were Congressman Patrick Murphy and State Representative Chris King, as well as some of his former teachers and friends.