Humayun Khan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1976-09-09)9 September 1976 |
| Died | 8 June 2004(2004-06-08) (aged 27) |
| Cause of death | Car bombing |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery Arlington Co., Virginia, US |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia (2000) |
| Parent | Khizr and Ghazala Khan |
| Military career | |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years | 2000–2004 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 1st Infantry Division |
| Conflict | Iraqi insurgency |
Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan (9 September 1976 – 8 June 2004) was aUnited States Army officer who was killed by a suicide attack nearBaqubah, Iraq during theIraq War. He came to national attention in the United States during the2016 presidential campaign as an example of a Muslim American soldier who died in service to the U.S. military.
Born in theUnited Arab Emirates toPakistani parents, Khan moved to the U.S. with his family as a young boy. He attended theUniversity of Virginia as a member of theArmy Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Upon graduating in 2000, Khan was commissioned as a second lieutenant and entered active-duty service. By 2004, he had been promoted tocaptain and deployed with his unit for theIraq War. On 8 June 2004, he was killed in a suicide attack and posthumously awarded thePurple Heart and theBronze Star Medal. During the2016 Democratic National Convention,his parents stood at the lectern and delivered a speech condemning then-U.S. presidential candidateDonald Trump's statements on Muslims.
On 9 September 1976, Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan[1] was born inDubai toKhizr and Ghazala Khan,[2] who originate fromPunjab, Pakistan.[3] They moved to theUnited States in 1980 and Humayun grew up inSilver Spring, Maryland.[2] As a young child, Khan read extensively aboutThomas Jefferson. Inhigh school, he taughtswimming todisabled children.[4] Khan graduated fromJohn F. Kennedy High School in 1996, and theUniversity of Virginia in 2000.[5] At the University of Virginia, Khan joined the university'sArmy Reserve Officers' Training Corps.[6]
Khan joined theUnited States Army and had planned on becoming amilitary lawyer.[5] According to his father, one of his personal heroes wasArizonasenator and formerprisoner of warJohn McCain.[7] Khan achieved the rank ofcaptain.[5] In 2004, Khan was assigned to theHeadquarters and Headquarters Company of the 201stForward Support Battalion,1st Infantry Division inVilseck,Germany.[3]
On 8 June 2004, 120 days[2] into histour of duty in Iraq,[3] Khan was inspecting a guard post nearBaqubah when a suspicioustaxicab began approaching quickly. Ordering his subordinates away, Khan ran toward the vehicle and was killed whenthe bomb in it exploded.[3][4][5] The car detonated before it could reach the installation gates or the nearbymess hall where hundreds ofsoldiers were eating.[4] The blast also killed the two occupants of the vehicle and two Iraqi bystanders.[8]
On 15 June, Khan wasburied atArlington National Cemetery[8] in Section 60, grave 7986.[9] His grave became a frequent destination for visitors who left flowers,US flags, and letters of support.[10]
The first University of Virginia graduate to die in combat since theVietnam War, Khan was honored by two university ceremonies.[6] Khan was also posthumously awarded theBronze Star Medal and thePurple Heart.[3] Khan was also honored by theVirginia General Assembly, which passed aresolution noting "with great sadness the loss of a courageous and patriotic American."[5]
In December 2015,Hillary Clinton, a presidential candidate in the2016 United States presidential election, spoke about Khan's service praising him as "the best of America".[11][12]
In 2018,RepresentativeTom Garrett introduced abill that would name aCharlottesville, Virginiapost office after Khan. Both houses of the115th United States Congress unanimously passed the bill, andPresident Trump signed it into law on 21 December 2018. A joint statement byVirginia senators,Tim Kaine andMark Warner, said, "With the dedication of [the Captain Humayun Khan Post Office], we're showing the Khan family that we're forever grateful for his service and sacrifice for our country".[13] The post office was officially renamed on 9 September 2019 during a ceremony attended by Kaine and other politicians.[14]
Khan's parents appeared at the2016 Democratic National Convention, where his father, Khizr Khan, spoke of his dead son and rebuked theRepublican presidential nominee,Donald Trump, for his statements about Muslims and his proposed policies concerning them.[15][16][17][18] Trump criticized the appearance of Khan's parents at the Democratic Convention, and suggested that Khan's mother may not have been allowed to speak. Trump's comments about Khan's mother, Ghazala, sparked widespread condemnation[19][20][21][22][23] and triggered her response as anop-ed inThe Washington Post. On 31 July 2016, Ghazala Khan expressed her thoughts and said she had been too overcome by emotion at the convention to speak at the podium. She wrote, "Donald Trump said I had nothing to say. I do. My son Humayun Khan, an Army captain, died 12 years ago in Iraq. He loved America ..."[24]
Republican leadersSpeaker of the HousePaul Ryan andSenate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell criticized Trump's comments. A strong rebuke came fromUS SenatorJohn McCain from Arizona; the former presidential candidate said that Trump did not represent the ideals of the Republican Party and its leaders.[25]Veterans of Foreign Wars followed with a statement saying, "Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating aGold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression."[26]
TheIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant's online magazineDabiq published a picture of Humayun Khan'sheadstone with the caption "Beware of Dying as anapostate" and urged its followers to"[r]eject these calls to disunity and come together."[27]
How Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of a soldier killed in Iraq, came to challenge Donald J. Trump and reshape a presidential campaign.
Although he was born in The United Arab Emirates, Humayun Khan was of Pakistani heritage.
Grieving Father Struggles to Understand
After Trump tried to use the families of slain military heroes as human shields, others have come out to blast the former president.
How the father of a slain Muslim U.S. soldier shamed Donald Trump, upstaged Hillary Clinton and gave the country a lesson in values.
US Democratic presidential candidate narrates heart-wrenching story of Captain Humayun Khan
McCain, McConnell, and Ryan release statements defending Khizr Khan's son.
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has attracted outrage by mocking a dead US Muslim soldier's mother.
Why the GOP nominee's criticism of a Gold Star family could be a McCarthy-like turning point.
Ghazala Khan's son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq in 2004.
Media related toHumayun Khan (soldier) at Wikimedia Commons