{"id":40665,"date":"2018-10-01T20:04:37","date_gmt":"2018-10-01T20:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/01\/we-can-do-a-little-better-for-that-soldier-a-green-beret-just-got-his-silver-star-upgraded-to-a-medal-of-honor\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:58:44","slug":"we-can-do-a-little-better-for-that-soldier-a-green-beret-just-got-his-silver-star-upgraded-to-a-medal-of-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/military-honor\/2018\/10\/01\/we-can-do-a-little-better-for-that-soldier-a-green-beret-just-got-his-silver-star-upgraded-to-a-medal-of-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We can do a little better for that soldier\u2019: A Green Beret just got his Silver Star upgraded to a Medal of Honor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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See the moment Army Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II, a former Special Forces medic, receives the Medal of Honor for saving his teammates’ lives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

A decade ago, former Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II earned a Silver Star<\/a> for his actions as a medic with 3rd Special Forces<\/a> Group in Afghanistan. By the following year, he had left the Army and joined the Secret Service, where he\u2019s worked ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He never heard a thing about a possible upgrade<\/a> of that award, until President Donald Trump told him as much on Sept. 4, he told Army Times on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never heard a rumor,\u201d he said. “For several weeks prior to that I had several cryptic calls from the military saying, \u2018We need to set up a call between you and a high-ranking DoD official.’ “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, he received his award in a White House ceremony, joined by his wife, two sons, fellow members of Operational Detachment-Alpha 3336, two of their Afghan interpreters and five recent Medal of Honor recipients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday he joins the world\u2019s most elite gathering of heroes,\u201d Trump said during the ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Shurer was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is a warrior,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medal of Honor recipients are officially notified by the president, but in practice, many of them have a heads up, either because their upgrade is part of a civilian campaign to review the original award, or because they are still serving and communicating with the chain of command who recommended them in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That first scenario was the case for former Spc. Jim McCloughan and retired Capt. Mike Rose, who saw their Vietnam-era awards reborn as Medals of Honor over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in recent years, the entire Defense Department has undertaken a valor medal review, bumping up lower awards like Silver Stars and Distinguished Service Crosses. Shurer\u2019s case was under wraps the entire time, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause I\u2019m in the Secret Service, they coordinated switching the notification from a phone call to going and meeting him in the Oval [Office],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They set up \u201ca little bit of a ruse,” he added, so he thought he was going to the White House for a work-related meeting. When he showed up, the president informed him he\u2019d be receiving the military\u2019s highest valor award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody asked me what he said. I don\u2019t know,\u201d Shurer said. \u201cHe said that and everything just went to trying to process what he had just said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
President Donald Trump stands as the citation is read during a ceremony to award the Medal of Honor to former Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II, left, for actions in Afghanistan. The ceremony took place in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 1, 2018. (Evan Vucci\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shurer, 39, will be the third living soldier to receive the Medal of Honor in the past two years. All three have been medics, and two have been Green Berets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s odd to try to consider myself with those guys,” he said. \u201cMy wife tries to keep reminding me. I have to remember how I thought of Medals of Honor on Sept. 3, before I was told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military has been working its way through 1,300 valor awards given out since 9\/11 in an effort to re-examine whether the actions that earned them deserve higher recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely glad that other awards are being looked at and recognized,\u201d Shurer said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a good thing, that the country can re-evaluate, and not just say, \u2018Hey, we made that call once. It\u2019s set.\u2019 It\u2019s humble enough to say, we can do a little better for that soldier, sailor, airman, whoever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shurer was born on the anniversary of D-Day, he said, and grew up just down the road from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Puyallup, Washington. His parents were in the Air Force, his grandfather was a World War II veteran and his great grandfather was a World War I veteran, but he didn\u2019t feel the call to join up until after 9\/11, when he was just beginning a master\u2019s degree program at Washington State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He enlisted in 2002 and spent six months in a Fort Bragg, North Carolina, medical battalion before his number was called for Special Forces selection, he told Army Times. He reported to 3rd Group in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\t