'We still wonder why he took those 10 steps...to death'

Humayun Khan (left); The tombstone on the grave of Humayun Khanabu (right)

Hillary Clinton has praised the sacrifice of a UAE-born soldier who was killed in action while serving in Iraq in 2004.
The soldier, Pakistani-American Captain Humayan Saqib Muazzam Khan, was born in the UAE in September 1976, and later moved to the United States with his parents. He joined the army after graduating from the University of Virginia in 2000.
Khan was later killed while serving with the army's 1st Infantry Division in the Iraqi city of Baqubah on June 8, 2004. He was 27 years old.
In a video posted on her official Facebook page, Clinton said that Khan died while saving the lives of the soldiers under his command.
"One day while his infantry unit was guarding the gates, a suspicious vehicle appeared. Captain Khan told his troops to get back, but he went forward. He took 10 steps towards the car before it exploded," Clinton explained. "Captain Khan was killed, but his unit was saved by his courageous act."
Khan was posthumously decorated with a Bronze Star for "meritious service" as well as a Purple Heart, which is given to American soldiers who are killed or wounded while serving in the military.
"We still wonder what made him take those 10 steps, Khan's father said in a recent interview," Clinton added. "Maybe that's the point, he went on. Where all the values, all the service to country, all the things he learned in this country kicked in. It was those values that made him take those 10 steps."
Khan is the only UAE-born soldier to have been killed while serving with the US military in Iraq or Afghanistan. Clinton's comments come just weeks after another Presidential hopeful, Donald Trump - speaking in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings - publicly called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States until authorities "can figure out what is going on."
Critics of Trump's comments have repeatedly pointed out that, like Khan, thousands of US and foreign-born Muslims are serving in the US military, many of whom have been killed in action.
bernd@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE