Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan
Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan was an American U.S. Army Specialist who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He received the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The son of Feroze Khan of New Jersey and Elsheba Khan of Maryland, Khan was a 2005 graduate from Southern Regional High School in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township, New Jersey. Khan was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Washington.
According to the Gannett News Service, he was "spurred by the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center wanted to show that not all Muslims were fanatics and that many, like him, were willing to lay their lives down for their country, America. He enlisted immediately after graduation and was sent to Iraq in July 2006."
Khan and three other soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded while they were clearing a house. He was 20 years old. He was promoted posthumously to the rank of corporal.
His service was cited during an October 2008 interview on Meet the Press with General Colin Powell. In particular, Powell referred to a photograph in The New Yorker which showed Khan's mother by his gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery. Powell said Khan's example refutes the anti-Muslim sentiment present in the Republican campaign during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, namely that being Muslim disqualifies a person from being a genuine, patriotic American, or that a Muslim could not become President.
