When I choose Profile of Valor individuals from a long list of remarkable American Patriots, reading their bios always leaves me at a loss for words to adequately describe their service to our nation.
Such is the case with this bio: Enlisted in the Navy, became a Navy SEAL, rose to become a commanding officer after earning his undergraduate degree in mathematics, followed by a medical degree from Harvard, then became a Naval Aviator and Flight Surgeon, and finally a NASA Astronaut.
After two deployments and more than 100 combat missions, he was awarded a Silver Star for heroic actions saving other soldiers, Bronze Star with Combat V (valor), and Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V.
That’s the short list of Jonathan “Jonny” Yong Kim’s achievements.
Kim was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1984 to parents who immigrated from Korea. He was a stellar high school student and athlete.
In 2002, he enlisted in the Navy after graduating high school. He completed Hospital Corpsman “A” school and then Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S), followed by his Special Operations Combat Medic Course. He was assigned to SEAL Team THREE in San Diego, where he accumulated additional certifications, including Freefall Parachutist, Advanced SCUBA, Combatant Diver, Special Reconnaissance Scout and Sniper, and Advanced Special Operations Techniques. His combat missions were during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In retrospect, Jonny says that his experience as a SEAL, after the death of several close Task Force Bruiser friends during the 2006 Battle of Ramadi, left him bitter with survivor guilt. “It took years for me to learn to be human again, to let go of that anger, to sublimate all those experiences and all those raw emotions into good,” he says. “I owed it to them to be a positive mark on this world. That’s why I wanted to be a physician.” But he adds, “We are all a lot stronger and more capable than we really know, and that’s what the SEAL teams taught me.”
In 2012, 10 years into his enlistment, following his graduation from the University of San Diego, then-Petty Officer First Class Kim was commissioned as an Ensign through the Navy’s enlisted-to-officer commissioning track. He went on to Harvard med school, followed by his Emergency Medicine Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. He became an Aeromedical Dual Designated (AMDD) Naval Aviator and Flight Surgeon after completing basic flight training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi, Texas, and then advanced helicopter flight training at NAS Whiting Field in Milton, Florida. Then, he completed the Naval Flight Surgeon course at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
In June 2017, after applying for Astronaut Candidacy, LCDR Kim was one of 12 candidates chosen for NASA Astronaut Group 22 from a pool of over 18,300 applicants.
He graduated from astronaut training in 2020, and soon after that, he began training for a prospective Moon landing. Last month, he was selected to join the Expedition 72/73 crew to the International Space Station, launching aboard the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft in March 2025 with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky for an eight-month mission on the space station.
Jonny describes himself as “the epitome of that quiet kid who just lacked complete self-confidence.” He says of his early years: “I didn’t have much confidence in high school. I felt in between a couple of worlds. Like, I had my Asian American roots. … My parents were South Korean immigrants. On top of that, there were just a lot of things that didn’t make me feel confident as a person.”
Key among those things that undermined his confidence was the fact he, his younger brother, and their mother were the victims of domestic violence by his alcoholic father. In 2002, the year Jonny enlisted, his father was shot to death by Los Angeles police after threatening his family and then officers with a gun.
Jonny says that tragedy shaped his adult life: “It’s just a day, for so many reasons, that helped me be reborn into the person that I’ve wanted to become — always wanted to become. … It became the benchmark for me to do so many more things in my life I never thought possible. Standing up to someone who was threatening to kill you — and who you loved the most — liberated me. It taught me I’m not the scared little boy I thought I was. I can do these things. I can be a part of something bigger than myself.”
On top of all he has overcome on his way to remarkable achievements, he counts among the greatest of his accomplishments his marriage to Amy and the blessing of their three kids. He most enjoys his time with family and their activities.
LCDR Jonny Kim: Your example of valor — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty and in disregard for the peril to your own life — is eternal.
"Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends." (John 15:13)
Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate -- 1776
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