A 55-year-old veteran of the U.S. Army who was wounded in action, awarded the Purple Heart and honorably discharged self-deported this week after being ordered to by federal immigration officials, according to multiple media reports.
Sae Joon Park, a green-card holder and father of two grown children, came to the United States from South Korea when he was 7 years old. After joining his mother in Miami, the two of them moved to Los Angeles where he spent the rest of his childhood, NPR reported.
After graduating high school, Park joined the Army. He was deployed to Panama in 1989, where the U.S. was involved in Operation Just Cause, an effort to topple Manuel Noriega’s regime.
One afternoon, Park’s platoon came under attack and while returning fire, he was struck in the back by gunfire from Panamanian soldiers.
It wasn’t until after his discharge, he told NPR, that he began experiencing problems with post-traumatic stress disorder, though at the time, he was unaware the mental health condition was what was causing painful symptoms that he self-medicated with drugs.
Law enforcement caught up with him one night in New York when he was attempting to buy crack cocaine and was arrested. Months later, he skipped a scheduled court hearing.
“I just couldn’t stay clean,” the veteran told NPR. “So, finally when the judge told me, ‘Don’t come back into my court with dirty urine,’ which I knew I would, I got scared and jumped bail.”
Charges of possession and bail jumping meant that Park would be unable to become a naturalized citizen or seek relief from a deportation order.
After serving three years in prison, a time where he told NPR he’d lost all desire to do drugs, he moved to Hawaii where his family was living. The 55-year-old spent 10 years working at a car dealership while raising his son and daughter.
U.S. immigration officials issued Park a removal order after his release from prison but allowed him to stay in the country as long as he attended regular check-ins with federal agents, a once typical allowance given to immigrants not considered a deportation priority.
That, however, changed earlier this month when he was told by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that he would be detained and deported if he did not leave on his own.
The 55-year-old spent his last remaining days enjoying time with his children and his 85-year-old mother, telling NPR that he’s working to accept that it is probably the last time he’ll see her.
While he doesn’t regret joining the Army and getting wounded, telling the outlet that it’s a part of his journey, he said, “I can’t believe this is happening in America. That blows my mind, like a country that I fought for.”
On June 23, the 55-year-old boarded a flight to a place he barely remembered and left behind the country he called home.
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