Few individuals embody the spirit of overcoming adversity and reaching for the stars like Jonathan Yong "Jonny" Kim. His journey is marked by an unparalleled series of transitions from a troubled home, enlistment as a way out, medic, sniper, decorated Navy SEAL, Harvard-trained physician, and ultimately to NASA astronaut. An almost unimaginable journey for a first-generation American.

Early Life and Formative Experiences

Jonathan Kim's path to becoming an American success and hero began in the backdrop of Los Angeles, where he was raised by South Korean immigrant parents. His father, who had scarcely completed a high-school education, and his mother emigrated from South Korea in the early 1980s. During this time, many South Koreans were fleeing from economic and political instability, which resulted in high unemployment and a military dictatorship. Chun Doo-hwan was a South Korean politician, army general, and military dictator who served as the fifth President of the country from 1980-1988. Before he acceded to the Presidency, he was the country's de facto leader from 1979 to 1980. Chun usurped power after the 1979 assassination of then-President Park Chung Hee, who had ruled since 1961. Chun orchestrated a 1979 coup, and then in the following year, he declared martial law and later set up a concentration camp for "purificatory education". Like today, Korean immigrants sought a better life away from dictators and terror.

The Korean immigrants of that era set up social organizations and churches to support the new immigrants. Many gravitated to working in family-owned businesses where the language barrier and new cultural norms were not overwhelming. The Kim family opened a liquor store in South Los Angeles. However, his father was an alcoholic and abusive towards Kim, his mother, and his younger brother. Kim described himself as a "scared little boy" during these years.

Kim does not talk about his feelings as an immigrant son. Other life situations, he calls them "accidents", are more controlling factors in his life. Obviously, Kim's story is lived through a lens of being a child of immigrants. First-generation children often face unique challenges relating to their peers, finding a sense of belonging, and reconciling American culture with the expectations of their parents, which stem from a country to which they may not feel a connection. While Kim does not discuss bias or racism that he has faced in life, it must have happened both overtly and covertly as a Korean American.

He admits that on the SEAL teams, "I felt accepted. I never felt accepted growing up. I am not even sure. I had friends. You know, I went to a Korean Church and I had some Korean friends and from my parents but in a lot of ways I was always felt in between worlds and that had an impact on me like I didn't feel well accepted by in a lot of ways the Korean-American community because I was being teased as I was like too white. One time I had skateboarding shoes when I went to my Korean Church, and I just got made fun of for it, and I just you know, I laughed it off like it's just ridiculous. But when you're a kid and that's your world, it means a lot, so I never felt like I was accepted into a group until I was in the teams. I was home and I loved it."

In the age of the internet, podcasts, and vlogs, Jonathan Kim has told his story several times. He has spent hours talking and answering questions. One of the longer interviews was with his Navy SEAL commander, Jocko Willink, which went nearly five hours. The quotes used in this chapter are taken from Jocko Podcast #221 in 2020, unless otherwise noted.

In Kim's telling, his uncommon drive is a byproduct of a tragic incident that occurred when he was 16 years old. Jonathan Kim has been open about the domestic abuse and alcoholism of his father, which created a difficult and frightening home environment. Kim has said:

"I never wanted to tell my story but my dad was a hard worker, but he was uneducated. I don't know if he finished high school, but he grew up in a poor rural area in South Korea and my mother was from a middle or well to-do class family in South Korea. Her father, my grandfather, was a professor at Seoul University. So, they came over here and my dad worked for what he had. He more than made up for a lack of education with just pure grit and work ethic. Like a lot of Korean Americans, and especially in Los Angeles, he owned a liquor store in downtown Los Angeles near South Central. I think a lot of what I've become and a lot of the decisions I've made in my life started with my father and growing up my father had. He had a lot of demons like a lot of people. He did the best he could to live with those demons, but a lot of times he didn't have the mental strength to really not let those demons get a hold of him. So much of what I've learned in my life has been what not to do by example of my father."

One night, in February 2002, Kim's alcoholic father came home drunk and brandishing a gun. According to Kim, his father attacked him with pepper spray before proceeding to beat his mother with the pistol. When Kim tried to intervene again, his father struck him in the head with a dumbbell, knocking him silly. Kim recalled that, despite being barely conscious, he pleaded with his father not to kill him and his mother. In a stroke of uncharacteristic mercy, his father ceased his assault, took the gun, and fled the house - or so they thought. When the police arrived, they found him barricaded inside the attic. A brief stand-off ensued, and the officers shot Kim's father, wounding him fatally.

This event, which Kim later described as a catalyst, instilled in him a determination to never again feel helpless and to dedicate his life to protecting others and making a positive impact. This profound personal experience led him to enlist in the United States Navy immediately after graduating from Santa Monica High School in 2002. His decision to join the military was not merely a career choice but a deeply personal response to formative trauma, making a commitment to transform pain into purpose.

He had learned about the SEALs in a 1992 book, "The Men in Green Faces" by Gene Wentz. Within a week, the 16-year-old told his mother, "I'm going to be a Navy SEAL, and she had no idea what that was." He wanted to be a team guy and wanted to transform his life. In high school, he played water polo and started training to pass the SEAL fitness test with extra ocean swims, runs, and calisthenics. He did well academically but knew that college, at that time, was not for him.

Kim has said that while his father's tragedy was terrible, it also liberated him and his mother, and it was a pivotal moment in their lives. His mother also worked part-time as a substitute elementary school teacher while raising Jonathan and his younger brother. This experience is a classic example of the immigrant story, where hard work and entrepreneurship were essential for building a new life. With his father's death, the family liquor store would fail. Jonny's post-high school path was unclear, and the family trauma fwas resh. Kim sought a new life in the Navy.

Enlistment was a path to regular pay and getting out of Los Angeles. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy, Kim was told the quickest path to becoming a Navy SEAL was to become a Hospital Corpsman as the teams needed medics. He completed Hospital Corpsman "A" school training. Following his completion of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, he went on to the Special Operations Combat Medic (SOCM) course at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Kim has stated that this was "the best place to learn that kind of battlefield trauma medicine."

With hindsight and incite as an adult, Kim has said: "I want to be clear, I have no ill feelings against my father, and I have forgiven him for the years of abuse that he gave. When I grew a little bit older and I understood where he came from, he also came from a pretty terrible home situation, and I think of his demons. He just didn't have the tools or the aptitude or the mental strength to deal with those demons. And like a lot of people, they pass those on right the sins of our father pass on to us, and I don't fault him. With the abuse, most of it was directed at my mother, you know, verbal and physical abuse. I mean it was not as direct with us."

The Path of a Navy SEAL

Kim's entry into the Navy marked the beginning of an arduous yet transformative period. He first completed Hospital Corpsman "A" school, laying the groundwork for his future medical pursuits. However, the scared skinny first-generation American had his sights set higher, on the rigorous and legendary Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training. As a member of BUD/s Class 247, Kim endured one of the most physically and mentally demanding training programs in the world, designed to forge ordinary individuals into the nation's most elite special operations forces.

He proved his resilience and made it through in one class. "If you just maintain clarity and focus and calm your nerves, everything will be okay. It's when you thrash that you panic. You get air hungry that plays on you, and that's when you really have a hard time, I think, when it comes to water-related activities." He mentally had a way to keep himself calm and in control. His successful completion of BUD/S was a clear early indicator of his exceptional grit and determination.

Upon earning his coveted Trident, Kim was assigned as a Special Warfare Operator to SEAL Team 3, specifically Charlie Platoon, based in San Diego, California. Within his SEAL team, Kim served in multiple critical roles, showcasing his versatility and adaptability in high-stakes environments. He was a Special Operations Combat Medic, providing crucial battlefield trauma care to wounded soldiers, often under direct enemy fire. His experiences as a medic in combat would later profoundly influence his decision to pursue a career in medicine. Beyond his medical duties, Kim also functioned as a sniper, a navigator, and a point man, roles that demanded precision, strategic thinking, and leadership in the most dangerous situations.

It was during his time with SEAL Team 3 that Kim would face the crucible of combat, deploying twice to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served with some great mentors, including Chris Kyle, a famous SEAL Sniper who did four tours in Iraq and the subject of the 2014 movie "American Sniper". Kim's deployments placed him on the front lines of some of the most intense urban warfare of the conflict, including Ramadi in 2006. That city was Al-Qaeda's declared capital of a new caliphate. The fighting was brutal and came at a high cost, with significant casualties for both sides, including the deaths of U.S. Navy SEAL Marc Lee and Michael Monsoor (posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions). The battle involved heavy house-to-house fighting, ambushes, sniper attacks, and the use of roadside bombs by insurgents. The battle is the subject of books and films.

After rotation back to the States, SEAL Team 3 went back and participated in the Battle of Sadr City in 2008, also known as the Siege of Sadr City. It was a major urban warfare engagement in Baghdad, Iraq, between US and Iraqi forces and the Mahdi Army militia. It took place from March to May 2008, primarily focused on securing the densely populated Sadr City neighborhood. The battle involved intense fighting, with both sides employing various tactics and technologies, ultimately resulting in a shift of power in the area.

Kim downplays his role in the SEALs. Yes, he was a medic. Yes, he was a sniper. But he was just doing his job. Across these two tours, Kim participated in more than 100 combat operations, often under extreme duress. He had proved himself to the teams and to himself.

His extraordinary courage and selflessness in combat were formally recognized with some of the highest military honors. Most notably, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action. The citation for his Silver Star highlighted an incident in Ramadi where he repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire to drag wounded Iraqi soldiers to safety, providing them with life-saving combat casualty care. This act of heroism, performed amidst a hail of bullets, underscored his unwavering dedication to his fellow soldiers and his profound bravery. In addition to the Silver Star, Kim's distinguished service earned him the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" (for valor), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat "V", and the Combat Action Ribbon, along with various campaign and service awards. His exceptional performance as a combat medic was further acknowledged when he was named the Naval Special Warfare Medic of the Year in 2006.

Despite his immense success and recognition as a SEAL, Kim found that the experience, while transformative, did not entirely fulfill his deepest aspirations. He reflected that while it taught him strength and resilience, it also left him with a sense of anger and bitterness regarding the loss and suffering he witnessed. This realization, coupled with his experiences providing medical aid in combat, began to shape a new direction for his life. In 2009, after seven years of distinguished service as a Navy SEAL and two combat deployments, Petty Officer First Class Jonathan Kim made the remarkable decision to choose a path that would lead him towards a medical education.

Transition to Medicine: A New Calling

To move forward, he had to first obtain a college degree before applying to medical school. The journey into medicine was facilitated by the Navy's enlisted-to-officer commissioning program. "Seaman to Admiral-21" (STA-21), which provided a pathway for exceptional enlisted personnel to earn a college degree and an officer's commission. Kim's SEAL commanders and teammates wrote in support of his participation in STA-21 and later to get into medical school.

Through the STA-21 program, Kim enrolled at the University of San Diego, where he pursued a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics. His academic excellence was evident as he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2012, demonstrating a formidable intellect that extended far beyond the battlefield. His time at San Diego not only provided him with a strong academic foundation but also, as he later noted, helped him develop crucial "soft skills" like communication and an appreciation for the scientific method, which he believed could be applied to any problem in life.

Following his graduation and his commissioning as a naval officer, Kim embarked on the next, even more demanding phase of his education: medical school. He gained admission to the prestigious Harvard Medical School, a remarkable achievement that highlighted his exceptional academic abilities and dedication. In 2016, he earned his Doctorate of Medicine from Harvard, marking the culmination of years of intense study, focus, and sacrifice.

After medical school, Dr. Kim completed his medical internship with the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency program, rotating through Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. This residency provided him with hands-on experience in emergency medicine, a field that demanded quick thinking, decisive action, and the ability to perform under pressure - skills he had honed during his commitment to helping and directly impacting lives, mirroring the protective instincts that initially drew him to the SEALs.

What motivated Kim to head to medical school? He acknowledges his father always wanted him to be a doctor - every immigrant parent's dream. This is particularly true for Asian immigrants to lean into the generalization. But Kim's motivation stems from a sense of duty to make the world better. As he explained:

"But I made a promise regardless of my rank of where I stood or what kind of power differential, if I saw something wrong like that, and I knew someone would get hurt that I would stand up and speak... I made a promise to not just those who died. That I owe it to them to be a positive mark in this world and that can take many forms. For me, that was why I wanted to be a physician. It didn't really matter that it was medicine, and it was just natural for me because that's what I was involved in to take that level of service to a higher calling. But taking it to become an astronaut is completely consistent with my promise to leave a positive impact in this world and that's how I honor the Brothers we lost and I will never stop until the day I die trying to fill in that void because it's a void that can never be filled."

From Doctor to Dual-Designated Naval Officer

Even as he pursued his medical career, Jonathan Kim remained an active-duty naval officer, demonstrating his continued commitment to the U.S. Navy. His unique background and exceptional capabilities led him to another specialized path within the Navy: becoming a dual-designated Naval Aviator and Naval Flight Surgeon. This rare designation, part of the Aeromedical Dual Designator (AMDD) program, meant he would be qualified to both fly aircraft and provide medical care to aviators and astronauts.

To achieve this, Kim first attended the Naval Flight Surgeon course at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida. This training equipped him with specialized medical knowledge required to understand the physiological demands of flight and space travel, and to care for personnel operating in these extreme environments.

Following his flight surgeon training, Kim undertook Primary Flight Training at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, and subsequently helicopter Advanced Flight Training at NAS Whiting Field, Milton, Florida. This rigorous aviation training honed his piloting skills, requiring him to master complex flight controls, navigation, and crew resource management. He excelled, graduating on the "Commodore's List with Distinction" from Naval Advanced Flight Training. His ability to adapt to the challenges of aviation, from pulling G's to building situational awareness and effective communication, was a testament to his continuous learning and mastery of diverse skill sets. This dual designation as both a Naval Aviator and a Naval Flight Surgeon further solidified his unique profile, preparing him for the ultimate frontier: space.

The Astronaut Corps: Reaching for the Stars

In 2017, Jonathan Kim's extraordinary journey took yet another remarkable turn when he was selected by NASA to join its elite Astronaut Candidate Class. Out of an astounding pool of more than 18,300 applicants, Kim was one of only twelve individuals chosen, a testament to his unparalleled blend of military, medical, and intellectual achievements. His selection marked him as only the third former Navy SEAL to become a NASA astronaut, placing him in an exceptionally rare echelon of national heroes.

His two years of astronaut candidate training were as comprehensive and demanding as any phase of his previous career. The curriculum was designed to prepare candidates for the complexities of space flight and life aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This included intensive technical and operational instruction in ISS systems, Extravehicular Activities (EVA) Operations (spacewalks), T-38 jet flight training, robotics, physiological training to cope with the effects of microgravity, expeditionary training, field geology, water and wilderness survival training, and proficiency in the Russian language, essential for working with international partners. Kim's ability to absorb and master such a vast array of knowledge and skills, from the intricacies of orbital mechanics to the nuances of a foreign language, underscored his exceptional cognitive abilities and dedication to lifelong learning.

Upon completing his astronaut candidate training in 2020, Kim began actively supporting International Space Station operations. He is the first Korean-American NASA astronaut. He served as a Capsule Communicator (CapCom) in Mission Control Center, Houston, acting as the primary point of contact between ground control and the astronaut in orbit. This role required precise communication, quick problem-solving, and a deep understanding of ongoing mission parameters. In 2021, his leadership capabilities were further recognized when he served as the International Space Station's Increment Lead for Expedition 65, a critical role in coordinating and managing the activities of the crew aboard the station. He currently continues to support crew operations as an operations officer, contributing to the success of ongoing space missions. Looking ahead, Jonny Kim is poised to make history once again. He may never end up in space, but will spend his time as one of the available pool of astronauts. He is ready to serve in space if called upon.

A Legacy of Service and Inspiration

Jonathan Kim's life is a powerful narrative of continuous growth, unwavering dedication, and profound impact. From the crucible of personal tragedy, he forged a path defined by service, courage, and an insatiable quest for knowledge. His journey through the ranks of the Navy SEALs, his commitment to healing as a physician, and his ascent to the stars as an astronaut are not disparate achievements but interconnected chapters of a singular, compelling story.

His philosophy, as articulated in various interviews, centers on the idea of turning pain into purpose and striving to make the largest possible positive impact on the world. He credits his family, particularly his wife and three children, as a crucial support network, emphasizing that behind every accomplished individual is a strong foundation. This humility, combined with his extraordinary achievements, makes him a truly inspiring figure.

Kim's career exemplifies the power of adaptability and the pursuit of excellence across diverse fields. He has demonstrated that with sufficient drive and intellect, one can master seemingly disparate disciplines and contribute meaningfully to society in multiple capacities. His story resonates deeply because it is one of overcoming adversity, embracing challenges, and continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible. He embodies the ideal of a modern polymath, a person who excels in multiple fields, driven by an inherent desire to serve and to leave the world better than he found it.

Conclusion

Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Y. "Jonny" Kim's journey from a young enlistee to a decorated combat veteran, a highly educated medical doctor, and a pioneering NASA astronaut is nothing short of extraordinary. Each phase of his career has been marked by exceptional dedication, courage, and intellectual rigor. He has not only achieved individual excellence but has consistently leveraged his unique skills and experiences to serve his country and humanity at the highest levels. His life stands as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of resilience, the importance of continuous learning, and the profound impact one individual can have when driven by a genuine desire to make a positive difference. As he prepares for his first space mission, Jonathan Kim continues to inspire countless individuals, proving that with unwavering commitment, the boundaries of human achievement are truly limitless.