Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM MAY 27-JUNE 2, 2020 UCW 9 NEWS Medal of Honor recipient and retired Special Forces medic Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer died earlier this month. e U.S. Secret Service, for whom Shurer worked since retiring from the Army in 2009, announced his death. "Today, we lost an Ameri- can Hero: Husband, father, son and Medal of Honor recipient, Special Agent Ronald J. Shurer II," the Secret Service said. Shurer, 41, was undergoing treatment for lung cancer at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. e day before he died, he said that he would soon be taken off a ventilator, an often difficult and sometimes dangerous medi- cal procedure. "Very upset to write this ... been unconscious for a week. ey are going to try and take it out in a couple of hours, they can't tell me if it will work," Shurer wrote in an Instagram post from his hospital bed, pictured with his wife, Miranda. Shurer was awarded the Medal of Honor in Oc- tober 2018 for his actions as a Green Beret medic with Fort Bragg's 3rd Special Forces Group during the Battle of Shok Valley in northeastern Afghani- stan a decade earlier. "Ron was the embodiment of the Special Forces soldier, a dedicated husband and a loving father," said 3rd Group commander Col. Nathan Prus- sian. "His heroic actions were an inspiration throughout 3rd Special Forces Group, Special Forces Regiment and the U.S. Army." On April 6, 2008, a 12-man Green Beret team from Op- erational Detachment-Alpha 3336 were on a mission to kill a leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin insurgent group. e Green Berets and about 100 Afghan commandos were dropped from hovering heli- copters because the icy mountainside was too steep to land on. e assault force faced scaling a 100-foot cliff to reach the enemy compound. But within minutes, heavy machine-gun fire and rockets rained down from enemy positions above. Shurer, then a senior medical sergeant, began to help wounded Afghan commandos. Capt. Kyle Walton, the operation's ground commander, radioed Shurer to advance up the slope as casualties mounted. Shurer scaled the mountainside under fire. "We were pinned down with nearly nowhere to go," Walton said. While treating the wounded, Shurer was hit twice — once in the arm and once by a stunning round to his helmet. Dillon Behr, one of the Green Beret soldiers who was critically wounded, cred- ited Shurer for his survival. "Without Ron Shurer at my side, I would have died that day." Shurer, a long time Fayetteville resident, last lived in suburban Washington, D.C. He regularly attended events there and in Fayetteville to help raise funds for the Special Forces Charitable Trust, a charity that supports families of Green Berets. Shurer's Medal of Honor was an upgrade from an earlier Silver Star Medal he received for his actions during the gunbattle in Afghanistan. A Pentagon review determined his actions warrant- ed the nation's highest award for valor. e Green Berets honored for their heroism represented the largest set of citations for a single battle since the Vietnam War. After the citations were read, the then-commander of Fort Bragg's Special Opera- tions Command, Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland, Jr., stated, "ere is no finer fighting man on the face of the earth than the American soldier. And there is no finer American soldier than our Green Be- rets. If you saw what you heard today in a movie, you would shake your head and say, that didn't happen, but it does, every day." Retired Fort Bragg hero has died by JEFF THOMPSON Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer and his wife. Quarantine may seem to be winding down, but the need for social distancing remains. In the past few months, the quarantine brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that personal connections are a vital part of daily living. Without them, the world seems a little bleak. In response to this need for connection with others, the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County joined forces with artists of all disciplines to host Hay Street Live Virtual Jam Session. It is a bright spot in a trying situation and something to look forward to each week. Using modern technology, the Arts Council is bridging the gap by hosting a series of virtual events every Friday, at 6 p.m., through live stream- ing on Facebook. While the concept of time may be altered due to the quarantines, the attempt to reach some kind of normalcy is vital to mental health and maintaining relationships. Whether it seems real or not, spring has sprung, and Memorial Day is in the rearview mirror. Summer has officially begun. Aren't we all ready for some fun? May 29, performer Kiari Mhoon will be featured on Hay Street Live Virtual Jam Session to kick off summer with some smooth R&B and pop tunes. Although he's young, 21-year-old Mhoon has performed for many years, starting his foray into entertainment right after he learned to walk and continuing to today. Originally from Arkansas, his family settled in Tennessee, where he attended high school and performed in school plays, the choir and madrigals, as well as small group en- sembles and solo performances. During his time in the Army, Mhoon played the lead in the " U.S. Army Soldier Show" and sang the national anthem at several events and ceremonies. After winning a contest held by Universal Records, Mhoon took his group "Versatile" on a nightclub tour. In 2017, he released his first album, "24 Hours," under his independent label, Mhoon Records. is was followed by a second album, "All I Want," in 2019. is week, Mhoon, who is influenced by artists such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, John Leg- end and Beyonce, will perform for the Fayetteville community, so get ready to groove. According to Mhoon, listeners can expect to hear "songs from his albums, along with songs that have inspired me in some way." "Kiari is an immensely talented vocalist, and he also performs in the 82nd Airborne Band," stated Metoya Scott, public relations manager for the Arts Council. She continued, "While this may not be the same experience as seeing Kiari perform live, it will still be very entertaining" for those who attend. In closing, Scott acknowledged how the Hay Street Live program has grown since it started. "e Arts Council is grateful (for) the amount of par- ticipation we've received for Hay Street Live, and we are looking forward to more performances to come," she said. To view Kiari Mhoon this Friday, and for perfor- mances going forward, visit www.theartscouncil. com, www.wearethearts.com, or check out Face- book @eArtsCouncilFAY to view the upcoming virtual concerts. Hay Street Live features Kiari Mhoon by MINDY LOVE EVENTS MINDY LOVE, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Kiari Mhoon, pictured above, will perform this week for Hay Street Live.