Green Beret army medic awarded the Medal of Honor now battling cancer

A former Army medic was honored on Monday with the nation’s highest military honor for his valor in Afghanistan, but now he faces a new battle in fighting cancer. 

President Donald Trump presented Sgt. Ronald Shurer, 39, with the Medal of Honor at a formal White House ceremony on Monday where 250 guests gathered to commemorate his heroic acts in 2008. 

The Puyallup, Washington native was the senior medical sergeant in the special forces on April 6, 2008 and rushed through fire to help his fallen team members when they were bombarded by militants with machine guns, sniper fire, and rocket-propelled grenades in a remote part of Afghanistan. 

President Donald Trump presented former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II with the Congressional Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan in 2008 in a White House ceremony on Monday

President Trump commended the army medic's valor in the field in 2008 in a remote area of Afghanistan where he treated wounded soldiers and joined the battlefield  

President Trump commended the army medic’s valor in the field in 2008 in a remote area of Afghanistan where he treated wounded soldiers and joined the battlefield  

Trump also noted how Shurer is now facing a new fight against cancer after he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year

Trump also noted how Shurer is now facing a new fight against cancer after he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year

Fighting through the barrage of bullets he treated, stabilized, an helped evacuate wounded soldiers, carrying and lowering the wounded down the steep mountainside and using his body as a human shield. 

After loading up the evacuation helicopter he scaled the mountain to fight himself.

He later joined the secret service and was honored with the special ceremony on Monday. 

Last year he was diagnosed with lung cancer and he says he’s just ‘taking it one day at a time’, according to CBS. 

In his honorary speech Trump addressed Shurer’s children saying: ‘We stand in awe of your father’s courage. We really do. Today he joins the world’s most elite gathering of heroes.’ 

He was honored for his act of valor in 2008 in Afghanistan when his team was bombarded by enemy fire and he treated and stabilized soldiers, making sure each injured soldier was safely evacuated, then joined the fight himself

He was honored for his act of valor in 2008 in Afghanistan when his team was bombarded by enemy fire and he treated and stabilized soldiers, making sure each injured soldier was safely evacuated, then joined the fight himself

Trump commended his work as an army medic and fighter. 

‘Ron was not done yet. He charged back to the mountain – all the way up – and rejoined the fight. For more than six hours, Ron bravely faced down the enemy. Not a single American died in that brutal battle, thanks in great measure to Ron’s heroic actions,’ Trump said. 

Shurerer was given a standing ovation at the White House, leading Trump to joke “I wish I was that popular’. 

Touching on his cancer, Trump said: ‘He’s been fighting it every single day with courage and strength. He’s a warrior.’

‘… Ron is an inspiration to everyone in this room and to every citizen all across our great land,’ the president added. 

Shurer later joined the Secret Service and the Special Operations Division following his time in Afghanistan 

Shurer later joined the Secret Service and the Special Operations Division following his time in Afghanistan 

Speaking on his battle with lung cancer he says he's just 'taking it one day at a time'

Speaking on his battle with lung cancer he says he’s just ‘taking it one day at a time’

Shurer was at first rejected by the military because of a medical condition, but enlisted again a year after 9/11 and was accepted the second time around.

His parents, grandfather and great-grandfather also served in the military.  

He was promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant in late 2006 and served with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan from late November 2007 to late May 2008. He was honorably discharged a year later.

He began his career with the Secret Service as a special agent assigned to a field office in Phoenix, Arizona, in September 2009. He was selected for the Secret Service’s counter assault team and assigned to the Special Operations Division in June 2014.

Shurer lives in Burke, Virginia, with his wife, Miranda, and sons Cameron, 10, and Tyler, 7.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk