State University of New York at Herkimer<\/a> in 2009 with an associate\u2019s degree in criminal justice, a news release from Liu\u2019s office said, which laid the foundation for his life of service.\u00a0<\/p>\nDriven by a commitment to serve his country, Park enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman in early 2010.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
He completed rigorous one station unit training and Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA, in 2011, earning his Parachutist Badge where he demonstrated exceptional physical and tactical proficiency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Park was assigned to the renowned 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, serving as a rifleman in the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1-504 Parachute Infantry Regiment, Charlie Company, 3rd Platoon, known as the \u201cRed Devils.\u201d There, he completed advanced combat training, including Joint Readiness Training and Mountain Phase Training, preparing for deployment in high-risk environments.<\/p>\n
In March 2012, Park deployed to Afghanistan. He arrived at Bagram Airfield before being stationed at Combat Outpost Moqur in Ghazni Province.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
During his deployment, he was promoted to specialist and served in multiple critical combat roles, including rifleman, grenadier, SAW gunner and machine gunner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Park participated in more than 35 mobile convoys and 12 firefights. The news release said he consistently demonstrated bravery, resilience and adaptability under intense combat conditions.<\/p>\n
While deployed, Park survived two improvised explosive device attacks. During one of the incidents, he sustained a traumatic brain injury and received treatment at Combat Outpost Moqur before courageously returning to duty.<\/p>\n
Following his deployment, Park returned to Fort Bragg, where he continued receiving medical treatment while completing the remainder of his military service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In early 2015, Park was honorably discharged and transitioned to the Individual Ready Reserve, concluding his period of active duty service.\n<\/p>\n
Park\u2019s service has been recognized through numerous military honors and decorations, including the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Parachutist Badge.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustin\u2019s extraordinary service to our country and community exemplifies all that it means to serve with courage, honor and selflessness,\u201d Liu said. \u201cHe carried out multiple combat missions with discipline and courage, all while remaining steadfast in his dedication to his fellow soldiers. He is a true hero, and it is my privilege to recognize Specialist Park\u2019s bravery and dedication by inducting him into the New York State Senate\u2019s Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hall of Fame was established to honor the extraordinary achievements of New York\u2019s veterans who have distinguished…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-246309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}