Throughout his four years of service, he rose in ranks to become an officer in the U.S. army before being killed by a car bomb June 8, 2004, saving the lives of his fellow soldiers.[16] Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s temporary immigration ban based on a list of terror linked countries (created under the Obama administration) brought Khan's parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, into the public spotlight as they addressed Trump at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. Speaking out to defend their son, and others who died in the American military, created an "unexpected and potentially pivotal flash point in the general election" [2]