Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Medal of Honor for a Navy Seal


President Bush awarded the 4th Medal of Honor of the war to Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor. The Flopping Aces blog posted an article on Michael and does a beautiful job following all of our heroes in action. You can see video of the White House ceremony here.

Michael Monsoor, a Navy Seal, sacrificed his life for his buddies on Sept 29th. Just like Marine Corps Sgt Rafael Peralta before him he jumped on a grenade to save the lives of the other Navy Seals in his snipers nest:

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.

“He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it,” said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. “He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs’ lives, and we owe him.”

Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.

[…]Prior to his death, Monsoor had already demonstrated courage under fire. He has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions May 9 in Ramadi, when he and another SEAL pulled a team member shot in the leg to safety while bullets pinged off the ground around them.


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