I’ve written multiple posts on the heroism of these Navy Seal’s (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8) and now one of these brave men is being honored with the Congressional Medal of Honor:
The White House announced Oct. 11 that the family of U.S. Navy SEAL, Lt. Michael P. Murphy will be presented the U.S. Navy Medal of Honor, awarded posthumously, during a ceremony at the White House Oct. 22.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force which can
be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States.
Murphy’s father, Daniel, will accept the award on behalf of his son. Murphy will receive the award for his extraordinary, selfless heroism and steadfast courage while leading a four-man, special reconnaissance mission deep behind enemy lines east of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan June 27 to 28, 2005.
“We are thrilled by the President’s announcement today, especially because there is now a public recognition of what we knew all along about Michael’s loyalty, devotion and sacrifice to his friends, family, country, and especially his SEAL teammates,” the Murphy family said in a statement. “The honor is not just about Michael, it is about his teammates and those who lost their lives that same day.”
Murphy was the officer-in-charge of the SEAL element, which was tasked with locating a high- level Taliban militia leader to provide intelligence for a follow-on mission to capture or destroy the local leadership and disrupt enemy activity. However local Taliban sympathizers discovered the SEAL unit and immediately revealed their position to Taliban fighters. The element was besieged on a mountaintop by scores of enemy fighters. The firefight that ensued pushed the element farther into enemy territory and left all four SEALs wounded.
The SEALs fought the enemy fearlessly despite being at a tactical disadvantage and outnumbered more than four to one. Understanding the gravity of the situation and his responsibility to his men, Murphy, already wounded, deliberately and unhesitatingly moved from cover into the open where he took and returned fire while transmitting a call for help for his beleaguered teammates. Shot through the back while radioing for help, Murphy completed his transmission while returning fire. The call ultimately led to the rescue of one severely wounded team member, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell, and the recovery of the remains of Murphy and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz and Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson.
Eight more SEALs and eight Army “Nightstalker” special operations personnel comprising the initial reinforcement also lost their lives when their helicopter was shot down before they could engage the enemy. The entire battle, the culmination of Operation Redwing, resulted in the worst single day loss of life for Naval Special Warfare personnel since World War II.
The sole surviving SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, wrote a book about the battle after he departed the Navy this summer. In his book Luttrell credited all three of his teammates for their heroism, including Murphy’s sacrificial act that eventually led to his rescue.
Murphy will be inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon during a ceremony scheduled Oct. 23. His name will be engraved beside the names of some 3,400 other service members who have also been awarded the nation’s highest honor.
Awarded by the President in the name of Congress, the Medal of Honor was created in 1861 as personal award of valor for members of the Navy. Soon thereafter another version was created for the Army and ultimately the Medal of Honor was presented to more than 1,500 Civil War veterans. Later the Air Force created its own unique Medal of Honor design. Marines and Coast Guardsmen are awarded the Navy’s version of the Medal of Honor.
Part 8 above describes sections of Marcus Luttrell’s book which tell of this amazing story, a story of courage and sacrifice for this great country.
See author page
May God keep him in his arms Amen
God bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and ALL who Fight with her give them Strength, Wisdom, Sight, and Courage to Destroy All Islamic terrorist and ALL who support them Amen
when our armed forces go after Israel for attacking us on 911 they will then be honorable, not until. My own daughter has returned from iraq and now I know what happened, we were attacked, robbed and decieved all at once. We don’t build the kind of building that can be knocked down by an airplane. No one is asking what happened to the tonnes of gold that went missing from under the comex exchange, and Israel is building a “temple” out of solid gold,,, hmmmm , gee where do you think they got it?
Who created “islamofacists” for what porpose? we are being used like a rube.
If you want to read an incredible book, I read it in one sitting, pick up Luttrell’s account of SEAL training and the fight in Afghanistan.
These are amazing men. I had the pleasure of going to Walter Reed last week when I visited my daughter in Maryland. Real men were there. God bless them.
God bless Lt. Michael P. Murphy for his heroism, and God deliver Don Brown from his conspiracy affliction.
God Bless Mike Murphy, Danny Dietz, Matt Axelson and Marcus Luttrell.
Lt. Murphy gave the last full measure of devotion to his men and his country. He paid for the MOH with his life.
Hopefully his fellow countrymen are worthy of his sacrifice.
Semper Fidelis, Mike.
God Bless them all.
Lt. Murphy deserved the Metal of Honor for dying tying to save his men, but I find the story of these men compelling beyond that brave act. Lt. Murphy and his men died because they were accidentally discovered by shepherds and they let them go, fully knowing, according to the one survivor, that they were placing themselves in jeopardy.
If the toughest warriors in our military had just killed the shepherds, they and the members of the rescue team would probably be alive today and no one would have known; but no, as Americans and honorable members of our military, they wouldn’t do that. As a result of their humanity and bravery, something that the military receives little credit for from the anti-war Left, the shepherds are alive and 19 SOF died.
May they all rest in peace and in good conscience for doing what was as morally right regardless of the consequences.
The shepherds who called in the taliban to kill our brave men were themselves, the enemy. They should have been killed since they were not innocent. They killed our brave men even though they may not have fired the weapons. For our government to tell our troops that they will be sent to prison if they kill these people who are as much an enemy as the ones with weapons is a disgrace. Those shepherds should have died not our brave men. We should not force our troops to fight a politically correct war and our troops should REFUSE to do so.
Gail G.
God bless Mikey and all like him, those who don’t wank or whine, but just carry on with our Nation’s business!!
God bless George Bush for doing the right thing and staying the course, difficult though it be.
God help our elected officials who can’t get past politics when we have forces in harm’s way (yes, Hilary, I mean you!!).
n.b. the correct name of the medal is the “Medal of Honor” – it was established by Congress, but is not awarded by Congress. please amend your post.
I would like to say the book that Marcus Luttrell (the survivor) wrote is absolutely amazing. I just finished it tonight.
I will make you laugh, CRY, and f***ing hate the god****ed liberals for making bull**** R.O.E [rules of engangement]. It will make you see the idiocy of fighting a politically correct war.
But MUCH more than that, it tells you this story, and how damned brave these guys were. Hooyah SEAL Team 10….
Correction: “It will make you laugh……”
No disrespect toward Lt Murphy and his family, and fellow SEALS. but I find it very difficult ot understand how someone is awarded the MOH in light of the fact that his poor judgement and bad decision as the team leader put him and his men at risk . . and which resulted in the deaths of not only himself, two of his team members, and the 16 other SEALS who were sent into rescue him . . . . if one follows Michael Smericonish’s perspective in his book, “MUZZLED,” some one needs to ask this question publicly . . . awarding him the MOH is inappropriate since his questional actions a the Team Leader resulted in all these deaths . . . . I do not see how his actions vice those who came to rescue him come close to rising to occasion of the MOH . . . I am convinced that the Navy and the White House haved used this situation for political gains, and have tarnished the MOH be presenting it a soldier who actions did not really warrent it.
We disagree Joe.
These seals were forced to make a difficult choice.
Were the three individuals who stumbled upon them friend or foe? They had no way to know for sure. They could kill them, thus violating the ROE if they were wrong. Or they could let them go and take a chance on having their cover blown.
If the goat herders had ended up being civilians, or if the enemy propaganda machine could spin it successfully, then the SEAL team would have been vilified like the Haditha Marines and would have ended up facing a court martial.
The four of them took a vote to decide what to do.
A very difficult decision indeed but hardly one of “poor judgment.”
Having researched the other things that Smerconish has said and written about Murphy and the Medal of Honor, I have a hard time believing that he has raised the doubts that you say he has.
I do not have his book “Muzzled” in my library so I cannot search that source directly. Please provide the quotes that you used to arrive at your conclusion.
first lt murphy didnt one mistake he made about 3 or 4. he didnt handle the sheep herders right. that has been discussed. why when they found didnt they get to high ground as fast as possible. the team went back into the woods. first off the taliban if they followed would be caught in the open. 2nd when the team was in the woods and if they made radio contact how would the helicopters be able to rescue them? no place to land and a sitting duck if they used ropes. 3rd if they made radio contact how would an airstrike of helped. dont you have to have some idea where to shoot. if the taliban were in the open you have a clear target. in my opinion these were the major mistakes made by lt murphy.