SEAL Gave His Life In Iraq
by admin on Sep.23, 2009, under Combat, Rescues
March 2008
SAN DIEGO — A California-based SEAL who threw his body on a grenade to save his comrades in Iraq will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor, a Defense Department official has confirmed.
Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor, of Garden Grove, Calif., was holed up on the roof of a Ramadi house with three other SEALs on Sept. 29, 2006, when an insurgent grenade landed nearby.
Monsoor, a 25-year old with SEAL Team 3, grabbed the grenade and clutched it to his chest. The blast killed him, but his actions, officials said at the time, saved the men on the rooftop.
Monsoor will be the second member of the Navy to receive the Medal of Honor since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, and the first sailor to receive it for combat in Iraq.
Michael Fumento, who’s written about Monsoor and combat operations in Ramadi, reported on his Internet blog over the weekend that Monsoor’s family would receive the posthumous award on the fallen SEAL’s behalf during a White House ceremony April 8. (source)
I can’t imagine what must go through a person’s head when they make such a life-shattering decision. What would it be like to know that your comrades’ lives are in your hands, and only you can save them – but at the expense of your own life? And to know, in those last few seconds as you hug that live explosive, that soon you will be discovering that last great mystery? For a person to make such a choice is truly the bravest and most selfless act a human being can perform.
Michael Monsoor gave no less than his greatest gift. Until that moment, he had lived helping his comrades. Monsoor had received the Silver Star in 2006 for risking his life to save a fellow SEAL who was injured during a firefight in Ramadi.
