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Petty Officer Second Class
Mike A. Monsoor
United States Navy Seal
Silver Star
Congressional Medal of Honor
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Sept. 29, 2006
PO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician and Navy SEAL, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq, giving his life to save his fellow Seals.
During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two's, with the coffin moving up the center.
As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.
The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it.
This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.
This should be front-page news instead of the crap we see everyday.
We should be damn proud of our military.
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US Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor awarded the Medal of Honor. April 8
2008
Summary of Action
Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor
For actions on Sept. 29, 2006
Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy, distinguished himself
through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and
beyond the call of duty as a Combat Advisor and Automatic Weapons Gunner for
Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula in support of Operation Iraqi
Freedom on 29 September 2006. He displayed great personal courage and
exceptional bravery while conducting operations in enemy held territory at Ar
Ramadi Iraq.
During Operation Kentucky Jumper, a combined Coalition battalion clearance and
isolation operation in southern Ar Ramadi, he served as automatic weapons gunner
in a combined SEAL and Iraqi Army (IA) sniper over watch element positioned on a
residential rooftop in a violent sector and historical stronghold for
insurgents. In the morning, his team observed four enemy fighters armed with
AK-47s reconnoitering from roads in the sector to conduct follow-on attacks.
SEAL snipers from his roof engaged two of them which resulted in one enemy
wounded in action and one enemy killed in action. A mutually supporting
SEAL / IA
position also killed an enemy fighter during the morning hours. After the
engagements, the local populace blocked off the roads in the area with rocks to
keep civilians away and to warn insurgents of the presence of his Coalition
sniper element. Additionally, a nearby mosque called insurgents to arms to fight
Coalition Forces.
In the early afternoon, enemy fighters attacked his position with automatic
weapons fire from a moving vehicle. The SEALs fired back and stood their ground.
Shortly thereafter, an enemy fighter shot a rocket-propelled grenade at his
building. Though well-acquainted with enemy tactics in Ar Ramadi, and keenly
aware that the enemy would continue to attack, the SEALs remained on the
battlefield in order to carry out the mission of guarding the western flank of
the main effort.
Due to expected enemy action, the officer in charge repositioned him with his
automatic heavy machine gun in the direction of the enemy's most likely
avenue of approach. He placed him in a small, confined sniper hide-sight between
two SEAL snipers on an outcropping of the roof, which allowed the three SEALs
maximum coverage of the area. He was located closest to the egress route out of
the sniper hide-sight watching for enemy activity through a tactical periscope
over the parapet wall. While vigilantly watching for enemy activity, an enemy
fighter hurled a hand grenade onto the roof from an unseen location. The grenade
hit him in the chest and bounced onto the deck. He immediately leapt to his feet
and yelled "grenade" to alert his teammates of impending danger,
but they could not evacuate the sniper hide-sight in time to escape harm.
Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself onto
the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close
proximity. The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding
him.
Petty Officer Monsoor's actions could not have been more selfless or
clearly intentional. Of the three SEALs on that rooftop corner, he had the only
avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have
easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice
of his own life. By his courageous and selfless actions, he saved the lives of
his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition
afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor.
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Pictures of Monsoor ceremony receiving Medal of Honor
WASHINGTON -
Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor had fast thinking to do when a live grenade came
out of nowhere to bounce off his chest: Take the clear path to safety that he
had but his comrades didn't, try to toss it safely away, or throw himself on top
of it.
With barely an instant's hesitation on that Iraqi rooftop, Monsoor took the last
course, sacrificing his life to save the men around him. For that,
President Bush on Tuesday 8 Apr 2008 awarded him the Medal of Honor.
In an East Room ceremony, Bush presented the nation's highest military honor to
Monsoor's still-grieving parents, Sally and George Monsoor. About 250
guests, including his sister and two brothers, fellow SEALs, other Medal
winners, many friends and GOP Sen. John McCain and other members of Congress,
looked on quietly.
"The Medal of Honor is awarded for an act of such courage that no one could
rightly be expected to undertake it," Bush said. "Yet those who knew
Michael Monsoor were not surprised when he did."
Bush has awarded the medals to 10 people during his presidency. Monsoor is
only the third from the Iraq war, and Bush's lip trembled and tears streamed
down his cheeks as the official citation was read with the details of his
bravery.
The emotional proceedings at the White House came as the top U.S. general and
diplomat in Iraq opened two days of testimony across town on Capitol Hill on the
status of the war, which has killed more than 4,020 U.S. military personnel.
Gen. David Petraeus said security in Iraq is still too fragile to allow
announcements of troop levels going below 140,000 before September. Bush
is giving a speech on Thursday to announce whether he accepts Petraeus
recommendation to suspend troop withdrawals for 45 days after the current round
completes in July. He is expected to do so.
In brief remarks, Bush told the story of Monsoor's service-oriented upbringing
and determined youth.
Monsoor became a Navy SEAL, the military's most elite fighting force, in 2004.
"His teammates liked to laugh about the way his shiny Corvette would leave
everybody in the dust," Bush said. "But deep down, they always knew
Mike would never leave anybody behind when it counted."
By spring 2006, Monsoor was deployed to Ramadi in Iraq's dangerous,
then-al-Qaida dominated Anbar Province, as an automatic weapons gunner and
communications operator a double assignment that often landed him more than 100
pounds of gear to carry in the hot desert.
In May, Monsoor ran through heavy enemy fire to pull a wounded SEAL to
safety. He earned a Silver Star, the third-highest award for combat valor,
for that action.
It was only four months later, on Sept. 29, 2006, that Monsoor and his two
American teammates, plus members of the Iraqi Army, were on a rooftop in a
Ramadi residential area known as a stronghold for the Sunni insurgency.
They were providing early warning and sniper cover for a mission aimed at trying
to clear the neighborhood.
After a long day of back-and-forth engagement and evidence that the enemy was
closing them off, Monsoor and the two other SEALS moved to a confined
outcropping of the roof for a better lookout position. An unseen insurgent
lobbed a grenade, which hit Monsoor in the chest and landed on the floor in
front of him. He yelled a warning, but quickly saw that his fellow SEALS,
not positioned near the exit like he was, wouldn't be able to get clear in
time. Monsoor fell onto the grenade just as it exploded, absorbing the
blast with his body and dying from the injuries about 30 minutes later.
Others suffered shrapnel wounds, but no one else was killed.
The Garden Grove, Calif., native, was only 25 years old.
"Mr. and Mrs. Monsoor: America owes you a debt that can never be
repaid," Bush said. "This nation will always cherish the memory of
your son."
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