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Photos at link. With slick sides and sharp angles, the Michael Monsoor and its sister ship Zumwalt cut a distinct silhouette along the waters of San Diego. Unlike a nearby aircraft carrier whose radar juts into the air, the Monsoor’s composite material deckhouse is polygonal and covered with material that can absorb radar waves and increase the destroyer’s stealthiness. Its “tumblehome” hull looks like something you’d see on a ship built before World War I. Make no mistake, the Monsoor guided-missile destroyer — named after Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor, who grew up in Garden Grove and died in 2006...

BATH, Maine (AP) — The mother of a fallen Navy SEAL christened the second Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer Saturday in honor of her son, who died in Iraq when he threw himself on an insurgent's grenade to save the lives of two fellow SEALS. The 610-foot, 15,000-ton ship, built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works for the U.S. Navy, was named for Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor. The 25-year-old California native died in 2006 and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. "May God bless this ship, and all who sail within her," said Sally Monsoor before smashing a...

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2008 – President Bush today posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy SEAL whose mortal sacrifice in Iraq saved the lives of two fellow SEALs and several Iraqi soldiers. Video President George W. Bush weeps Tuesday, April 8, 2008 during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House before presenting the Medal of Honor to George and Sally Monsoor for the actions of their son Petty Officer 2nd Class, Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy SEAL, during combat in Iraq. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer...

On Dec. 4, 2009, the radical Hollywood left is poised to release its latest tribute to the men and women of the armed services, entitled "Brothers." The film stars Tobey Maguire as a military man serving in Afghanistan. When he is presumed killed in action, his wife, played by Natalie Portman, has an affair with his brother, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Naturally, Maguire shows up at home with a tremendous case of post-traumatic disorder -- which, if we are to judge from the trailer, causes him to fire weapons at random and physically abuse his wife. "Brothers" follows hot on...

Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter has announced that the newest Zumwalt class destroyer will be named the Michael Monsoor for a SEAL who died in Iraq when he threw himself on a grenade to save two teammates. Winter made the announcement last night at a Navy SEAL Warrior Fund benefit gala in New York City, according to a Department of Defense news release. Monsoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor earlier this year for his actions in Ramadi, Iraq in September 2006. “Michael Monsoor’s name will now be linked with one of our nation’s most visible examples of military...

A Navy SEAL who sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade will be posthumously awarded the nation's highest military honor. The family of Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor will receive the Medal of Honor on his behalf during a White House ceremony, according to a Marine Corps Times report Monday. The report, which cited an anonymous Department of Defense official, said it was not clear when the medal would be presented. Monsoor was part of a sniper security team on Sept. 29, 2006, in Ramadi with three other SEALs and...

SAN DIEGO — To his Navy SEAL buddies, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor will always be known as "Mikey," a fun-loving 25-year-old guy who had "a little mischievous look on his face." It's a face they'll never forget. On Sept. 29, 2006, while on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, Monsoor and other members of a Navy SEAL sniper team were within a moment of death. An insurgent had tossed a grenade into their hideout, hitting Monsoor in the chest before bouncing to the floor. In an instant, Monsoor was on the grenade, using his body to shield his...

Michael A. Monsoor, a Garden Grove High School graduate, has been selected to receive the prestigious Medal of Honor posthumously for his exceptional courage during a firefight in Iraq when he threw himself on a live grenade to save the lives of his teammates. ... "Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself on to the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity," an incident report posted on the Navy SEAL Web site reads. "The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him."

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...

President Bush has presented America's highest military award to the parents of a Navy special operations sailor killed in Iraq two years ago. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story. In September of that year, Monsoor and three SEAL snipers took up a rooftop position during a firefight with insurgents. The Defense Department says a grenade thrown from the street below hit Monsoor in the chest and dropped to the roof. The 25-year-old gunner covered the grenade with his body - saving the lives of his comrades, but suffering wounds that took his life 30 minutes later. President...

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2008 – Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy SEAL who posthumously received the Medal of Honor yesterday for his heroic actions in Iraq, joined a rarefied fraternity of military heroes at the Pentagon today. In September 2006, Monsoor leaped onto a grenade and used his body to absorb a blast that likely would have killed two fellow SEALs and several Iraqi soldiers. For his heroism, the Defense Department today enshrined Monsoor’s name alongside the 3,446 other Medal of Honor recipients honored in its Hall of Heroes. “To stand in this room, surrounded by...

THE story of a US soldier who sacrificed his life for his comrades has moved US President George W. Bush to tears. When a grenade bounced off his chest and fell to the floor near his fellow troops, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor acted out of instinct. His actions didn't stem from a lack of training. His instant reaction was to protect his comrades. PO Monsoor was one of the US military's most highly trained combatants, a navy SEAL. The navy said he committed a selfless act by jumping on the grenade and taking the full force of the...

Petraeus, Crocker and Mike Monsoorby Roger D. Carstens Posted 04/11/2008 ET This week I had the opportunity to attend two very important events: General David H. Petraeus’ testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Medal of Honor Ceremony for Navy SEAL MA2 Michael Monsoor.  While both events were markedly different, I came away with the same thought: that honor lies not in leaving one’s comrades behind, but rather in staying to do the hard job in the face of great sacrifice. The two events had one fundamental difference. The Congressional hearing was politics, not substance.  Precisely the opposite...

Five years ago this week, American soldiers and Marines liberated Baghdad from Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guards and the foreign "fedayeen" who had flooded into the despot’s capital. For those of us who were there, it was an unforgettable event. But, as Ambassador Ryan Crocker so cogently noted this week while he and General David Petraeus were testifying before Congress, "the euphoria of that moment evaporated long ago." The assembled lawmakers, perched on their raised daises, barely noted the anniversary, while subjecting the warrior and the diplomat to a 16-hour-long spectacle. For the general and the ambassador, it had to be...

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, and welcome. The Medal of Honor is America's highest decoration for military valor. Over the years, many who have received the medal have given their lives in the action that earned it. The name of Petty Officer Michael Anthony Monsoor will now be among them. In September 2006, Michael laid down his life for his brothers in arms. Today, we remember the life of this faithful Navy SEAL. And on behalf of a grateful nation, we will present Michael Monsoor's family with the Medal of Honor that he earned. I welcome the Vice President. Secretary of...

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...