Slain Patchogue [NY] sailor to get Medal of Honor

Newsday ^ | 10/11/07 | MARTIN C. EVANS

[SOLTC]

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush will grant the nation's highest military honor to Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL from Patchogue who was killed on a mountainside in Afghanistan as he tried to save his fellow warriors in June 2005, the White House announced Thursday.

[Slapshot68]

“Non sibi sed patriae” (Not self but country)

[2banana]

Murphy and three other SEALs were surrounded as they tracked a high-ranking Taliban chieftain, and died in a hail of bullets as they tried to elude dozens of pursuers. Murphy was shot when he crawled into the open in a desperate attempt to signal for help. Two others were killed in the incident; one survived.

There has to be more to the story...

[ccmay]

About time. I don't understand why the MoH and the VC should be so rarely awarded. I've got no military experience, so I guess it's not my place to grumble, but I have heard lots of stories from Iraq and Afghanistan that would merit the highest possible award if I were in charge of handing them out.

-ccm

[OregonRancher]

LONE SURVIVOR by Marcus Luttrell

an incredible read

[Scotsman will be Free]

You don’t want to cheapen the award by handing it out like popcorn.

[SOLTC]

For most of the story read “Lone Survivor” by Marcus Luttrell.

[mad_as_he$$]

"President George W. Bush will grant the nation's highest military honor to Lt. Michael P. Murphy."

Does the White House not know how the MOH is awarded or is this just more idiotic writing from the MSM?

[mad_as_he$$]

"President George W. Bush will grant the nation's highest military honor to Lt. Michael P. Murphy."

Does the White House not know how the MOH is awarded or is this just more idiotic writing from the MSM?

[Badeye]

‘About time. I don’t understand why the MoH and the VC should be so rarely awarded. I’ve got no military experience, so I guess it’s not my place to grumble, but I have heard lots of stories from Iraq and Afghanistan that would merit the highest possible award if I were in charge of handing them out. ‘

Some awards, like the Bronze Star have been rendered meaningless due to it being handed out ‘en masse’ to entire units.

I’m a vet, and I’m okay with how often they give out the CMOH.

[in hoc signo vinces]

There is...these guys stayed behind to buy their SEAL teamate time to run for help...

It’s a selfless act to help a fellow soldier worthy of the medal...plus...they didnt go down easy...DOD estimated that 50 plus enemy were killed by the SEALS during the fire fight that ultimately cost them their lives.

[in hoc signo vinces]

I should also have added...they knew he’d never bring help back in time, so they knew their fate when the LT ordered the SEAL to go...(I think the SEAL that was ordered to flee was the least wounded and had the greatest ability to survive.)

[DuncanWaring]

Harken back a few months to the memorial statue that was to be placed in a suburb of Denver; some knaves protested because the statue included an "eeeeevil gun that would scare the chirrun".

As I recall, the guy being memorialized by the statue was one of the other two SEALs killed in this incident.

[in hoc signo vinces]

Oh...maybe I am thinking about the wrong engagement.

[SevenMinusOne]

Great news. Expected, deserved, earned. USN SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy.

[STARWISE]

An exemplary hero, Medal of Honor ~~PING!

Rest in God's loving arms, in the joyful peace of His Heaven, brave warrior Lt. Michael Murphy. Your heroism and that of your fellow warriors will never be forgotten or be able to be repaid.

Video of His Wonderful Family

Operation Redwing ~~ June 2005

Excerpt:

"A fierce firefight erupted between the four SEALs and a much larger enemy force of more than 50 anti-coalition militia. The enemy had the SEALs outnumbered. They also had terrain advantage.

They launched a well-organized, three-sided attack on the SEALs. The firefight continued relentlessly as the overwhelming militia forced the team deeper into a ravine.

Trying to reach safety, the four men, now each wounded, began bounding down the mountain's steep sides, making leaps of 20 to 30 feet. Approximately 45 minutes into the fight, pinned down by overwhelming forces, Dietz, the communications petty officer, sought open air to place a distress call back to the base. But before he could, he was shot in the hand, the blast shattering his thumb.

Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates.

Murphy, intent on making contact with headquarters, but realizing this would be impossible in the extreme terrain where they were fighting, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life moved into the open, where he could gain a better position to transmit a call to get help for his men.

Moving away from the protective mountain rocks, he knowingly exposed himself to increased enemy gunfire. This deliberate and heroic act deprived him of cover and made him a target for the enemy.

While continuing to be fired upon, Murphy made contact with the SOF Quick Reaction Force at Bagram Air Base and requested assistance. He calmly provided his unit’s location and the size of the enemy force while requesting immediate support for his team.

At one point he was shot in the back causing him to drop the transmitter. Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in. Severely wounded, Lt. Murphy returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle.

An MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers aboard, was sent is as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs. The MH-47 was escorted by heavily-armored, Army attack helicopters.

Entering a hot combat zone, attack helicopters are used initially to neutralize the enemy and make it safer for the lightly-armored, personnel-transport helicopter to insert.

The heavy weight of the attack helicopters slowed the formation’s advance prompting the MH-47 to outrun their armored escort. They knew the tremendous risk going into an active enemy area in daylight, without their attack support, and without the cover of night. Risk would, of course, be minimized if they put the helicopter down in a safe zone.

But knowing that their warrior brothers were shot, surrounded and severely wounded, the rescue team opted to directly enter the oncoming battle in hopes of landing on brutally hazardous terrain.

As the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard.

~~~

This was such a devastating loss and sequence of events. Where do we get such men?

~~ They give all, so that others may live in freedom ~~

[cll]

Thank you, Lt. Murphy. Fair winds and following seas.

Send your sympathies to Lt. Murphy’s family here:

http://www.legacy.com/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=14469233

[occamrzr06]

Why would they call it the Congressional Medal of Honor (CMOH) if the White House awards it?

/s

[jveritas]

God bless our brave troops.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT