Hardball

Fallen SEAL to receive Medal of Honor

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 12, 2007 11:26:13 EDT

SAN DIEGO — Two years after his death in a harrowing firefight on an Afghanistan mountaintop, Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL officer from Long Island, N.Y., will be bestowed with the nation’s highest combat honor, the Medal of Honor, Navy officials said.

Lt. Ligia Cohen, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon, confirmed the award.

The announcement of the Medal of Honor — the first awarded to a Navy officer or sailor for combat actions in Iraq or Afghanistan — came Thursday during a White House briefing.

The medal will be presented to Murphy’s family during a 2:30 p.m. ceremony Oct. 22 at the White House, Cohen said. In addition, the late officer will be honored at two other events: the inclusion of his name on a wall at the Pentagon Hall of Heroes at 11 a.m. Oct. 23, and the presentation of the Medal of Honor flag at the Navy Memorial at 6 p.m. Oct. 23.

Murphy, 29, was leading a four-man observation team in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains when they were spotted by Taliban fighters on June 28, 2005. During the intense battle, Murphy and two of his men — Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz and Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson — were killed, and a fourth man, former Special Warfare Operator 1st Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell, was seriously wounded but managed to escape. Luttrell was rescued days later.

Murphy, known as “Mikey” to his friends and family, shot and wounded, managed to crawl onto a ridgeline and radio headquarters at the nearby air base for them to send in reinforcements. Taliban fighters were closing in on the team’s position, shooting their weapons and firing rocket-propelled grenades.

“Mikey was ignoring his wound and fighting like a SEAL officer should, uncompromising, steady, hard-eyed, and professional,” Luttrell wrote in his recently published book, Lone Survivor, about his military experiences, his team and the events of that day and the deaths of his teammates, his friends.

The fighting grew more intense, but the team pressed on in the close-quarters battle. At one point, Luttrell wrote, Murphy took his mobile phone, “walked to open ground. He walked until he was more or less in the center, gunfire all around him, and he sat on a small rock and began punching in the numbers to HQ.”

“I could hear him talking,” Luttrell wrote. “‘My men are taking heavy fire ... we’re getting picked apart. My guys are dying out here ... we need help.’

“And right then Mikey took a bullet straight in the back. I saw the blood spurt from his chest. He slumped forward, dropping his phone and his rifle. But then he braced himself, grabbed them both, sat upright again, and once more put the phone to his ear.

“‘Roger that, sir. Thank you,’” Luttrell heard Murphy say, before the lieutenant continued to train fire on the enemy fighters.

“Only I knew what Mikey had done. He’d understood we had only one realistic chance, and that was to call in help,” Luttrell wrote. “Knowing the risk, understanding the danger, in the full knowledge the phone call could cost him his life, Lieutenant Michael Patrick Murphy, son of Maureen, fiancé of the beautiful Heather, walked out into the firestorm.

“His objective was clear: to make one last valiant attempt to save his two teammates,” he wrote.

Not long after the call, Murphy was shot again, screaming for Luttrell to help him, but Luttrell, also hit and wounded, couldn’t reach him. “There was nothing I could do except die with him,” he wrote.

That day turned more tragic when enemy forces shot down a helicopter carrying members of a quick-reaction force sent to rescue Murphy and his team.

Murphy is survived by his parents, Daniel Murphy and Maureen Murphy, and his brother, John, along with his fiancé, Heather .

The Murphy family on Thursday issued a statement, provided by the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, Calif.

“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,” they said. “The honor is not just about Michael, it is about his teammates and those who lost their lives that same day.”

This will be the third Medal of Honor awarded for Iraq and Afghanistan actions.

__________________
The Way of the Warrior is Practice. Daily practice, accumulate practice minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day. {Book of 5 Rings} Mike Brewers 2008 Sit up challenge 30,000/100,000 running balance.(Crunches) Kicks 6,300/100,000

darrianation

A fine soldier and Teammate! It is a sad day for the Teams when one of their own is lost. This man (and all those soldiers over there) fights bravely and many times defiantly in the face of overwhelming odds and injuries.

Another story out of Afghanistan, a helicopter with a squad Seals was shot down and as they exited the wreckage they took intense fire. Several Seals were wounded exiting the helio some were shot multiple times. Despite their injuries they fought on bravely and aggressively. It was said they were up against as many as 50 fighters and they aggressively attacked the ambushing fighters taking the area and driving out the surviving badguys…some 30 badguys were killed in the fighting.

This was not the hill top op involving the Rangers. By the time the Rangers got to the hill top the Seals had already made their way down the mountain…this was a separate incident.

__________________
In hills, as well as in villages and cities, hazards and predators find those who walk backwards.- Ezekiel Sanchez

Mike Brewer

I knew a guy named Michael Patrick Murphy who went into the Navy out of Oklahoma. He would have been about the right age, because the guy I knew was four or five years behind me in school. Wonder if this guy was from Oklahoma?

Brave man, in any event. Leaders like him are unfortunately all too rare.

Ghost

what an amazing story, definately deserves the medal.

Hardball

you can check www.armytimes.com or www.navytimes.com and click on fallen heroes. It's a database of all the fatalities in afgan and iraq.

__________________
The Way of the Warrior is Practice. Daily practice, accumulate practice minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day. {Book of 5 Rings} Mike Brewers 2008 Sit up challenge 30,000/100,000 running balance.(Crunches) Kicks 6,300/100,000

Hardball

Did you check? Did you know this guy?

__________________
The Way of the Warrior is Practice. Daily practice, accumulate practice minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day. {Book of 5 Rings} Mike Brewers 2008 Sit up challenge 30,000/100,000 running balance.(Crunches) Kicks 6,300/100,000

Mike Brewer

No, I didn't check. Busy weekend and all...

bigred389

LT Murphy was out of New York.