Lt. Michael P. Murphy, Navy SEAL to Get Posthumous Medal of Honor

Olive Drab

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Navy SEAL to Get Posthumous Medal of Honor

By FRANK ELTMAN – 4 hours ago
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) — A Navy SEAL who was killed while leading a reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan will receive the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor.
Lt. Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue on Long Island, is the first Medal of Honor recipient for combat in Afghanistan, the Navy said in a statement Thursday.
In late June 2005, Murphy led a four-man reconnaissance mission east of Asadabad trying to find a key Taliban leader in advance of a mission to capture or destroy the local militia leadership. Taliban sympathizers alerted fighters to the Navy SEALs' positions, and the four men were quickly outnumbered and came under fire, the Navy said.
Even after being wounded, Murphy crawled into the open to make a radio call for help and still continued to fight, the Navy said. The call ultimately allowed the rescue of one wounded Navy SEALs and the recoveries of the bodies of Murphy and two others killed in the firefight.
President Bush will present the Medal of Honor to Murphy's parents at the White House on Oct. 22.
"I think it is a public recognition of what we knew about Michael, of his intensity, his focus, his devout loyalty to home and family, his country and especially to his SEAL teammates and the Navy SEAL community," Murphy's father, Daniel Murphy told Newsday for a story published on its Web site.
The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force. Murphy is the fourth Navy SEAL to receive the medal and the first since Vietnam.
The other two Navy SEALs killed in the Afghan firefight, Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny P. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif., previously received the Navy Cross, the second-highest honor.
A U.S. helicopter that went to rescue the SEALs was shot down by enemy fire; 16 Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed in the crash.
The entire battle resulted in the worst single-day loss of life for Navy Special Warfare personnel since World War II.
Two Medals of Honor have been awarded posthumously in the Iraq war.
 
Outstanding!

I know that there are more men, and perhaps even some women, out there that are deserving of this award and would love to see some more awards. After close to 6 years of war on many fronts there has to have been more then the handful of actions that we know about that are deserving of at least a DSC if not the Medal Of Honor.
 
I am glad the Navy is going to recognise his actions, I am still saddenned that it will be a posthumus award, but thank god we have men like this to defend our freedoms.
 
I am glad the Navy is going to recognise his actions, I am still saddenned that it will be a posthumus award, but thank god we have men like this to defend our freedoms.

It is indeed sad, however I have seen several quotes from our esteemed members of Congress whereby they basically state they only believe in awarding this medal to those who have been killed in action. How true that is I am not sure but with the only awards since Vietnam having gone to men who died earning it, it seems to have some credence, sadly.
 
God Bless him and his family.

LT Murphy, Thank you for all you did for our nation, and for strangers like me.

Steve C
SGT, USA(Med Discharged)
2/327 INF
101st Airborne Division (AASLT)
Fort Campbell, KY
 
I have been following the news on Lt. Murphy since his funeral. I am so glad to see that he got recognized for his bravery and heroism. He deserves it. My thoughts and prayers out to the family and friends of Lt. Murphy, and to all those brave men who served with him.

God speed.
 
Outstanding!

I know that there are more men, and perhaps even some women, out there that are deserving of this award and would love to see some more awards. After close to 6 years of war on many fronts there has to have been more then the handful of actions that we know about that are deserving of at least a DSC if not the Medal Of Honor.

I cannot agree more.

There appears to be an aversion to recognizing the people who have participated in these actions for coming up on 6 years now. I have heard numerous accounts of bravery in battle that, for whatever reason, the brass decides don't merit the highest awards.

I wonder if there might not be some bias. The old guard of hard core Vietnam Vets who rose through the ranks are almost all retired now, and the majority of the senior ranking officers who make these decisions never experienced the level of combat that has been going on. That may play into it. They don't know how to recognize these men and women, and may be setting the bar too high (if such a thing is possible). One in particular is the Marine Sgt. Major, Kassel I believe his name is.

He was awarded the Navy Cross, and based on everything I've heard that man rates a MOH. He used his body as a shield on one of his men for almost 2 hours of a CQB inside that house.
 
Titus...I heard about the book just the other day, I'm sure it's going to be an outstanding read.

cb...there's a thread here about Luttrell's book. A must read.
 
Titus...I heard about the book just the other day, I'm sure it's going to be an outstanding read.

cb...there's a thread here about Luttrell's book. A must read.

Mine should be here Tuesday according to Amazon. I should have it done by Wednesday morning and I will let you know how it goes, without spoilers of course. That is one good thing about being retired, plenty of time to catch up on the reading.
 
Mine should be here Tuesday according to Amazon. I should have it done by Wednesday morning and I will let you know how it goes, without spoilers of course. That is one good thing about being retired, plenty of time to catch up on the reading.

Yeah, but you're with the kids...and home schooling. That's all good!
 
cb...there's a thread here about Luttrell's book. A must read.

I did the "look inside"...it looks good. I'll be ordering it next week....however, with grad school on it's final push, I'm not quite sure when I'll have time to read it until next summer. :(
 
Mine should be here Tuesday according to Amazon. I should have it done by Wednesday morning and I will let you know how it goes, without spoilers of course. That is one good thing about being retired, plenty of time to catch up on the reading.



Don't forget.......Boon gave us spoiler tags.....

so you can post stuff and it won't show unless they highlight it
 
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