Medal of Honor awarded one year ago

April 2008, MA2 Michael A. Monsoor, USN was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor



On 29 September 2006, 25-year old Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor (MA2) was killed during operations in enemy-held territory at Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when he threw himself on top of a grenade in order to save the lives of his fellow SEALs. As described in the final two paragraphs of a Summary of Action (SOA) regarding the circumstances of his death:

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 is 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 action could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional. Of the three SEALSs 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 action, he save the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor.

On 8 April 2008, Michael Monsoor (who had already been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions in a 9 May 2006 incident, when he and another SEAL pulled a wounded team member to safety amidst gunfire) was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His funeral, attended (in the words of President Bush) by “nearly every SEAL on the West Coast,” was held on 12 October 2006 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. As shown at the end of the tribute video (above), during Monsoor’s funeral service, as the casket was taken from the hearse to the gravesite, fellow SEALs lined up in two columns to slap and embed the gold Tridents (a pin awarded for successful completion of Seal Qualification Training) from their uniforms onto the top of Monsoor’s coffin. As President George W. Bush said of the event during the Medal of Honor ceremony, “The procession went on nearly half an hour, and when it was over, the simple wooden coffin had become a gold-plated memorial to a hero who will never be forgotten.”

Michael A. Monsoor, Navy SEAL
Rest in peace young warrior

Trident

For lack of a photograph of the Trident studded casket of Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, the studded casket shown is that of another fallen SEAL, Petty Officer James E. Suh.

Sources: U.S. Navy/MOH
Snopes
Full White House Video of Medal of Honor Ceremony
(H/t: Linda Weimer)