America's Finest
You've read about them and seen them in Hollywood movies - war heroes. One of Hollywood's actors, Audie Murphy, was an actual hero during the Second World War. Hollywood even made a movie about his life called "To Hell And Back".
The United States of America has a new war hero. His name is Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy Seal. Petty Officer Monsoor died In Iraq when he fell on a grenade that was thrown to take out his squad.
Go to this link to see a picture of this brave man.
I reprint the whole article here:
At the end of the book, Rear Adm. George Tarrant wonders aloud "Where do we get such men?" as he stares at his flight deck and the scores of men about to take off on a mission. It is a question worth pondering today:
Where indeed.
The United States of America has a new war hero. His name is Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy Seal. Petty Officer Monsoor died In Iraq when he fell on a grenade that was thrown to take out his squad.
Go to this link to see a picture of this brave man.
I reprint the whole article here:
America's finest
When I read this AP report about a Navy SEAL killed in action in Iraq, it reminded me of a passage towards the end of " The Bridges at Toko-Ri". The book is set during the Korean War; it chronicles the war fought by naval aviators attacking targets deep inside North Korea. But just as M*A*S*H was really about the horror of war, Toko-Ri is also about something much bigger — courage. It is the courage of men who feel fear, and yet they saddle up anyway, everyday, to do a job from which they might not come back.At the end of the book, Rear Adm. George Tarrant wonders aloud "Where do we get such men?" as he stares at his flight deck and the scores of men about to take off on a mission. It is a question worth pondering today:
|
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 down toward it," said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him." Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began. Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. The four had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area. In an interview at the SEALs' West Coast headquarters in Coronado, four members of the special force remembered "Mikey" as a loyal friend and a quiet, dedicated professional. |
Where indeed.
