Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Today is all about...

Petty Office
r Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor














...who will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony at the White House April 8, 2008. He will receive the award for his actions in Ar Ramadi, Iraq on Sept. 29, 2006. On that day, Monsoor was part of a sniper overwatch security position with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi Army (IA) soldiers. An insurgent closed in and threw a fragmentation grenade into the overwatch position. The grenade hit Monsoor in the chest before falling to the ground. Positioned next to the single exit, Monsoor was the only one who could have escaped harm. Instead, he dropped onto the grenade to shield the others from the blast. Monsoor died approximately 30 minutes later from wounds sustained from the blast. Because of Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions, he saved the lives of his 3 teammates and the IA soldiers. Monsoor also received the Silver Star for his actions during the same deployment in May 2006, when he exposed himself to heavy enemy fire to rescue and treat an injured teammate.



His tribute site here .

Blackfive
was on the case when it happened -- "People you should know"



Footnote: WATCH
THIS SPACE: LOST
AND FOUND -- SADDAM'S WMD?

[Previously covered by Kenneth Timmerman
here.]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A beautiful photo of the Army MoH. This isn't the greatest image of the Navy Medal, but it's the one I can get this AM:
https://ucstcdom02.ahf.nmci.navy.mil/awards%5CwebDoc01.nsf/(vwDocsByID)/TO060927145522/$file/moh.jpg

Winefred said...

I stand monumentally corrected. Good thing there's no D.I. to make me crab-walk out the door and down to the beach for push-ups.

Thanks.