Special K

president bush just awarded our nations HIGEST HONOR posthumously to a navy seal who saved his comrades by smothering a grenade with his body.

did you notice all the news coverage of this very important event??

news papers & network television national news?

is it just me who missed it?

Pt.Jude Joe

Here's an article on it.


Navy SEAL from SoCal to be posthumously awarded Medal of Honor

By CHELSEA J. CARTER,
AP
Posted: 2008-03-31 19:06:51
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The family of an elite Navy SEAL who threw himself on top of a grenade in Iraq to save his comrades say they will celebrate his life as he lived it - without regret - when they accept the nation's highest military tribute in his honor.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bush during an April 8 ceremony at the White House, a presidential press secretary announced Monday. He is the fourth person to receive the honor since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

"He loved what he did. He had no regrets in anything he did. He always knew what he was getting into," Monsoor's sister, Sara, told The Associated Press by telephone shortly after the announcement.

"We're very thankful and honored that he is even being acknowledged. We really look at all of this as a celebration of Mike."

Monsoor, from Garden Grove, Calif., was 25.

Monsoor was part of a sniper security team in Ramadi on Sept. 29, 2006, with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi soldiers, according to a Navy account. An insurgent fighter threw the grenade, which struck Monsoor in the chest before falling in front of him. Monsoor then threw himself on the grenade, according to a SEAL who spoke to The Associated Press in 2006 on condition of anonymity because his work requires his identity 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 suffered shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."

Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 feet 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.

Lt. Cmdr. Seth Stone, who was with Monsoor the day he died, said the SEAL could have easily saved his life by ducking around the corner of the roof. But it likely would have meant the death of the two SEALS near him.

"Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on Sept. 29, 2006," presidential press secretary Dana Perino told reporters during a briefing aboard Air Force One. The announcement came as President Bush was on his way to the Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Russia in a trip built around the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.

Monsoor's sister said that although the family was aware of the type of work he did, they did not know the specifics. After his death, though, she said people shared stories about his life as a SEAL. She said they were different stories but they all had the same ending - how her brother helped people.

"When Mike deployed, we all knew that if something like this were to happened there would be no doubt in his mind that he would do something like this," she said. "We all had a sick feeling in our stomach. ... We weren't surprised."

She said the family was still coping his death.

"We still talk about Mike. We miss him and we love him. There's not really anything we can do right now other than remember him. We just kind of carry on," she said.

Monsoor, a platoon machine gunner, had received the Silver Star, the third-highest award for combat valor, for his actions pulling a wounded SEAL to safety during a May 9, 2006, firefight in Ramadi. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his sacrifice in Ramadi.

Sixteen SEALs have been killed in Afghanistan. Eleven of them died in June 2005 when a helicopter was shot down near the Pakistan border while ferrying reinforcements for troops pursuing al-Qaida militants.

There are about 2,300 of the elite fighters, based in Coronado and Little Creek, Va.

The Navy is trying to boost that number by 500 - a challenge considering more than 75 percent of candidates drop out of training, notorious for "Hell Week," a five-day stint of continual drills by the ocean broken by only four hours sleep total. Monsoor made it through training on his second attempt.

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www.pointjudelures.com

demonfish

And another family loses a member. Another soldier that shoudnt have died. Bush,Cheney and their millionaire cronies should have to compensate these families with money fo the rest of their lives. The country goes a trillion dollars a year in debt, hundreds of soldiers die in vain , gas goes to four dollars a gallon and Bush gets richer and richer. Its time to take it to the streets in this country.

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finsup21

The story was covered in Long Island's Newsday. They do a pretty good job of covering the war, dedicating at least a page a day to the events in Iraq.

How can a guy who calls himself a fisherman be so greedy, arrogant and irresponsible with the lives of others. If he was truly committed his daughters and Darth Cheney's grandchildren would be over there too, humping gear and "freeing" Iraq.

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"How I wish tomorrow I was fishin'"

Special K

demon must have been plugmeister in a previous life!

biggradyholt

From 1993 to 2003 there were no less than five terrorist attacks (read al qaeda) on U.S. personnel and civilians throughout the world, two within our own borders; Kobar Towers, Tanzania, USS Cole and WTC twice. Not to mention that snafu in Somalia.....Now I don't know what you would pay annually to prevent attacks on this country, but I'm guessing a trillion a year is too much. Don't take this as an endorsement of the war or our president for that matter. The war was prosecuted in such a way as to win a second term....that is unforgiveable. The president, in my humble opinion, has accomplished little while trying to play nice with those in Congress who would put a knife in his back for political gain. The notion that "Bush and his cronies" are getting richer off the war is silly liberal nonsense and part of the reason Democrats can't elect a president. No one takes you seriously.
As far as any soldier dying in vain....just because you say it doesn't make it so. Furthermore I resent any opportunity taken to besmirch our men and women in uniform....perhaps you should spend some time with them and try and broaden your perspective and see what they think about progress being made etc., rather than condemning there efforts. There is a reason they call it the "Medal Honor," to suggest otherwise is in poor taste.

Regards,
Bob

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It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission!

Possum

Typical of the news agencies. They cover only what the mass media sheep want to see and hear, and since this is "unpopular" and out of vogue, it goes by the wayside. Scumbags, the lot of them (the media).

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Dickson

Here are some things to think about:

www.costoffreedomtribute08.org/WeThankU.PPS

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"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."

Henry David Thoreau

old mud

RIP Po 2 Michal Monsoor

Such a dam shame !

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"I was so poor growing up that if I wasn't a BOY I'd have had nothing to play with"
Piker Ancient Mariner