Sailor killed in Iraq awarded Medal of Honor

[NYVet]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-moh1apr01,1,6878936.story


Michael A. Monsoor, who grew up in Garden Grove, has been selected to receive the medal posthumously for his efforts to save fellow SEALs during a firefight in 2006.


By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 1, 2008
On the last day of his life, on a rooftop in Ramadi, Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor was assigned to protect three SEAL snipers. When an insurgent's grenade lobbed from the street bounced off Monsoor's chest, he didn't hesitate. He yelled "Grenade!" and pounced on it even though he had a clear path of escape.

He was dead within 30 minutes, but he had saved the lives of three SEALs.

On Monday, the White House announced that Monsoor, 25, who grew up in Garden Grove, has been selected to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for combat bravery, for his actions that violent day, Sept. 29, 2006.

It will be the third Medal of Honor bestowed for bravery in Iraq.

Monsoor's family and his fellow SEALs said Monday that even as they grieve over his death they are not surprised that he sought the safety of others before his own.

Sara Monsoor, a pediatric nurse at Children's Hospital of Orange County, said her brother never mentioned the dangers of his deployment in his e-mails and phone calls home. Still, the family knew he had been assigned to what was the most violent city in Anbar province, the home of the most hard-core elements in the Sunni Arab insurgency.

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Monsoor has also been awarded a Silver Star for rescuing a wounded SEAL during the same deployment. While under continuous fire, he dashed into a street to drag his comrade to safety. He never told his family about his heroism. They learned about it the month before his death, while attending another SEAL's funeral.

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The family talks about him constantly, his sister said: "We just try to carry on. We're all totally proud of him."

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Monsoor's duty was to protect three SEAL snipers, two of whom were 15 feet away. His position made him the only SEAL on the rooftop with quick access to an escape route.

But when the grenade hit him and fell onto the roof, he "chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life," according to a Navy report.

The two SEAL snipers nearest to Monsoor were injured in the blast. Monsoor was immediately evacuated for medical care, but it was too late.





NY Vet- No greater love has a man that he would lay down his life for his brother. Godspeed and farewell.