Lt. Michael Murphy to receive the MOH
- Posted by Sparta on October 13th, 2007 filed in Afghanistan, General, Journalism, Sparta, Support the Troops, The War
Tags: Lt. Michael Murphy, MOH, medal of honor, navy seals, military
God bless the souls of Lt. Murphy and his grieving family.
Navy Seal Lt. Michael Murphy, a son of New York who gave his life on an Afghan mountaintop to save his men, will receive the Medal of Honor, President Bush announced Thursday.
Murphy is the first recipient of the nation’s highest military honor from the war in Afghanistan.
…
According to a Navy citation, Murphy and three SEALs were 10,000 feet up in the Hindu Kush searching for Ahmad Shah, aka Muhammad Ismail, leader of the Mountain Tigers guerrilla group allied with the Taliban.
The reconnaissance team encountered two goatherds, and the mission was compromised. A fierce firefight ensued with more than 50 insurgents.
Shot in the gut, Murphy dashed out on a ledge to get a clear signal to call for help. While continuing to be fired upon, Murphy provided his location and the size of the enemy force. At one point, he was shot in the back, but he completed the call and continued firing at the enemy.
By the end of the two-hour battle, Murphy and two of his comrades were dead, along with an estimated 35 Taliban, but the fourth member of Murphy’s team survived. Daniel Murphy said the Navy told the family in August that his son would be awarded the medal.
“We’ve been holding it in for a long time … we wanted to scream it out,” Daniel Murphy said.
President Bush will present the medal to the family on Oct. 22 at the White House.
Go read the whole thing, and definitely see the NY Daily News’ multi-part profile of Lt. Michael Murphy, also linked at the article.
October 13, 2007 — Every major daily paper in New York took note of President Bush’s deci sion to bestow the first Medal of Honor of Operation Enduring Freedom on Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy - a Long Islander who gave his life for his country and his fellow SEALs.
Every paper but one, that is.
And it shouldn’t be particularly hard to guess which one.
UPDATE: More about Lt. Murphy at Blackfive.
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