Bush Gives Medal of Honor to Slain Navy SEAL Member
 

Bush Gives Medal of Honor to Slain Navy SEAL Member
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Tuesday awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to a member of the Navy SEALs who threw himself on a grenade in 2006 to save his comrades in Iraq.
The president presented the award, the nation’s highest military honor, to the parents of the Petty Officer Second Class Michael A. Monsoor, 25, in a ceremony at the White House.
“The Medal of Honor is awarded for an act of such courage that no one could rightly be expected to undertake it,” Mr. Bush said, adding that those who knew Petty Officer Monsoor were not surprised he had made the sacrifice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/wa...rssnyt&emc=rss
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24017137/

Years ago, during a parade for troops returning from the first gulf war I saw what must have been a rather rare gathering.
Near the end of the parade(?) were a group of men of different ages, some walking some on a truck. Before I could even try to read the sign on the truck, I saw "The Medal" around one of the men's necks.
Not too many receive "The Medal". Even fewer are the ones alive to march with it. The shameful thing was I had to tell the people around me just what they were seeing-grown adults with kids included.
If anyone here is interest in some history, here are some links I saved awhile ago for a old newsgroup:
www.mohm.org National MoH Museum.
http://homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/1st_floor/wall/2living.html
http://www.cmohs.org/Congressional Medal of Honor Society

Story of the finest bravery.

A soldier my uncle served with in Vietnam received the Medal for the same sacrifice. He (my uncle) suspects that his action spared him at least significant injury.

As soon as I'm done with my current books I'll be moving on to "Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell, about Operation Redwing and the 3 men killed from SEAL Team 10. My friends who've read it say it is absolutely awe-inspiring. One of the SEALs killed, Michael Murphy, also received the MOH.

For military type books, one shot one kill is a really cool collection of stories.