This is Navy Seal Michael Murphy, one of two Medal of Honor recipients from the war in Afghanistan. He was killed on June 28, 2005. When his four member Seal team was surrounded by thirty to forty Taliban, Murphy encouraged his team to fight on. When his unit's communicator was killed, Murphy tried to radio for help. Murphy realized that using a radio in the steep terrain they were in was impossible, so, even though he knew this would expose him to direct gunfire, he fought his way into open terrain in order to transmit the call. He succeeded in making the call, then was killed.
In the picture above he looks like a young Zeus. Unfortunately, unlike Zeus, he wasn't immortal.
You probably haven't heard of him. (Neither had I, until recently.) This is mostly because the media prefers to immortalize the likes of Brangelina and Tupac.
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3 comments:
It's easy to forget about the challenges and dangers our military men and women face every day so we can enjoy freedom. Your last three posts have been a reminder of the incredible bravery and patriotism of the soldiers you mentioned and so many others like them. You're right - the news should be full of stories like these.
Anonymous -- Thank you. The pity is that I don't think the wars we're engaged in now are necessary for us to enjoy our freedom. I find it even worse that these incredibly brave and noble soldiers are fighting and dying to support a corrupt election-stealer like Karzai or to maintain stability in a country like Iraq which is obviously going to fall prey to sectarian violence and possibly another strongman once we leave. But the soldiers don't determine where we fight, our politicians do, and they often make their decisions based on cynical reasons that have more to do with political posturing than with maintaining our freedom.
PS -- That of course doesn't detract in the slightest from the bravery and courage these soldiers show.
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