This Sailor is Navy Petty Officer, PO2 (Petty Officer, Second Class) EOD2 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Second Class),
April 5th, 1981 ~ September 29th, 2009
Mike Monsoor was awarded “The Congressional Medal Of Honor” in April, 2008, for giving his life in Iraq in 2006, when he jumped on, and covered with his body, a live hand grenade, saving the lives of a large group of Navy Seals that was passing by!
During Mike Monsoor’s funeral at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California ..
The six pallbearers removed the rosewood casket from the hearse, and lined up on each side of the hero’s casket were his family members, friends, fellow sailors, and well-wishers.
The column of people continued from the hearse to the grave site.
What the group didn’t know at the time was, every one of the 45 Navy Seals that Mike Monsoor saved that day was scattered through-out the column!
As the pallbearers carried casket down the column, people would break in and follow the casket from behind. Every time the casket passed a Navy Seal, he would remove his Gold Trident Pin from his uniform, and slap it down, hard, embedding it into the top of the casket. Then the Navy Seal would step back from the column and solute.
The Trident Pin is awarded when a Seal finished 18 weeks of training and qualifies for assignment to a Seal platoon.
It was said, that you could hear each of the 45 slaps from across the cemetery!
By the time the rosewood casket reached the grave site, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from the 45 Trident Pins that lined the top!
** The above text was edited from a Facebook posting by my Aunt Wendy. It’s from an email that’s been circulating since people learned of Mike Monsoor.
Due to expected enemy action, the officer in charge repositioned him with his automatic heavy machine gun in the direction of the enemy’s most likely avenue of approach. He placed him in a small, confined sniper hide-sight between two SEAL snipers on an outcropping of the roof, which allowed the three SEALs maximum coverage of the area. He was located closest to the egress route out of the sniper hide-sight watching for enemy activity through a tactical periscope over the parapet wall. While vigilantly watching for enemy activity, an enemy fighter hurled a hand grenade onto the roof from an unseen location. The grenade hit him in the chest and bounced onto the deck. He immediately leapt to his feet and yelled “grenade” to alert his teammates of impending danger, but they could not evacuate the sniper hide-sight in time to escape harm. Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself onto the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity. The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him.
Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional. Of the three SEALs on that rooftop corner, he had the only avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life. By his courageous and selfless actions, he saved the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor.
Here’s memorial footage:
The Trident Pin is awarded when a Seal finished 18 weeks of training and qualifies for assignment to a Seal platoon.
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