Monday, March 31, 2008

Heroes

Below article found at FoxNews.com (more info here):

"On Sept. 29, 2006, while on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, Monsoor and other members of a Navy SEAL sniper team were within a moment of death. An insurgent had tossed a grenade into their hideout, hitting Monsoor in the chest before bouncing to the floor.
In an instant, Monsoor was on the grenade, using his body to shield his comrades from the blast.
"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."
For that action, President Bush on Monday announced that Monsoor will be posthumously honored on April 8 with the the nation's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on Sept. 29, 2006," presidential press secretary Dana Perino told reporters during a briefing aboard Air Force One. The announcement came as Bush was on his way to Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Russia in a trip built around the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.
Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. They had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.
In an interview at the SEALs' West Coast headquarters in Coronado, Calif., four members of the special force remembered "Mikey" as a loyal friend and a quiet, dedicated professional.
"He was just a fun-loving guy," said a petty officer 2nd class who went through the grueling 29-week SEAL training with Monsoor. "Always got something funny to say, always got a little mischievous look on his face."
Other SEALS described the Garden Grove, Calif., native as a modest and humble man who drew strength from his family and his faith. His father and brother are former Marines, said a petty officer 2nd class.
Monsoor, a platoon machine gunner, had posthumously received the Silver Star, the third-highest award for combat valor, for his actions pulling a wounded SEAL to safety during a May 9, 2006, firefight in Ramadi. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his sacrifice in Ramadi.Sixteen SEALs have been killed in Afghanistan. Eleven of them died in June 2005 when a helicopter was shot down near the Pakistani border while ferrying reinforcements for troops pursuing Al Qaeda terrorists."

John 15:12-13
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

Many people are dying for something that is not worth living for. Some people are living for something that is worth dying for.

What are you living for?

1 comment:

mwh said...

This is not the first time I've heard of a soldier throwing himself on a hand grenade to save their comrades. I still remember vividly as a small child my parents reading me a devotional about a little girl who was adopted. In her family's home was a picture of a soldier in uniform. As the story unfolds, the soldier (the biological son) had thrown himself on a hand grenade to save the little girl's life, a civilian child in a war zone. The soldier's parents then adopted her--twice loved! These are such vivid pictures of Christ's love and sacrifice for us. And I'm also amazed that even in the depths of the Fall, the image of God still exists in humans to move them to such acts of love for others.