Medal of Honor – Mike Monsoor
American Valor Military Tribute to Michael A. Monsoor
Medal of Honor for *Monsoor, Michael A.
PO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals.
During Mike Monsoor’s funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two’s, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike’s coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.
The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.
This should be front-page news instead of the crap we see every day.
Since the media won’t air this news, I choose to forward it to you guys. I am damn proud of our military. If you are proud too, please pass this on. If not then rest assured that these fine men and women of our military will continue to serve and protect.
First created in the 1960s, the insignia recognizes those service members who have completed the Navy’s Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL course, or BUD/S training, and have been designated as U.S. Navy SEALs.
The "SEAL Trident" Special Warfare insignia was initially issued in two grades, being a gold badge for officers and silver for enlisted. In the 1970s, the Silver SEAL badge was abolished, and the Special Warfare Badge was issued thereafter in a single grade. The SEAL badge is, therefore, unique in the Navy in that it is one of the few badges issued in a single grade for both officers and enlisted personnel. This is partly due to the combined training that both officers and enlisted receive, side by side, when involved in BUD/S training.
Tags: American Valor, medal of honor, Michael Monsoor, military tribute
Posts
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Outstanding article, I too am very proud our military. Spending over 20 years in the service, I can appreciate this from the inside out. It is very sad to see the news talk about our military from their own polictical views and only talk about the few that have made poor judgements. Instead the news should be talking about the great things these young men and women do everyday. The Medal of Honor is the most prestiges award an individual can receive and I salute Michael for his sacrifice. My condolence to his family.
Very Respectfully,
ITC James L’Heureux (RET)
July 6th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I am proud of my fellow EOD personell and am sad to see this. God speed and bless the mighty eod
VR,
EOD2 David G Dall ( RET )
January 29th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Mike Monsoor was a Navy SEAL not an EOD Technician. Although we work closely with Navy SEALs, I want everyone to understand that Mike was in fact a Navy SEAL.
I don’t want anyone to get the impression that Navy EOD is trying to take anything away from Team Guys and their sacrifices. We’ve both (SEAL and EOD) taken some heavy hits in the last few yrs…
EODC Mark Mejia
January 29th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Mark,
Thank you for the correction. I truly appreciate the distinction, though as you say, both groups do an outstanding job. We have published an updated post and created a tribute video for Michael. Go here to see the new post and tribute video: http://american-valor.com/military-tribute/michael-monsoor-navy-seal-moh/