Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Petty Officer 2nd Class Mike Monsoor. Navy Seal

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"

PO2 Mike Monsoor 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. A fitting end-off for a warrior hero.
R.I.P PO2 Monsoor
Update:
PO2 Monsoor was also awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and the CAR.

7 comments:

TomCat said...

Man! That is realy bravery!

sandra said...

I know his mother is proud of him, as I am

Jim Brock said...

Greater love has no man tha this, that he lay down his life for a his friend. John 15:13 We can only do that if we believe John 15:12, This is a new commandment (says Jesus). Lover others as I have love you. The annuals of warfare have many stories such as this extraordinary hero who emulated the act of Jesus Christ himself. All of America can be proud of Mike and the others like him over the wars for this country's freedom and ours. We can think about how much we love our friends in retrospect of this awesome story, which was not seen on the front pages of the nations newspapers. Do we have enough love to spend a few minutes advising our friends, family, co-workers, fellow citizens and enemies of the love Jesus has for them and what our love for Him will reward us. May God bless Mike's family and friends, I believe Mike already has his blessing and is in Heaven with his friend Jesus.

An American Veteran said...

Man! That is real love for your buddies.

Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet said...

As soon as I saw the photo of the tridents on the casket, this poem came to me does anyone know the address of the family....I would like to sent it to them. contact me a mridley@octechlaw.com

Stars
The last time Old Glory had stars numbering but 45 was in 1896
When Utah joined the union adding a Mormon state to this great diversity mix,
We may only have achieved a flag with stars of but 48,
Save for the citizen warriors who dropped all and went into harm's fate.
Civilization in 1917 was at a new dark ages abyss,
The doughboys crossed the ocean to fix what was clearly remiss,
The flags brought forward in the mud and shelling stars of but 48,
For the last two stars in the balance would have to wait,
Lessons learned by those who are not lifelong Spartans to the core,
Soon forgotten and in just 23 short years we had to do it again once more.
The Flags of Our Fathers on Iwo Jima had stars still of 48,
Clash of evil and the Great Crusade two more in the balance would have to wait.
The flags in the dark days of Pusan or the glory of Inchon, also furled but 48,
The world trembled as another band of brothers went off to meet their fate,
Any one can sew a star onto a flag if you have some needle and thread,
But to find that you must go to Arlington or Normandy to view the crosses and stars of the dead,
When the winds of war and chaos try to rip the stars from the flag apart,
Remember those threads who each time give it all until the last beat of their hearts.
Sadly, another brave warrior Michael Monsoor a Navy seal gave his life for others to save,
So fitting his casket took with it 45 tridents so much like 45 stars to his far too early grave.
The flag has 50 stars because of the thousands of crosses, stars and now crescents on well kept lawns,
A stark reminder without the courage and sacrifice of soldiers like Monsoor, this nation may not see another dawn.
© July 13, 2008 Michael P. Ridley

Anonymous said...

Not to post negative, but the image shown of the coffin with the Seal Tridents on it is the wrong coffin for Michael Monsoor. That coffin in the picture belongs to PO2 Seal James E. Suh of SDVT-1 who died in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005, not Michael Monsoor's coffin. It was found by Snopes.com:

http://froggyruminations.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html

http://www.socnet.com/showthread.php?t=79551

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/monsoor.asp

I think someone found it on the web and wanted to show a real example of what a Seal coffin looked like with the Trident pins embedded on the lid. From the reports I've heard from YouTube videos and read on other reports, President Bush was present and said the lid was covered with so many Trident pins it looked golden. I've been told it was a very moving part of the ceremony when the Seals put their pins on the coffin lid. But it appears that there was no picture made of Michael Monsoor's coffin at the time. Just thought you'd like to know, so you don't think this was Michael's coffin in the picture. This mistaken picture has been all over the web and in emails, even on official newssites reporting on this incident. But I highly respect MA2 Seal Michael Monsoor for the sacrifice he made. God Bless Our Troops Everywhere!

Soapbox said...

Mr. Harvey

Thank you for the updated information. At the time I recieved this photo and story I attemped to verify it as authentic. Unfortunately at the time there was nothing posted disclaiming the info.

I appreciate you reading my blog and offering the correct information. Please return often.