There’s a phrase often used in the service for acts of selfless sacrifice – it’s called, “Jumping on the grenade,” and usually it’s a metaphor for someone who “takes one for the team.”
Sometimes – very rarely – we are exposed to the kind of grace that renders all metaphors moot. The kind of act which demonstrates the inadequacy of the symbols and sounds we use to convey meaning. Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor performed such an act of transcendant honor at such absolute personal cost:
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor fought dozens of battles in the streets of Ramadi, shouldering his MK48 machine gun without complaint in the 130-degree heat of Iraq’s violent Anbar province.
In May 2006, only a month into his first deployment to Iraq, the 25-year-old Navy SEAL from Garden Grove, Calif., ran under fire into a street to drag to safety a wounded comrade who was shot in the leg, earning a Silver Star for his courage.
On Sept. 29, 2006, another act of valor would cost Monsoor his life — and save the lives of three comrades. For that act, he will posthumously be awarded a Medal of Honor on April 8, the White House said yesterday…
Michael Monsoor literally jumped on a grenade, literally took one for the team, and by extension for all of us.
As Monsoor manned his gun, an insurgent lobbed up a hand grenade, which hit Monsoor in the chest and bounced onto the roof.
“Grenade!” Monsoor shouted. But the two snipers and another SEAL on the roof had no time to escape, as Monsoor was closest to the only exit. Monsoor dropped onto the grenade, smothering it with his body. It detonated, and Monsoor died about 30 minutes later from his wounds.
I don’t believe this is the kind of thing that you think about in the moment – the natural human tendency is to shrink in fear from certain, mortal peril. From everything you have come to know as the universe into whatever follows after. A man jumps on a grenade because privately, quietly, in a time of personal introspection he commits to the idea of sacrificing himself for his team members if it comes to it. And because it would seem mere boasting to speak of such hypothetical events – the kind of boasting SEALs don’t need to do even among themselves – I suspect such a man never tells a soul. And the first inkling we have of this profound personal committment is the instant we hear the muffled blast, and stand transformed in simultaneous horror and awe by a spectacle of pure, unadulterated love.
The highest honor we can bestow is not too much. Be proud to have trod the same earth as such men as Michael Monsoor.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that he give his life for his friends.” — John, 15:13
Rarely does a warrior receive the MOH for an aggresive action. Rather, they win them for what they will do to save a brother at arms. They are the finest examples of what it is that makes us human, and mortals such as myself can only lower our heads and wonder what we would have done.
Well said, Lex.
In fact, the highest honor we can bestow is not nearly enough.
N
Michener said it so well, “Where do we get such men…”
Truly an act of unadulterated love and sacrifice for your friends, comrades, and countrymen. I — as Lex said — don’t think there’s anything we can do to appropriately honor such men.
Jim C
Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor has set an example as a Great Team Mate to the whole world.
Proud? How about completely, utterly humbled. I’ve read his story before and it always hits me in a very deep and profound way.
This country can never honor him enough. No one can ever honor a sacrifice like that. We can try our best with what we have, but it will never be enough.
Dear Kris,
Which is why we simply receive the gift with thanks and keep the memory of men like Michael Monsoor- the whole point of such grace is that we can not earn it or pay for it.
Contrast Michael Monsoor with John F. Kerry.
The mind boggles.
Where do we get such men? I suspect it has something to do with our American culture.
God Speed Petty Officer Monsoor.
I’m reminded of the line from the movie Saving Private Ryan. Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) says to Pvt. Ryan “Earn this” as he lay dying on the ground.
Yeah, okay. It’s a movie. But I think that one line says a lot about how we can honor Petty Officer Monsoor’s sacrifice. We muts earn it every day in how we live our lives, in how we honor our troops, and in how we serve our country whether in uniform or not.
In regards to serving our country, make no mistake, I believe that we all have an obligation to serve our country. It may not be in the armed services. It may be in some other way. But, I believe that we all have that obligation.
I’m not talking about some government mandated and enforced obligation… Just a personal moral obligation. A private sense of responsibility for one’s country. An obligation to leave this country better than it was when we came into this world. Better for our children, and our children’s children.
Jim C
Well said, Jim C- a personal moral obligation we all owe.
An Army Ranger commented to me that he and others in his platoon wouldn’t even expect that (i.e. Capt. Miller’s comment) of us.Truly a hero and we are in debt.
Author anonymous: A vetran is a person that at one time in their life made out a check payable to The United States of America for an amount up to and including my life.
Petty Officer Monsoor,
WELL DONE, brother.
Love, Phil
The quote from Patton is well-known, we should be thankful that such men lived. I go about my day and feel both humbled and slightly shamed that I cannot shoulder a portion of their load, for they do such a difficult job, and do it so well.
I am left looking at the passage from the Book of John and believing we have found the answer to the age-old question, “What motivates men to fight?” The answer is, each other.
Godspeed, Chief Monsoor.
– Max
It strikes me that we put up monuments to politicians, Presidents, the occassional General, but never one for a MoH recipient.
I think marble or granite statues of them should line the walks of Arlington. There aren’t enough hills in South Dakota to put them on like with Mt. Rushmore, and it would be entirely fitting that their image be at a place near their cohorts.
Ya know, that’s an endowment to the arts I could probably get behind.
– Max
Most have said what needs to be said. Thanks to Lex for getting the word out.
Please go to http://www.NSWFoundation.org and it’s links,for information about the groups who are the quiet hand behind our SOF’s, supporting the families of our fallen brothers.
We have the Watch.
Hoo Yah
Mr. K Sends
…. we have the best military in the world…. their love for one another (and for us here at home) is amazing…..