President Bush Gives Medal Posthumously To Naval Hero
The President of the United States has awarded a Medal of Honor to a Navy Seal. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor was a hero to his unit, giving his life to save the lives of others in his unit. He made the ultimate sacrifice for his unit during a gunfight battle in Ramadi Iraq.
Monsour was a member of SEAL Team 3 and was a sniper lookout during a gun battle in Ramadi September 29th 2006. He was crouched down when a grenade was thrown toward his position, hitting him in the chest and bouncing off. The fragmentation grenade bounced off and then rolled away on the floor. Without any thought for his own safekeeping or health Michael Monsour threw his body on the grenade. Michael Monsoor was near the exit, and could have dived out the exit and escaped the grenade. But if he had done that, then the other members of his SEAL team would have been killed.
Because of his swift and heroic action, Michael Monsoor saved ten lives. There were two other SEAL members in the room, along with eight other Iraqi joint forces soldiers. Monsoor used his body to absorb the concussive effects of the blast, and while there were some minor injuries he saves all ten of the other soldiers in the room. Michael survived for a short time, but died about 30 minutes after the blast.
