My favorite Penn State grad

? Engaged in a frenzied firefight and outnumbered by the Taliban, Navy Lt. Michael Murphy made a desperate decision as he and three fellow SEALs fought for their lives on a rocky mountainside in Afghanistan's Kunar Province in 2005.
In a last-ditch effort to save his team, Murphy pulled out his satellite phone, walked into a clearing to get reception and called for reinforcements as a fusillade of bullets ricocheted around him. One of the bullets hit him, but he finished the call and even signed off, "Thank you."
Then he continued the battle.
Dan Murphy, the sailor's father, said it didn't surprise him that his slain son nicknamed "The Protector" put himself in harm's way. Nor was he surprised that in the heat of combat his son was courteous.
"That was Michael. He was cool under fire. He had the ability to process information, even under the most difficult of circumstances. That's what made him such a good SEAL officer," Murphy said.
A warship bearing the name of the Medal of Honor recipient will be christened Saturday ? on what would have been Murphy's 35th birthday ? at Bath Iron Works, where the destroyer is being built.
[Related: Afghan vet: The enemy is still dangerous]
Murphy, who was 29 when he died, graduated from Pennsylvania State University and was accepted to multiple law schools, but decided he could do more for his country as one of the Navy's elite SEALS

Hear-Hear

Well deserved honor for Lt. Murphy

The story of how he won his Medal of Honor is amazing.

If you are interested in reading the full story of LT Murphy and the SEAL mission that cost him his life and earned him the Medal, get the book Last Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. This was the most costly mission in the history of the SEALS. The story was a very difficult read for me. These men lost their lives - not because of superior military action on the part of the enemy - but by a complete lack of foresight and planning in preparing for the mission. Time after time I found myself asking "Has the military learned nothing from our experiences in Vietnam?" This is in no way to denigrate the heroic job done by these warriors. They fought and died valiantly. It is just that most of them should not have died at all. Very frustrating to read.
For those of you who may seek out the book, I should also warn you that it is not particularly well written. Mr. Luttrell is not an author (and, apparently, neither is Patrick Robinson, given credit as a co-author). Mr. Luttrell is a warrior, a profession not usually demanding of literary skills. It makes no difference. The story of the mission is so absolutely riveting that the literary failings fall by the wayside.

What I found SO extraordinary was his decision about the goat herders-in the big picture his decision to let them live ended up as a disaster yet this same action is why he is my hero.

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Originally Posted by r.payton@att.net

What I found SO extraordinary was his decision about the goat herders-in the big picture his decision to let them live ended up as a disaster yet this same action is why he is my hero.

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Was it definitely HIS decision? I heard the story told on the radio and the radio guy said that the vote to kill the farmer and his kid was 3-1 but since only one of the SEALS survived, they still don't know who voted to spare them. I wouldn't care which way he voted because the vote to kill would probably have saved them all but the vote not to kill was more humane.

In the report I read it was his decision to let the Goat Herders go (and promptly inform the Taliban )-this is why he is my hero as if I had been there 3 goat herders would have died that morning .
Our Govt . keeps putting our elite military groups in situations where they cannot fire unless fired upon and other ridiculous 'RULES OF ENGAGEMENT'' which often lead to the death of our best military men .


from the Yahoo article-

By the end of the two-hour firefight, Murphy, Dietz and Axelson were dead. The tragedy was compounded when 16 rescuers ? eight additional SEALs and eight members of the Army's elite "Night Stalkers" ? were killed when their MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. It was the largest single-day loss in naval special warfare history. All told, 33 SEALS have been killed in action since the Sept. 11 attacks, officials say.

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Originally Posted by quinn14

Was it definitely HIS decision? I heard the story told on the radio and the radio guy said that the vote to kill the farmer and his kid was 3-1 but since only one of the SEALS survived, they still don't know who voted to spare them. I wouldn't care which way he voted because the vote to kill would probably have saved them all but the vote not to kill was more humane.

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Per "Lone Survivor" one of either Dietz or Axelson said they should kill them and the other one was ambivalent about it and said he'd do whatever the group decided upon.

Lt. Murphy wound up telling Petty Officer Lutrell that he could make the call for the group. Petty Officer Lutrell chose to let them go.

Thanks for clarifiying. The guy on the radio wasn't sure who made the decision. Man..........what a spot to be put in. You either spare the lives of innocent people and get killed yourself or kill them and spare yourself. These men are truly heroes!!