SEAL Medal of Honor Recipients Monsoor and Murphy Honored

Navy SEALs and posthumous Medal of Honor recipients Lt. Mike Murphy and Petty Officer Michael Monsoor had their names added to the SOC memorial at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, recently.

The two were remembered as true American heroes, each having earned, with his life, the Medal of Honor, the highest award for courage the military has to offer.

Today's ceremony drew more than 1,000 people, including civilians and service personnel from every branch, even Gen. David Petraeus, head of Central Command, which has its headquarters at MacDill.

A slide-show montage was preceded by the landing of three paratroopers, each carrying U.S. flags that had flown over the Pentagon, two of which were presented to the families of the medal recipients.

Monsoor was awarded the MoH for his actions in Iraq in 2006, when he threw himself on a live grenade to save several of his comrades.

Murphy received the MoH for his actions while leading a recon mission in Afghanistan in 2005. When his small team of SEALs was attacked and overrun by a large Taliban force, he exposed himself repeatedly to enemy fire to call in support. He was wounded several times and finally succumbed to his wounds, along with two other members of his team. The only SEAL to survive the mission was Lone SurvivorMarcus Luttrell. Luttrell and teammates Danny Dietz and Matthew Axelson were awarded the Navy Cross for the same mission, Dietz and Axelson posthumously. Sadly, a helicopter loaded with reinforcements crashed while enroute to their location, killing eight Nightstalkers and eight more SEALs.

A fitting honor and tribute to two heroic Americans.