Friday, May 6, 2011

Fitting...

Brad_in_ma sends the following bittersweet story:

Navy SEAL honored with warship bearing his name


BATH, Maine – 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.
I think it's great that the Navy named a warship after this fallen warrior. I call it bittersweet because we're all poorer for having lost Lt. Murphy. We could use more men like him these days. Heck, we could always use more men like him - sacrificed himself for the mission and still remembered his manners...

Requiescat in pace, Lt. Murphy.

That is all.

6 comments:

North said...

A man's manners are a very important quality. So important to me that it is part of the subtitle of my blog.

Bubblehead Les. said...

It's nice to see the Navy has decided to name a ship after a Fallen Warrior rather than some damn Politician for a change.

Tango said...

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died, rather we should thank God that such men lived.

libertyman said...

Read Marcus Luttrell's book of the event. We are fortunate to have such brave men in our midst.

Heath J said...

Libertyman beat me to it. If that book doesn't make you tear up, you have no soul

Anonymous said...

The sad thing is that this DID NOT have too happen.

A simple solution exists, it wouldn't even be that hard to make. It's called a range extender. We use the for wifi networks and a multitude of other things.

The shame is that we don't equip our soldiers the way we should.

But if I was DARPA, I'd build a grenade launched range extender. Fire it like a flare to an area where it would have LOS with the sat, and then LOS back to the sat phone. Vwalla....good men shouldn't have to die for lack of equipment.

:-(