Navy Petty Officer Mike Monsoor
Medal of Honor Recipient March 31, 2009
Michael Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician PO2 (EOD2), was awarded the Congressional Medal
of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq, giving his life to
save his fellow SEALS.
On March 31, 2008, the United States Department of Defense confirmed that Monsoor would posthumously receive the Medal of Honor from the president of the United States, George W. Bush, for his valiant and selfless actions to save the lives of his SEAL teammates by sacrificing his own, during combat in Ramadi, Iraq on September 29, 2006.
During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being
moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery,
U.S. Navy SEAL's were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column
of twos, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's coffin passed,
each U.S. Navy SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down
embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.
The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin
arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the
Tridents pinned to it (see below).
Michael A. Monsoor, Tribute Page from the U.S. Navy Seals:
Michael Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician PO2 (EOD2), was awarded the Congressional Medal
of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq, giving his life to
save his fellow SEALS.