Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - Hero of heroes... SEAL jumps on a grenade.

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Hero of heroes... SEAL jumps on a grenade.

Quote:

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.

"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."

Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.

Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. The four had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.

He better also get the congressional medal of honor for this.

What are your thoughts on the "ultimate" hero?

Is it blatant self-sacrifice like this, where they knew for a fact they were going to die to save others? Is it the single mother/father who raises her/his kid(s) well while working a job or jobs to feed, clothe, and house them? Is it someone like a doctor or emergency worker who spend their lives saving others?

For me, this guy fits the bill. You know you won't survive. You know it for a fact. You could try and jump away, and maybe escape death, but leave those around you to the same fate as you, possibly even death- or you can lay down on it and die, saving those around you.

Sadly, few things make me feel proudly patriotic these days... but this is one of those things that does.

(Bonus points if we can keep this thread from becoming a 9/11 memorial)

Damn good man, I only wish he didn't have to die. I hope he's happy wherever he is.

I would've been proud (abiet very sad) to have him as my son. Definite hero in my book.

Guy should get a Congressional Medal of Honor and a statue of him at the Navy SEAL school.

He's a better man than I, because the first thing I would have done if I saw a grenade is run.

Thanks to him for his sacrifice, and prayers for his family in their loss. This is what the true meaning of "hero" is. "No greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friend", and all that.

I remember my dad telling me about one day in which he thought he was going to die in service - it was WWII, he was on a heavy cruiser in the pacific. As he was looking over the side of his ship he saw what he and many shipmates thought was a torpedo speeding through the water towards their ship. He knew that he and his nearby friends would be toast if it hit, but all he could do was try to warn the others so that they could try and make it out alive. As it turned out, the "torpedo" was a dolphin, and he was more than a bit chagrinned to have to go below and change his pants.

But this SEAL, this hero - kudos to him.

Wow, I hate the military and bush, but this guy ROCKS! This guy deserves a big memorial in his hometown and certainly the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving his friends.

That takes real bravery.

I think anyone who jumps on a grenade knows they aren't surviving that, so I would put him in the heroic slot reserved for those who sacrifice their own lives knowingly and willingly for others. I can't think of anything more "heroic".

Even more impressive is that he probably didn't have time to make all of the rationalizations and justifications we're assigning here. He jumped on that thing as an instinctual, gut reaction to the danger it posed to his comrades.

Definitely a hero, but anymore so than the "single mother of three" or the "doctor who saves lives day in, day out?" I wouldn't say so. But I wouldn't want to precisely quantify what makes a hero in order to say who is the better. What would be the point of that?

This brings tears to my eyes. This guy is top of my list as a Hero. Glod bless him and his family.

A Hero? Sure, why not? Honestly, I couldn't imagine ever doing something like that. I suppose you would have to be pretty religious and/or spiritual in order to sacrafice your life. Yeah, it's a good thing to do for your friends, but what does that matter once you die? You're life is the only thing you actually have. Once that's gone, so is everything else, including your heroic actions and your friends that you saved.

What? Of course none of it matters to the SEAL who died; he's dead.

It sure as hell matters to the guys he saved and their families and friends though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terminal Frost

snip...You're life is the only thing you actually have. Once that's gone, so is everything else, including your heroic actions and your friends that you saved.

Not necessarily true. Your sacrifice creates a world of potentials for those who would have died otherwise. Everything that his comrades do from here on until their own deaths is a direct result of what that one man's life did. Every child that his buddy's father, even thing they do for anyone else, every job they perform or every act they do is done because he made it possible. In my opinion it's going to be a heavy responsibility for his co-warriors to carry. I hope they do him justice and that his death does not way too heavily on their minds.

Beautifully said, raeanna.

I understand why he did what he did and I honor him for it....

My concern, however, is for the family left behind to pick up the pieces. They get to go home to their loved ones. His family will never see him again. It breaks my black heart knowing that. :(

Okay, am I the only one thinks of this scenario (which I have heard of, before) and imagines a room full of guys struggling to jump on the grenade like a comical game of highschool football?

Life without humour just isn't worth living...

At the University of Texas here the ROTC building is Russel A. Steinam building. He was a 2nd Lt. who died in Vietnam. He was postumasly (sp?) awarded the Metal of Honor for jumping on a grenade and saving his platoon.

*Edit*
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...URES/610130307

It's not just our heroes which save lives

Quote:

Hero Para is in line for VC
Chris Osuh

A PARATROOPER from Manchester has been nominated for the Victoria Cross for saving the life of a wounded American soldier while under fire from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Private Peter McKinley, 21, could become only the second living serviceman in 40 years to be awarded Britain's highest military honour.

He endured a 15-minute barrage of grenades and machine-gun fire as he treated the US serviceman during one of the fiercest battles of the current campaign fought by the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

Army chiefs are now putting his name forward for a VC for the "massive act of bravery". Pte McKinley was one of 100 Paras sent from their base to rescue an American supply convoy ambushed by Taliban fighters at Sangin in northern Helmand province.

The Paras formed a defensive cordon around the Americans, but as night descended, dozens of Taliban, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, launched a blistering attack. Two American soldiers were badly wounded when grenades tore into the jeep where they were sheltering.

First-aider Pte McKinley heard their desperate screams for help and ran across open ground to the vehicle as enemy rounds whistled overhead.

Training

He found the American sergeant had suffered serious facial injuries and other wounds including a broken arm, a neck injury, and fragments in his legs.

Pte McKinley said: "They were still firing at us when I ran back to the Humvee. The sergeant was in a pretty bad way but my training just kicked in and I spent about 15 minutes looking after his wounds, stemming the blood and keeping his airway clear."

Major Will Pike, the commander of A Company, described the soldier's actions as "massively impressive". He added: "He was very brave while completely disregarding his own safety. He also treated the American soldier beyond the level that as team medic he is expected to perform. We have a lot of private soldiers who are very young and just out of training but have proved very steady under fire."

To earn the VC soldiers have to display conspicuous bravery or daring or perform a prominent "act of valour or self-sacrifice in the face of the enemy".

An MoD spokesman said: "We can confirm Pte McKinley provided medical treatment to a US soldier whilst under sustained attack."