Navy Seal Mike Monsoor Story

Posted by CoolCarGuy on Saturday, October 10, 2009, 20:51 | 193 views

Earlier this week, I got a great email from a friend of mine in the automotive industry about a Naval Seal, Mike Monsoor, who had laid down his life for his company of Navy Seals.  The email asked us to pass it along and instead, I figured I would post the story here at Goblin Network, along with a link to Snopes.com that investigates whether or not these things that float around the Internet are true.

This one appears to be true and Mike Monsoor truly was an American hero!

What wasn’t true about the email however, is that Mike Monsoor was a Navy Seal, where the email made it seem as though he was not.  I edited the email based on the information from Snopes.com that investigated the story.

Here’s the story (I fixed the typo’s in the email)…

“Mike Monsoor,

Was awarded “The Congressional Medal Of Honor” last week (April 2008 according to Snopes.com), for giving his life in Iraq , as he jumped on, and covered with his body, a live hand grenade, giving his life to save his fellow Navy Seals.

During Mike Monsoor’s funeral, at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery , in San Diego , California, forty-five Navy Seals formed a column, as the pallbearers carried the rosewood casket down the column of people to the grave site.  Each time the rosewood casket passed a Navy Seal, he would remove his Gold Trident Pin from his uniform, and slap it down hard, causing The Gold Trident Pin to embed into the top of the wooden casket!

The Navy Seal would then step back from the column, and salute!

Now for those who don’t know what a Trident Pin is or what it looks like?

Here is the definition and photo…

After a sailor completes the Basic Navy Seals Program which lasts for three weeks, it is followed by Seal Qualification Training, which is 16 more weeks of training and necessary to continue improving basic skills and to learn new tactics and techniques, required for an assignment to a Navy Seal Platoon.  Upon completion, trainees are given their Naval Enlisted Code and awarded the Navy Seal Trident Pin.  With this gold pin they are officially a Navy Seal.

It was said, that you could hear each of the 45 slaps from across the cemetery!  By the time, the rosewood casket reached the grave site,  it looked as though it had a gold inlay from the forty-five Trident pins that lined the top of the casket.”

The military has had a bad wrap by the Media in this country over the past few years.  It’s almost as though we have forgotten that we are at war in the Middle East.  Until we see a quick news flash that a few “troops” died in Afghanistan, like happened just this past week, and it once again jogs our memory.

The fact is that we have men in combat situations who are putting their lives in danger on a daily basis.  I think we need to remember that and pray for our armed forces to be given the opportunity to win the War On Terror, so we can bring our men and women home.  I’m not going to call them “troops” either because I think the use of that term just “desensitizes” us as a country that these are not real people and our fellow citizens, who are actually serving our country.

Consider the amount of time that was spent by the national Media informing everyone about the famous musician Michael Jackson’s self-inflicted death through drug use.  It went on for weeks.  Compare that death to the media coverage of this self-less death by another Michael, an American Hero, who gave his life for his fellow soldiers by jumping on a grenade.  Michael Jackson was an incredible musician, but I think maybe we need to stop and think about how screwed up our priorities are in the United States.

There’s a reason why popular newspapers are going under and other media outlets are struggling financially from lack of readership.  American’s are fed-up with their nonsense and turning to the Internet for real stories that actually matter.

At the end of the popular 2000 movie “Gladiator”, starring Russell Crowe, the following dialogue takes place, about the main character Maximus at his death when Rome was spinning out of control.  I think it sums up the priorities of past civilizations compared to our modern world…

“Is Rome worth one good man’s life?
We believed it once.
Make us believe it again.
He was a soldier of Rome.
Honor him.
Who will help me carry him?”

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado.  Find John at CoolCarGuy.com. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com

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