A friend of mine is a New York City Firefighter. One of the guy's in his station grew up with Mike Murphy in Suffolk County, NY.
Most military history buffs know the story of what happened to the SEALs on that mountaintop in 2005. Their heroism will no doubt linger in the annals of time in as famous of a manner as the legendary battles of previous wars.
In case you do not know the story - here is an excellent summary:
Excerpt:
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.What happened to Murphy?
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.
Dan Murphy, the sailor’s father, said it didn’t surprise him that his slain son nicknamed “The Protector” put himself in harm’s way. Nor was he surprised that in the heat of combat his son was courteous.
“That was Michael. He was cool under fire. He had the ability to process information, even under the most difficult of circumstances. That’s what made him such a good SEAL officer,” Murphy said.
A warship bearing the name of the Medal of Honor recipient will be christened Saturday — on what would have been Murphy’s 35th birthday — at Bath Iron Works, where the destroyer is being built.
Murphy, who was 29 when he died, graduated from Pennsylvania State University and was accepted to multiple law schools, but decided he could do more for his country as one of the Navy’s elite SEALS — special forces trained to fight on sea, air and land — the same forces that killed Osama bin Laden this week in Pakistan.
[...]Murphy, of Patchogue, N.Y., earned his nickname after getting suspended in elementary school for fighting with bullies who tried to stuff a special-needs child into a locker and for intervening when some youths were picking on a homeless man, said Dan Murphy, a lawyer, former prosecutor and Army veteran who served in Vietnam.
Maureen Murphy said he thought he was too young to take a desk job as a lawyer. Instead, he went to officer candidate school, the first step on his journey to become a SEAL officer. He was in training during the Sept. 11 attacks, which shaped his views.
His view was that there are “bullies in the world and people who’re oppressed in the world. And he said, ‘Sometimes they have to be taken care of,’” she said.
On June 28, 2005, the day he was killed, Murphy was leading a SEAL team in northeastern Afghanistan looking for the commander of a group of insurgents known as the Mountain Tigers.
The Operation Red Wings reconnaissance team rappelled down from a helicopter at night and climbed through rain to a spot 10,000 feet high overlooking a village to keep a lookout. But the mission was compromised the following morning when three local goat herders happened upon their hiding spot.He wasn’t willing to kill unarmed civilians. That’s the difference between the United States and the Muslim terrorists. It’s a moral difference. Michael Murphy was a good man. He used guns and violence to protect others, and he was not willing to kill unarmed civilians.
High in the Hindu Kush mountains, Murphy and Petty Officers Marcus Luttrell of Huntsville, Texas; Matthew Axelson of Cupertino, Calif.; and Danny Dietz of Littleton, Colo.; held a tense discussion of the rules of engagement and the fate of the three goat herders, who were being held at gunpoint.
If they were Taliban sympathizers, then letting the herders go would allow them to alert the Taliban forces lurking in the area; killing them might ensure the team’s safety, but there were issues of possible military charges and a media backlash, according to Luttrell, the lone survivor.
Murphy, who favored letting the goat herders go, guided a discussion of military, political, safety and moral implications. A majority agreed with him.
An hour after the herders were released, more than 100 Taliban armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades opened fire, attacking from higher elevation, and maneuvering to outflank the SEALs, said Gary Williams, author of “Seal of Honor,” a biography of Murphy.
[...]As the only survivor, Luttrell has pangs of regret for voting to go along with Murphy, his best friend; he now believes the team could’ve survived if the goat herders were killed.
Michael Murphy is a true American hero. He apparently loved working out and one of the official Crossfit workouts is named "Murph".
The SEALs (and probably operators in other branches of the military) had taken to the tradition of going into battle wearing FDNY and NYPD patches. Nothing like throwing lead at bad guys with those emblems proudly flying!
When Murphy was killed in action he was wearing the patch of Engine 53/Ladder 43 - the station of his boyhood friend. And also the station where my friend works.
That very patch is now proudly displayed in the firehouse.
Many Crossfit boxes now have "Memorial Day Murph" events. The back of this awesome tshirt (from Infidel USA) describes the workout:
And I will do it in body armor (soft armor, no plates). I may have a sucky time but I am going to do it. And I will make that my training goal as of today.
Those SEALs, and the 15+ troops who died trying to rescue them, have given their all. Getting scuffed up for a bit in their memory isn't a big deal in comparison.
Read this very interesting summary:
On June 28, 2005, a four-man group from SEAL Team 10, led by LT Michael P. Murphy and consisting of petty officers Matthew Axelson, Danny Dietz and Marcus Luttrell, were on a mission to kill or capture Ahmad Shah, a Taliban leader who commanded a group of insurgents known as the "Mountain Tigers," west of Asadabad. The team was inserted at night via MH-47 Chinook helicopter several miles from the village where Ahmad Shah was suspected to be operating. The team had been tracking Shah for several months and had actually called off Operation Red Wing twice before when it was discovered Shah had moved locations at the last minute. Reviewing the pre-mission maps and photographs of the area, Luttrell stated that the team was very concerned about the lack of adequate cover in the area surrounding the village. This would make it difficult for the team to stay concealed. Their mission would be to surveil the village, make a positive identification of Shah, and then capture or kill him. If the enemy force was too great, they were prepared to call in a direct action force to assault the village. The team, under cover of darkness and pouring rain, immediately moved to a preplanned observation point above the village to wait for daylight. Once dawn arrived, they realized their observation point was less than ideal due to a bad angle on the village and a fog bank obscuring their view. LT Murphy and Petty Officer Axelson scouted a new position and moved the team there just after daylight. This new observation post offered a better view of the village, but only one possible escape route, should they be discovered.
As the morning wore on, three local goat herders stumbled upon the SEALs' hiding place. Unable to verify any hostile intent from the herders, Dietz attempted to contact HQ via radio, but was unable to get an answer from anyone. Absent any higher-level guidance, LT Murphy put the decision as to what should be done with them up for a vote: Axelson voted to kill the Afghans, stating, "The military decision is obvious," in reference to the near-certainty that the herders would alert the Taliban. Dietz abstained, and Murphy allowed Luttrell the deciding vote, but warned him that the killings would have to be reported, and that they would be attacked by the "US liberal media" and would almost certainly face murder charges. Luttrell voted to release the herders. He would later state, "It was the stupidest, most southern-fried, lame brained decision I ever made in my life. I must have been out of my mind. I had actually cast a vote which I knew could sign our death warrant. I’d turned into a f—ing liberal, a half-assed, no-logic nitwit, all heart, no brain, and the judgment of a jackrabbit."In discussing the option of tying them up and leaving them, Luttrell stated that the team had no rope or other means of securing them and that the presence of the herders' goats was threatening to give away their position. Taking the herders with them to a pick up point was also untenable given their need to move with stealth in that area, made worse by the fact that the goats followed the herders wherever they went. This would certainly expose their presence in the area and possibly lead to a Taliban attack. The firefight
After letting the goatherds go, the team moved to their first observation point so as to throw off anyone attempting to intercept them at their old location. Here, Dietz continued attempts to reach HQ via radio for immediate extraction, but was continually unsuccessful. Approximately an hour after the goatherds disappeared over the mountain ridge, the SEALs were confronted by a force of Afghan fighters, estimated between 80–200 strong, causing Luttrell to believe that the released herders had given away their position. The large variant in the number of opposing Taliban is due to differing accounts of the size of the enemy force. The team had been told that as many as 200 fighters could be protecting Shah, and according to Luttrell, the SEALS killed a significant number of enemy fighters during the subsequent engagement, however their numbers never seemed to diminish. This led Luttrell to believe they were receiving almost constant reinforcments.
The insurgents set up a "well organized, three-sided attack", which forced the SEALs to begin running down the slope of the mountain, all of them receiving injuries during the descent, either by gunfire and/or the fall. Even before reaching a new defensive position behind some felled logs, Murphy had already been shot in the abdomen, Luttrell had received a spinal injury, and Dietz's thumb had been blown off. Nevertheless, they all continued fighting, attempting to attrite the Taliban forces enough to cause them to retreat. After 45 minutes of fighting, Murphy moved into the open, after noting the team's radio transmitters weren't functioning properly in the mountains, and placed the emergency call for support from his cell phone. He was shot in the abdomen during the conversation. Nevertheless he returned to his cover after the call and continued to battle. After two hours of fighting, only Luttrell remained alive, the other members of his team succumbing to multiple gunshot wounds. Eventually he was blown off the mountain ridge by a rocket-propelled grenade, knocking him unconscious.
One MH-47D helicopter, four UH-60 Black Hawk and two AH-64D Longbows attempted to come to their rescue to provide extraction in the mountains of Kunar. The MH-47 helicopter, carrying eight Navy SEALs and eight 160th Night Stalkers, was shot down by a rocket propelled grenade shot through the open rear ramp, causing the pilot to lose control of the craft. It hit a mountain ledge, and then fell to the bottom of a ravine, killing all sixteen on board– the largest single loss of life for Naval Special Warfare since World War II. Shah, the original target of the SEAL team, later gave an interview where he claimed that his forces had set a trap for the American forces, "We certainly know that when the American army comes under pressure and they get hit, they will try to help their friends. It is the law of the battlefield." Search and rescue
The only survivor of the attack, Luttrell tried to hide himself as he waited for rescue from the search helicopters flying overhead. He stayed well hidden in a cleft of rock while the Taliban continued searching for him throughout the remainder of the day. He could hear enemy fighters close by, firing aimlessly into the underbrush, trying to drive him out, but they were never able to discover his location. AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were flying through the valley almost all afternoon, and Luttrell attempted contact via his rescue radio. Due to dehydration and his mouth being filled with dust, he was unable to speak. He activated his emergency locator beacon, but without verbal confirmation of his identity, the pilots assumed the Taliban had captured a radio and were attempting to lure another helicopter in in order to shoot it down. Before night fell, Luttrell killed three Taliban lookouts, with his silenced Mk 12 rifle, that were searching an adjacent ridge approximately 150 yards away.
As night approached, driven by thirst, shot in the leg and with three cracked vertabrae, Luttrell traversed 7 miles over the remainder of the night and following day. He remained unnoticed until, falling from a ledge, he was discovered by an Afghan shepherd named Sarawa, who summoned his companions to help carry the wounded Luttrell to the village of Sabray-Minah. The villagers took care of Luttrell, providing food and medical attention, and protecting him from the Taliban that came to the village demanding that he be turned over to them. The Taliban offered bounties for turning him over and threatened the villages inhabitants with violence if they did not comply. According to Pashtun custom, the villagers were honor-bound to protect someone they had taken in, and the entire village participated in guarding him. He was moved between houses several times and received medical attention from the village's physician.
Meanwhile, nearly two days after the initial confrontation, the military had 300 men searching for the team, and had located the downed helicopter and verified that all 16 aboard had been killed. A spokesman for the Taliban, Mofti Latifollah Hakimi, confirmed that the helicopter had been shot down by insurgent fire, and promised to deliver the video made during the assault to media outlets.
Despite multiple attempts, the search helicopters were unable to locate the wounded Navy SEAL. On July 2, the village elder, armed with a note from Luttrell, went down to seek help from Camp Blessing, a Marine outpost several miles away, and approached First Lieutenant Matt Bartels with his information. With this news, the U.S. forces drew up extraction plans which according to Lt. Col. Steve Butow were "one of the largest combat search-and-rescue operations since Vietnam". As the rescue teams closed in upon the village they ran into Luttrell and some of the villagers who were moving him from one hiding place to another. Six days after the operation, an American search team located Murphy's body as well as the body of Dietz. For the next four days, they held out hopes that Axelson might be found alive.
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