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USNAviator
06-15-10, 07:14 PM
For those of you interested, a new book has been released by the Naval Institute Press

SEAL of Honor by Gary Williams.

I've included a brief summery of it's content. For those of you interested in Marine and Naval history, the Naval Institute Press has many books you won't find in B&N or other bookstores


Lt. Michael Patrick Murphy, a Navy SEAL, earned the Medal of Honor on 28 June 2005 for his bravery during a fierce fight with the Taliban in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan. The first to receive the nation's highest military honor for service in Afghanistan, Lt. Murphy was also the first naval officer to earn the medal since the Vietnam War, and the first SEAL to be honored posthumously. A young man of great character, he is the subject of Naval Special Warfare courses on character and leadership, and an Arleigh Burke-class (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arleigh_Burke_class_destroyer) guided missile destroyer, naval base, school, post office, ball park, and hospital emergency room have been named in his honor.

A bestselling book by the sole survivor of Operation Red Wings, Marcus Luttrell, has helped make Lt. Murphy's SEAL team's fateful encounter with the Taliban one of the Afghan war's best known engagements. Published on the 5th anniversary of the engagement, SEAL of Honor also tells the story of that fateful battle, but it does so from a very different perspective being focused on the life of Lt. Murphy. This biography uses his heroic action during this deadly firefight in Afghanistan, as a window on his character and attempts to answer why Lt. Murphy readily sacrificed his life for his comrades. SEAL of Honor is the story of a young man, who was noted by his peers for his compassion and for his leadership being guided by an extraordinary sense of duty, responsibility, and moral clarity.

In tracing Lt. Murphy's journey from a seemingly ordinary life on New York's Long Island, to that remote mountainside a half a world away, SEAL of Honor will help readers understand how he came to demonstrate the extraordinary heroism and selfless leadership that earned him the nation's highest military honor. Moreover, the book brings the Afghan war back to the home front, focusing on Lt. Murphy's tight knit family and the devastating effect of his death upon them as they watched the story of Operation Red Wings unfold in the news. The book attempts to answer why Lt. Murphy's service to his country and his comrades was a calling faithfully answered, a duty justly upheld, and a life, while all too short, well lived.



"In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
—GEORGE W. BUSH, Read by the President at the Presentation Ceremony at the White House on October 22, 2007.

CQB0316
06-15-10, 07:20 PM
Some of the toughest and most professional warriors around. RIP to the r/s team, the 160th SOAR pilots, and the rest of the boys from SEAL Team 10 who died in the rescue attempt.