Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit.....

Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit….  Those are the words that comprise the Navy SEAL’s

motto.  We were reminded this week that there are a group of men that are a cut above the rest that protect

our country in the most dangerous places in the world.  Saturday, May 7^th, 2011 we will honor one of these

elite men named Michael Murphy. It would have been his 35^th birthday.   A Medal of Honor winner, the

Navy will commission a ship with his namesake to forever honor a fallen hero.  I have provided the Marine

Color Guard for several of these ceremonies in the mid 1980’s and although there will be great pomp and

circumstance, I’m sure despite the Navy’s best effort it will be lacking in the gratitude Lt. Murphy truly

deserves.“The Protector” was his nickname.  He received the moniker when in Elementary School he was

suspended for fighting.  The fight was with several boys who were trying to “stuff” a special needs child into a

locker.  I imagine most men of Lt. Murphy’s caliber have a similar story in their past.  Lt. Murphy grew up

and graduated from Pennsylvania State University.  I understand that he had been accepted by several law

schools but instead chose to join the Navy to become a SEAL.  I would afford a guess that he felt “called” as

so many of our servicemen and women cite this as the reason they joined a branch of our military.  SEAL

school was in Lt. Murphy’s future and just like all of the other endeavors in his life, failure was not an

option.  

Lt. Murphy was eventually given the command of a SEAL team and 2005 found himself and 4 other Seals in

the Kunar Provence of Afghanistan.  Their mission was supposed to be one of observation and reporting of

target identification.  However, like most missions not everything went smoothly, 3 goat herders wandered

upon his team.  They were quickly captured and a discussion ensued as to their immediate future.  Lt.

Murphy argued successfully that they should not execute these three men.   They had no proof that they were

combatants and current he was under orders not to engage unless there was a clear danger.  Lt. Murphy

even put it to a vote and the men were released to be on their way.  One of the “men” was a 14 year-old-

boy and they all quickly disappeared over the hill.  Just minutes later the SEAL team was assaulted by over

100 Taliban fighters armed with AK-47’s and rocket launchers.  Though overwhelming outmanned the battle

raged for quite sometime.  Soon 3 of the team were wounded and their radio had been damaged beyond

repair.  Despite the danger, “The Protector” ran to an open area exposing him to enemy fire and used his

satellite phone to call for support.  Lt. Murphy did make contact with the Command Center requesting

support for his team.  Then the inevitable happened Lt. Murphy was shot and he dropped the phone.  The

lone surviving SEAL team member tells that Lt. Murphy then picked up the phone and gave his last words to

his command, “Roger out, Thank you.”   No, Lt. Michael Murphy, thank you.