AMERICA'S FINEST!

Observation of the Day!

From the living room at my condo in Coronado, I can see through the buildings to the Navy Seal training base. We see the boys running in and out of the Pacific Ocean as the instructors yell and punish them with a cold and sandy bath. We see them running up the beach., leaders and stragglers We see them swimming in the bay and the ocean. We see them carrying their boats over their heads as the teams trot down the beach with the instrutor yapping at their heels. On a Sunday evening we hear the reports of live gunfire and explosives as the teams hit the deck out to begin Hell Week, the toughest week of their lives.

I was sitting in Starbucks one Saturday after the Seals class had just completed Hell Week. They literally had a tough time walking they were so chafed by the sand. Their hands were swollen from being constantly in the salt water all week. These were the guys that made it so far. With all their hurt you could see the pride they took in this major accomplishment. They are America's finest young men.

This week in the San Diego Union Tribune was the following article concerning the Medal of Honor to be bestowed post humously of one of finest this country had to offer.

By Chelsea J. Carter
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN DIEGO – An elite Navy SEAL who threw himself on top of a grenade in Iraq to save his comrades will be posthumously awarded the nation's highest military tribute, a White House spokeswoman said Monday.

The Medal of Honor will be awarded to Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor.

Monsoor is the fifth person to receive the honor since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

“Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on Sept. 29, 2006. Monsoor was part of a sniper security team in Ramadi with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi soldiers, according to a Navy account. An insurgent fighter threw the grenade, which struck Monsoor in the chest before falling in front of him.

Monsoor then threw himself on the grenade, according to a SEAL who spoke to The Associated Press in 2006 on condition of anonymity because his work requires his identity 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 suffered shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. “He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him.”

Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 feet to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. Monsoor, from Garden Grove, Calif., was 25 at the time.

Monsoor, a platoon machine gunner, had received the Silver Star, the third-highest award for combat valor, for his actions pulling a wounded SEAL to safety during a May 9, 2006, firefight in Ramadi.

There are about 2,300 of the elite fighters, based in Coronado and Little Creek, Va.

The Navy is trying to boost the number by 500 – a challenge considering more than 75 percent of candidates drop out of training, notorious for “Hell Week,” five days of continual drills by the ocean broken by only four hours sleep total.

Monsoor made it through training on his second attempt.

U. S. Navy Seals we are proud of you.

Have a nice day!

Sam