The Sailor Pictured Below Is Congressional Medal of Honor winner Petty Officer Second Class MIKE MONSOOR, EOD2 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Second Class)
PO2 MIKE MONSOOR
April 5th, 1981 ~ September 29th, 2009
Mike Monsoor was awarded The Congressional Medal Of Honor Last Week for giving his life in Iraq, jumping on and covering a live hand grenade with his body, thus saving the lives of a large group of Navy SEALS that happened to be passing by.
During Mike Monsoor's funeral at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California. the six pallbearers removed the rosewood casket from the hearse. Lined up on each side of Mike's casket were his family members, friends, fellow sailors, and well-wishers. The column of people reached from the hearse all the way to the grave site. What the group didn't know at the time was that every SEAL (45 to be exact) that Mike saved that day was scattered throughout the column! As the pallbearers carried the rosewood casket down the column of people to the grave site, the column collapsed, forming a group of people that followed behind. Every time the casket passed a SEAL, he would remove his gold trident pin from his uniform and slap it down hard on the top of the casket, causing the gold pin to embed itself into the top of the casket. Then the SEAL would step back and salute!
For those who don 't know what a trident pin is, here is the definition: After one completes the basic Navy SEAL program, which lasts for three weeks and is followed by seal qualification training, which lasts 15 more weeks, trainees are given their naval enlisted code and are awarded the SEAL trident pin. With this gold pin they are now officially SEALs.
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 trident pins that lined the top!
This was a fitting end to an eternal send-off for a warrior hero!
(I forwarded this email in August of 2010)
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