On the last day of his life, on a rooftop in Ramadi, Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor was assigned to protect three SEAL snipers. When an insurgent's grenade lobbed from the street bounced off Monsoor's chest, he didn't hesitate. He yelled "Grenade!" and pounced on it even though he had a clear path of escape.
He was dead within 30 minutes, but he had saved the lives of three SEALs.
On Monday, the White House announced that Monsoor, 25, who grew up in Garden Grove, has been selected to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for combat bravery, for his actions that violent day, Sept. 29, 2006.
It will be the third Medal of Honor bestowed for bravery in Iraq.
Monsoor's family and his fellow SEALs said Monday that even as they grieve over his death they are not surprised that he sought the safety of others before his own.
Sara Monsoor, a pediatric nurse at Children's Hospital of Orange County, said her brother never mentioned the dangers of his deployment in his e-mails and phone calls home. Still, the family knew he had been assigned to what was the most violent city in Anbar province, the home of the most hard-core elements in the Sunni Arab insurgency.
"We knew things were difficult there and if anything happened, Mike would be the first to jump in and try to make it better," his sister said. His fellow SEALs, she added, "were like his brothers."
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Seth Stone, Monsoor's platoon commander on the mission that cost his life, remembered Monsoor's sense of humor and dedication to duty. "Mike never complained. He always had a smile," Stone said.
He said he knew something had gone tragically wrong on the rooftop that day when he heard the sickening sound of the muffled explosion.
President Bush is set to present the medal to Monsoor's parents, George and Sally Monsoor, at the White House on April 8.
"We're looking at it as a way to celebrate Mike," his sister said of the ceremony.
Monsoor is buried at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, across the bay from SEAL headquarters in Coronado.
A petty officer second class, he will be the first in the Navy to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq.
Only one Marine, Cpl. Jason Dunham, and one Army soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, have been awarded the medal for actions in Iraq. SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy received the Medal of Honor for service in Afghanistan. All three awards were posthumous.
