Mike Monsoor: Navy Seal Received Extraordinary Funeral
Now, That’s a Hero
Navy Seals Honor One of their Own
NavySeals
The story of an extraordinary funeral for an extraordinary hero.
“PO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals.”
Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy, distinguished himself through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a Combat Advisor and Automatic Weapons Gunner for Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on 29 September 2006. He displayed great personal courage and exceptional bravery while conducting operations in enemy held territory at Ar Ramadi Iraq.
During Operation Kentucky Jumper, a combined Coalition battalion clearance and isolation operation in southern Ar Ramadi, he served as automatic weapons gunner in a combined SEAL and Iraqi Army (IA) sniper overwatch element positioned on a residential rooftop in a violent sector and historical stronghold for insurgents. In the morning, his team observed four enemy fighters armed with AK-47s reconnoitering from roads in the sector to conduct follow-on attacks. SEAL snipers from his roof engaged two of them which resulted in one enemy wounded in action and one enemy killed in action. A mutually supporting SEAL/IA position also killed an enemy fighter during the morning hours. After the engagements, the local populace blocked off the roads in the area with rocks to keep civilians away and to warn insurgents of the presence of his Coalition sniper element. Additionally, a nearby mosque called insurgents to arms to fight Coalition Forces.
In the early afternoon, enemy fighters attacked his position with automatic weapons fire from a moving vehicle. The SEALs fired back and stood their ground. Shortly thereafter, an enemy fighter shot a rocket-propelled grenade at his building. Though well-acquainted with enemy tactics in Ar Ramadi, and keenly aware that the enemy would continue to attack, the SEALs remained on the battlefield in order to carry out the mission of guarding the western flank of the main effort.
Due to expected enemy action, the officer in charge repositioned him with his automatic heavy machine gun in the direction of the enemy’s most likely avenue of approach. He placed him in a small, confined sniper hide-sight between two SEAL snipers on an outcropping of the roof, which allowed the three SEALs maximum coverage of the area. He was located closest to the egress route out of the sniper hide-sight watching for enemy activity through a tactical periscope over the parapet wall. While vigilantly watching for enemy activity, an enemy fighter hurled a hand grenade onto the roof from an unseen location. The grenade hit him in the chest and bounced onto the deck. He immediately leapt to his feet and yelled “grenade†to alert his teammates of impending danger, but they could not evacuate the sniper hide-sight in time to escape harm. Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself onto the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity. The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him.
Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional. Of the three SEALs on that rooftop corner, he had the only avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life. By his courageous and selfless actions, he saved the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor.
The Seals Send Off a Hero
During Mike Monsoor’s funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two’s, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike’s coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.
The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.
Disgusting that the ONLY way we hear about these heroes is through the Internet. Where the HELL is the media when it comes time to honor these men?
Click the Snopes link below.
Video of the services.
Very moving.
Mike Monsoor: truly a genuine American Hero.
by RidesAPaleHorse
images: usnavy; RAPH
Source: Mike Monsoor
Mike Monsoor is no hero.
Mike Monsoor swore an Oath to protect, defend, and OBEY the Constitution for the united States.
Article IV, Section 4, of that Constituion forbids the use of the Army and Navy of the united States from any other uses besides “supression of Insurrections and repelling Invasions.”
Mike Monsoor was in Iraq on an offensive — not a defensive — mission.
Mike Monsoor was a traitor to his Oath and our Constitution.
These invasions of our liberty by a Federal government that is out of control will continue as long as those who purport to love liberty pay homage to those who enable that same government to engage in its current, playground bully foreign policy.
Reply
jvit Reply:
September 23rd, 2009 at 17:13
Mike Monsoor and thousands of others have made the ultimate sacrafice so you are able to sit freely and write your opinion. As an American, you disgust me.
Reply
George Taylor Reply:
September 27th, 2009 at 20:45
Dear jvit,
“Mike Monsoor and thousands of others have made the ultimate sacrifice so [I am] able to sit freely and write [my] opinion?†Please tell me what is the annual quota of sacrificial brave/brainwashed 19 year-olds necessary to secure my Freedom of Speech? One? Ten? A hundred? A thousand? How many innocent women and children have to be napalmed a year to secure that freedom? How many farmers’ fields have to be forever poisoned with the radioactive dust of depleted uranium artillery shells in order to secure that freedom? Please read my dialogue with Julian and Ward: Our freedoms are secured through Trial by a Fully Informed Jury – fully informed of their right and duty to disregard the facts of a case and suspend unjust statutes, or statutes applied in an unjust manner. Freedom has nothing to killing innocent people who have been oppressed and brainwashed by foreign dictators.
Reply
Ward Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 08:59
How dare you! Mike Monsoor is absolutely the ultimate hero! Whether you agree with the war or the governments decision to be in the war Mike Monsoor was a soldier working in defense of my country and as a soldier he is a-politcal and followed the orders of his superiors [in rank only] and volunteered his life for his comrads in arms. You are fortunate to live in my country and be allowed to spew your drivel on the internet without police or soldiers coming to get you.GOD BLESS MIKE MONSOOR!!
Reply
George Taylor Reply:
September 27th, 2009 at 20:34
Dear Ward,
You say that someone who has betrayed his Oath to the Constitution is the “ultimate hero?†Please justify that using logic, and not this militaristic, flag-waving emotionalism that you false-patriots are so famous for. You can start by answering the arguments that I presented earlier in this string to Julian, who has yet to refute my answers to your train of thought. Have you ever read the Oath of Enlistment? Have you ever read the war powers of the Constitution? Have you ever read a Federalist</ essay? No? I did not think so. Who is the one who really needs to do the research? You should start with #69, published by Alexander Hamilton, on March 14, 1788.
No, I am not fortunate to live in your nation. And yes, you are correct I do not like your government. In fact I wish that you and all of your fellow neo-conservative, jingoistic, dominionist Republican flag wavers would take your irredeemable paper Federal Reserve Notes, your Marxist income tax, your Australian secret ballot, and your gun-grabbing National Rifle Association; and go live somewhere else: Go live in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Obamaland, anywhere where they do not have a Constitution. Leave those of us who love and understand liberty, the Law – the Constitution for the united States – free to rebuild our Union of sovereign States that was destroyed by your ideological predecessors in the 1860s. Please leave while we still have a chance, before the cops and soldiers finally do come bursting through my front door, thus making a liar out of you.
BTW, I am willing to allow anyone to stay regardless of race, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, or whatever, so long as they do not view an election as a chance to “vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury,†as you seem to believe the United States Armed Forces are entitled to do.
—- Edward Gibbon
Reply
Have some respect for the dead. This man WAS a hero. Call the president and other politicians the traitors, not the men and women who fight and die so scum like you can sit at home and write bullshit on the net about them. Look Monsoor’s mother in the eyes and tell her his son was a traitor… You make me sick.
Reply
No sir — disgusting is that the media have been cut off from military funerals because they make the bush junta look bad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yABRVaJw7J8
Otherwise there would be much more prominent media attention. It’s time for you to wake the hell up.
If anything is disgusting, it is that sites such as yours that pretend to care about our fallen soldiers are complicit in such crimes.
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I mean, frankly, shithole, it will not matter if, 20 years down the pike, you turn around and decide maybe you were too much of a roll-over punk for the bush/rumsfeld crowd. You’ll just say, “Oh-ho-ho, I guess I made a mistake trusting those assholes.”
The problem is that while you’re chuckling over your youthful foolishness, a lot of guys who looked to you and your kind for guidance will still be trying to raise money for decent prostheses and shitting into bags.
How fucking dare you publish shit like this?
Reply
To Julian:
So you automatically resort to name calling and profanity. That is all you have left when the facts are not on your side. I will call the President a traitor, and another other person who has sworn the Oath to protect, and defend out Constitution, and then reneges on that Oath. I have no more respect for someone who died violating that Oath than I do for a meth addict who died of an overdose. As far as him dying so I could be free to write, you are sadly mistaken. Mansoor’s death makes me no more free than his having lived. What makes me free is Trial by Jury. Have you read the war clauses in the Constitution? Do you know what constitutes a lawful and an unlawful war? Have you read Federalist Paper #69, which says that in the absence of a declaration of war the President’s powers as Commander-in-Chief is supposed to be less than those of the Governor of New York? Have you read “Trial by Jury?” You should educate yourself soon before all of our freedoms are gone.
Reply
To: T. Allen Caldwell
I should not have insulted you, I felt angered for the comment you left about Monsoor. For that I apologize, but just as I should not have insulted you, you have no right to say this man was no better than “a meth addict who died of an overdose” I know that this man’s life or death makes no difference in what freedoms we both enjoy, and I am also deeply angered by the betrayals we have suffered under our current leaders….But what I’m talking about is what this soldier stands for. And If not his blood then the blood of soldiers past and perhaps future allows you your liberties.
Is it Monsoors fault that our government is allowing our leaders to run amuck breaking and changing laws as they see fit? We might as well blame ourselves for paying taxes that contribute to the war effort, or driving cars that raise our dependency on oil, or we can blame half of America for revoting the president back into office. If were saying Monsoor is a traitor then I guess were all traitors in some small way, oath or not.
This brings me to my next point. It’s true that Monsoor swore to obey the constitution but he also swore that he will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over him. Monsoor can’t pick who’s appointed over him or which orders to follow, but before you say that he freely enlisted (and giving him the same respect as a meth addict) you might want to catch up on some reading yourself and look over his bio before making accusations of treachery. You might find it surprising that he enlisted before the September 11th attacks… most certainly before any oaths were broken and any constitutions betrayed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Monsoor
My apologies again.
Sincerely,
Julian R
Reply
To : T. Allen Caldwell
I should not have insulted you, I felt angered for the comment you left about Monsoor. For that I apologize, but just as I should not have insulted you, you have no right to say this man was no better than “a meth addict who died of an overdose” I know that this man’s life or death makes no difference in what freedoms we both enjoy, and I am also deeply angered by the betrayals we have suffered under our current leaders….But what I’m talking about is what this soldier stands for. And If not his blood then the blood of soldiers past and perhaps future allows you your liberties.
Is it Monsoors fault that our government is allowing our leaders to run amuck breaking and changing laws as they see fit? We might as well blame ourselves for paying taxes that contribute to the war effort, or driving cars that raise our dependency on oil, or we can blame half of America for revoting the president back into office. If were saying Monsoor is a traitor then I guess were all traitors in some small way, oath or not.
This brings me to my next point. It’s true that Monsoor swore to obey the constitution but he also swore that he will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over him. Monsoor can’t pick who’s appointed over him or which orders to follow, but before you say that he freely enlisted (and giving him the same respect as a meth addict) you might want to catch up on some reading yourself and look over his bio before making accusations of treachery. You might find it surprising that he enlisted before the September 11th attacks… most certainly before any oaths were broken and any constitutions betrayed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Monsoor
My apologies again.
Sincerely,
Julian R
Reply
Dear Julian,
I accept your apology with no more glee or gloating than I felt insulted by what you said. You are truly a man for having done so. I do not wish to make an enemy of you; I wish to establish a dialogue with ANYONE, in an attempt to restore the Republic. After careful reflection, I will apologize to the memory of Michael Monsoor for calling him a “traitor;†his actions (in violation of his Oath) did not fit the legal definition of “treason.†However, I will still say that his actions were “treasonable.†I am going to say some very harsh things. But these are not intended to anger you; I am only trying to get you to think.
Have you looked at the materials that I have suggested? I did read the Wikipedia article about Michael: I read that he over came “asthma as a childâ€; he “attended Garden Grove High School … played tight-end … and graduated in 1999.†I wish the story would have diverged there; I wish that he would have accepted a football scholarship, and gone to make a lot of money—keep it all for himself—marry a beautiful wife, raise a wonderful family, and die an old man in his bed.
But that is not what he chose for himself. I read that he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Silver Star. This, along with everything else I have read about Michael, does not change my opinion of him. Nor was it different from what I expected to find. If he chose to go to Iraq on his own dime, I would have had the same amount of respect for him as I would for a “meth head†that chooses to throw away God’s most precious gift.†I respect everyone’s Freedom of Choice to live their lives as they see fit. All I ask is that you show me the same respect: “Keep your choices off my body,†and out of my wallet! Michael did not have that respect for me. He chose to go to Iraq on my dime and in my good name. At least I can tell the meth head, “No! I have no change (to support your filthy habit).â€
I am just as angry as you are about the betrayals of the Constitution by “our current leaders.†The problem is it goes way, way back beyond the Iraqi-American War. What upsets me most of all is people are not focusing on the real issues. There is too much going on in broad daylight that people are not paying attention to; we do not need to alert them to conspiracies; we need to alert thing to what they are seeing out in the open everyday.
As far as the blood of soldiers past and future protecting my liberty, I most vociferously disagree with you. There has not been a war fought since the First American Revolution that was necessary for liberty; and that war was only fought to preserve liberties that already existed. Have you read Trial by Jury yet? At least do an Internet search on the trials of William Penn and Peter Zenger. All the wars since then the First American Revolution have only served to lay down another layer of guilt for future generations in an effort to persuade them to march into their graves, thus laying another layer of guilt for the next generation. “If you love our freedoms – thank a juror.†That is where our freedoms come from; and that is how they are preserved.
Yes, I will say it is “Monsoor’s fault that our government is allowing our leaders to run amuck breaking and changing the Law as they see fit.†If Michael chose not to enlist, along with more than a million others, the powers that be would not be able to use the United States Armed Forces as a decoy to deprive us of our liberty.
I will not blame myself for the current mess we are in. I have always voted against perpetuating it. In my humble opinion, those who vote for the winner of any election have less of a right to complain than those who did not vote at all. Yes I do pay taxes. There are anti-war leftists who call themselves War Tax Resisters, and refuse to pay their income tax, I applaud them—but with only one hand. These are people who hate our Constitution as much as Bush, McCain, Obama and Clinton do. I wish I had the guts to refuse to pay my income tax on constitutional grounds, but I believe my current strategy will have a long-term payoff beyond the damage my income taxes are doing. I will not blame myself for “driving†(i.e. operating) a car either: We import far more oil from Canada and Mexico than we do from the Persian Gulf.
Another point I disagree with you with is that “we can blame half of America for revoting the president back into office.†Rather “I blame 99% of America for revoting Bush’s policies back into office.†Kerry had essentially the same strategy for Iraq as Bush did. Obama is pledging to keep the troops in Iraq just as McCain is. What is the difference? A vote for McCain is a vote for Obama, and a vote for Obama is a vote for McCain. In order to change things people are going to have to start looking outside the current two-party duopoly. The good news is alternative parties do not have to come close to winning any elections in order to change things.
I agree that “Monsoor can’t pick who’s appointed over him or which orders to followâ€; and I agree “that Monsoor swore to obey … orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over him.†You did very well almost quoting exactly, word for word the Oath of Enlistment for the United States Armed Forces. But you left out three important words: “according to regulations.†This implies that those who take the Oath are duty bound to refuse orders that violate those regulations, of which the Constitution is the highest regulation. Now as I have taken back my accusing Michael of “treason,†and lessened that accusation to merely being “treasonable,†I will speculate that Michael was not aware of what I have just written to you. I will also speculate that he did not care either. Had he considered it, he might still be alive today, enriching everyone’s lives by scoring touchdowns, finding a cure for cancer, inventing new technologies, or whatever he may have been best at. Instead he is rotting in the ground over a lie. And I am not talking about Bush’s lies concerning WMD. The lies I speak of are far worse, and they stretch from the Rio Grande to the Persian Gulf, and from Hawaii to the North Atlantic. I regret to inform you that Oaths were violated long before 9-1-1. Julian, I too was once a member of the United States Armed Forces. Once I realized the truth, I refused to be apart of a lie. I claimed status not as a Conscientious Objector (Pacifism is a philosophy that I find morally repugnant), but as a “Constitutional Defender.†I claimed that the President had committed treason for involving my generation in its foreign war. My consequences were an Honorable Discharge; I believe they were afraid to prosecute me.
Members of the United States Armed Forces are not duty bound to obey unlawful orders. Any military officer will affirm that. But the debate is over what is the difference between a lawful and an unlawful order. Please allow me to leave you with some words from the Supreme Court about unconstitutional statutes:
“An unconstitutional statute, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void, [sic] and ineffective for any purpose; since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it. An unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed. … No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it.†—— Sixteenth American Jurisprudence, Second Edition, Section 177, Cf. Norton v. Shelby County, 118 U.S. 425, 442 (1886).
Reply
Dear Julian,
I accept your apology with no more glee or gloating than I felt insulted by what you said. You are truly a man for having done so. I do not wish to make an enemy of you; I wish to establish a dialogue with ANYONE, in an attempt to restore the Republic. After careful reflection, I will apologize to the memory of Michael Monsoor for calling him a “traitor;†his actions (in violation of his Oath) did not fit the legal definition of “treason.†However, I will still say that his actions were “treasonable.†I am going to say some very harsh things. But these are not intended to anger you; I am only trying to get you to think.
Have you looked at the materials that I have suggested? I did read the Wikipedia article about Michael: I read that he over came “asthma as a childâ€; he “attended Garden Grove High School … played tight-end … and graduated in 1999.†I wish the story would have diverged there; I wish that he would have accepted a football scholarship, and gone to make a lot of money—keep it all for himself—marry a beautiful wife, raise a wonderful family, and die an old man in his bed.
But that is not what he chose for himself. I read that he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Silver Star. This, along with everything else I have read about Michael, does not change my opinion of him. Nor was it different from what I expected to find. If he chose to go to Iraq on his own dime, I would have had the same amount of respect for him as I would for a “meth head†that chooses to throw away God’s most precious gift.†I respect everyone’s Freedom of Choice to live their lives as they see fit. All I ask is that you show me the same respect: “Keep your choices off my body,†and out of my wallet. Michael did not have that respect for me. He chose to go to Iraq on my dime. At least I can tell the “meth head,†“No! I have no change.â€
I am just as angry as you are about the betrayals of the Constitution by “our current leaders.†The problem is it goes way, way back beyond the Iraqi-American War. What upsets me most of all is people are not focusing on the real issues. There is too much going on in broad daylight that people are not paying attention to; we do not need to alert them to conspiracies; we need to alert thing to what they are seeing out in the open everyday.
As far as the blood of soldiers past and future protecting my liberty, I most vociferously disagree with you. There has not been a war fought since the First American Revolution that was necessary for liberty; and that war was only fought to preserve liberties that already existed. Have you read Trial by Jury yet? At least do an Internet search on the trials of William Penn and Peter Zenger. All the wars since then the First American Revolution have only served to lay down another layer of guilt for future generations in an effort to persuade them to march into their graves, thus laying another layer of guilt for the next generation. “If you love our freedoms – thank a juror.†That is where our freedoms come from; and that is how they are preserved.
Yes, I will say it is “Monsoor’s fault that our government is allowing our leaders to run amuck breaking and changing the Law as they see fit.†If Michael chose not to enlist, along with more than a million others, the powers that be would not be able to use the United States Armed Forces as a decoy to deprive us of our liberty.
I will not blame myself for the current mess we are in. I have always voted against perpetuating it. In my humble opinion, those who vote for the winner of any election have less of a right to complain than those who did not vote at all. Yes I do pay taxes. There are anti-war leftists who call themselves War Tax Resisters, and refuse to pay their income tax, I applaud them—but with only one hand. These are people who hate our Constitution as much as Bush, McCain, Obama and Clinton do. I wish I had the guts to refuse to pay my income tax on constitutional grounds, but I believe my current strategy will have a long-term payoff beyond the damage my income taxes are doing. I will not blame myself for “driving†(i.e. operating) a car either: We import far more oil from Canada and Mexico than we do from the Persian Gulf.
Another point I disagree with you with is that “we can blame half of America for revoting the president back into office.†Rather “I blame 99% of America for revoting Bush’s policies back into office.†Kerry had essentially the same strategy for Iraq as Bush did. Obama is pledging to keep the troops in Iraq just as McCain is. What is the difference? A vote for McCain is a vote for Obama, and a vote for Obama is a vote for McCain. In order to change things people are going to have to start looking outside the current two-party duopoly. The good news is alternative parties do not have to come close to winning any elections in order to change things.
I agree that “Monsoor can’t pick who’s appointed over him or which orders to followâ€; and I agree “that Monsoor swore to obey … orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over him.†You did very well almost quoting exactly, word for word the Oath of Enlistment for the United States Armed Forces. But you left out three important words: “according to regulations.†This implies that those who take the Oath are duty bound to refuse orders that violate those regulations, of which the Constitution is the highest regulation. Now as I have taken back my accusing Michael of “treason,†and lessened that accusation to merely being “treasonable,†I will speculate that Michael was not aware of what I have just written to you. I will also speculate that he would not have cared either. Had he considered it, he might still be alive today, enriching everyone’s lives by scoring touchdowns, finding a cure for cancer, inventing new technologies, or whatever he may have been best at. Instead he is rotting in the ground over a lie. And I am not talking about Bush’s lies concerning WMD. The lies I speak of are far worse, and they stretch from the Rio Grande to the Persian Gulf, and from Hawaii to the North Atlantic. I regret to inform you that Oaths were violated long before 9-1-1. Julian, I too was once a member of the United States Armed Forces. Once I realized the truth, I refused to be apart of a lie. I claimed status not as a Conscientious Objector (Pacifism is a philosophy that I find morally repugnant), but as a “Constitutional Defender.†I claimed that the President had committed treason for involving my generation in its foreign war. My consequences were an Honorable Discharge; I believe they were afraid to prosecute me.
Members of the United States Armed Forces are not duty bound to obey unlawful orders. Any military officer will affirm that. But the debate is over what is the difference between a lawful and an unlawful order. Please allow me to leave you with some words from the Supreme Court about unconstitutional statutes:
“An unconstitutional statute, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void, [sic] and ineffective for any purpose; since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it. An unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed. … No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it.†—— Sixteenth American Jurisprudence, Second Edition, Section 177, Cf. Norton v. Shelby County, 118 U.S. 425, 442 (1886).
Reply
Dear Julian (part one),
I accept your apology with no more glee or gloating than I felt insulted by what you said. You are truly a man for having done so. I do not wish to make an enemy of you; I wish to establish a dialogue with ANYONE, in an attempt to restore the Republic. After careful reflection, I will apologize to the memory of Michael Monsoor for calling him a “traitor;†his actions (in violation of his Oath) did not fit the legal definition of “treason.†However, I will still say that his actions were “treasonable.†I am going to say some very harsh things. But these are not intended to anger you; I am only trying to get you to think.
Have you looked at the materials that I have suggested? I did read the Wikipedia article about Michael: I read that he over came “asthma as a childâ€; he “attended Garden Grove High School … played tight-end … and graduated in 1999.†I wish the story would have diverged there; I wish that he would have accepted a football scholarship, and gone to make a lot of money—keep it all for himself—marry a beautiful wife, raise a wonderful family, and die an old man in his bed.
But that is not what he chose for himself. I read that he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Silver Star. This, along with everything else I have read about Michael, does not change my opinion of him. Nor was it different from what I expected to find. If he chose to go to Iraq on his own dime, I would have had the same amount of respect for him as I would for a “meth head†that chooses to throw away God’s most precious gift.†I respect everyone’s Freedom of Choice to live their lives as they see fit. All I ask is that you show me the same respect: “Keep your choices off my body,†and out of my wallet. Michael did not have that respect for me. He chose to go to Iraq on my dime. At least I can tell the “meth head,†“No! I have no change.â€
I am just as angry as you are about the betrayals of the Constitution by “our current leaders.†The problem is it goes way, way back beyond the Iraqi-American War. What upsets me most of all is people are not focusing on the real issues. There is too much going on in broad daylight that people are not paying attention to; we do not need to alert them to conspiracies; we need to alert thing to what they are seeing out in the open everyday.
As far as the blood of soldiers past and future protecting my liberty, I most vociferously disagree with you. There has not been a war fought since the First American Revolution that was necessary for liberty; and that war was only fought to preserve liberties that already existed. Have you read Trial by Jury yet? At least do an Internet search on the trials of William Penn and Peter Zenger. All the wars since then the First American Revolution have only served to lay down another layer of guilt for future generations in an effort to persuade them to march into their graves, thus laying another layer of guilt for the next generation. “If you love our freedoms – thank a juror.†That is where our freedoms come from; and that is how they are preserved.
Yes, I will say it is “Monsoor’s fault that our government is allowing our leaders to run amuck breaking and changing the Law as they see fit.†If Michael chose not to enlist, along with more than a million others, the powers that be would not be able to use the United States Armed Forces as a decoy to deprive us of our liberty.
Reply
Ward Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 11:38
You seem so unhappy about our government & their choices and choose to disrespect a dead hero. My question to you is, why don’t you do your research and find a better place to live with a government and military more to your liking and leave? GOD BLESS MIHCAEL MONSOOR!!
Reply
Dear Julian (part 2),
I will not blame myself for the current mess we are in. I have always voted against perpetuating it. In my humble opinion, those who vote for the winner of any election have less of a right to complain than those who did not vote at all. Yes I do pay taxes. There are anti-war leftists who call themselves War Tax Resisters, and refuse to pay their income tax, I applaud them—but with only one hand. These are people who hate our Constitution as much as Bush, McCain, Obama and Clinton do. I wish I had the guts to refuse to pay my income tax on constitutional grounds, but I believe my current strategy will have a long-term payoff beyond the damage my income taxes are doing. I will not blame myself for “driving†(i.e. operating) a car either: We import far more oil from Canada and Mexico than we do from the Persian Gulf.
Another point I disagree with you with is that “we can blame half of America for revoting the president back into office.†Rather “I blame 99% of America for revoting Bush’s policies back into office.†Kerry had essentially the same strategy for Iraq as Bush did. Obama is pledging to keep the troops in Iraq just as McCain is. What is the difference? A vote for McCain is a vote for Obama, and a vote for Obama is a vote for McCain. In order to change things people are going to have to start looking outside the current two-party duopoly. The good news is alternative parties do not have to come close to winning any elections in order to change things.
I agree that “Monsoor can’t pick who’s appointed over him or which orders to followâ€; and I agree “that Monsoor swore to obey … orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over him.†You did very well almost quoting exactly, word for word the Oath of Enlistment for the United States Armed Forces. But you left out three important words: “according to regulations.†This implies that those who take the Oath are duty bound to refuse orders that violate those regulations, of which the Constitution is the highest regulation. Now as I have taken back my accusing Michael of “treason,†and lessened that accusation to merely being “treasonable,†I will speculate that Michael was not aware of what I have just written to you. I will also speculate that he would not have cared either. Had he considered it, he might still be alive today, enriching everyone’s lives by scoring touchdowns, finding a cure for cancer, inventing new technologies, or whatever he may have been best at. Instead he is rotting in the ground over a lie. And I am not talking about Bush’s lies concerning WMD. The lies I speak of are far worse, and they stretch from the Rio Grande to the Persian Gulf, and from Hawaii to the North Atlantic. I regret to inform you that Oaths were violated long before 9-1-1. Julian, I too was once a member of the United States Armed Forces. Once I realized the truth, I refused to be apart of a lie. I claimed status not as a Conscientious Objector (Pacifism is a philosophy that I find morally repugnant), but as a “Constitutional Defender.†I claimed that the President had committed treason for involving my generation in its foreign war. My consequences were an Honorable Discharge; I believe they were afraid to prosecute me.
Members of the United States Armed Forces are not duty bound to obey unlawful orders. Any military officer will affirm that. But the debate is over what is the difference between a lawful and an unlawful order. Please allow me to leave you with some words from the Supreme Court about unconstitutional statutes:
—— Sixteenth American Jurisprudence, Second Edition, Section 177, Cf. Norton v. Shelby County, 118 U.S. 425, 442 (1886).
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“Orders are orders,” and must be obeyed if only because they are first of all, orders, did not fly at the Nazi War Criminal trials shortly after WWII. The Nuremberg Tribunal found that even Nazi soldiers who had taken a blood oath to obey Hitler had a higher duty to obey the laws of humanity. That would rule out genocide on one’s own people and aggressive war on others, which may include genocide, as we see.
Since my enlisted time in the U.S. Navy, 1952-56, honorably discharged 1960, I have come to expect the brass to find the lowest possible rank to be held accountable, and this appears to be the case here. Trooper Monsoor took the dollar off of the ‘King’s’ drum and became one of the many ‘King’s’ men; But the real evil lies in the conduct of this trooper’s officers, up to and including the putatutive commander-in-chief.
Perhaps the late Mr Monsoor’s friends and parents will want to read Vincent Bugliosi’s new book, “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder”, Vanguard Press (2008), and then be willing to file a complaint with their County and State’s Grand Juries/State’s Attornies and publish to the media, especially the internet? http://www.proseccutionofbush.com
If GWB is guilty of murder by direction, under color-of-law, then isn’t every sworn officer from the joint chiefs on down to trooper Monsoor’s immediate senior officer equally guilty? Please see:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/nuremberg.htm
There will be plenty of pain to go around at the empire’s collapse, as we saw the ‘good’ non-nazi Germans get bombed, shot, burned, starved, raped &etc., during the war, because they didn’t speak up before 1932. Many of ‘us’ thought that ‘they’ had it coming.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. We let ‘our’ government get out of control; now it invites blowback on a massive scale. If we don’t get our own house in order PDQ, there won’t be anybody crying for ‘us’.
Isn’t it time to restore the Constitution and the Rule of Law?
Federal Reserve est delenda
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My hat is off to po2 Monsoor. He is a true American hero.
But the claim that this story was not reported in the media is an outrageous lie. I spent five seconds to type his name into Google, and found that the story of his heroic actions was printed in the Washington Post and sent out on the news wire to papers across the country and around the world.
Don’t tarnish Monoor’s memory by making him a political football. Don’t include his honored name in the same sentence as your lies.
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mondo Reply:
December 10th, 2008 at 15:44
It’s customary when calling someone a liar not to hide behind a “reporter” pseudonym.
Did you check the date on the stories, genius? How many were reported months later?
“Reporter”?
Get real.
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Q. Why don’t the government controlled (public) schoolsoffer courses in logic and critical thinking?
A. Because it would reduce unthinking obediance to criminal stupidity.
I see the memorials for ‘our fallen heroes’ and I think this must be how the Mafia views their dead, all as heroes.
You know when you join any organization that lives by the sword, to kill or be killed, then one can’t be suprised when one’s victims hit back. Anybody recall the Golden Rule? Well, it applies to all human beings, uniformed or not, in high office or not.
Hubris is also a deadly enemy. “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” And that insanity is hubris; the SEALS and the USMC are not exempt.
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To Rose,
You “really liked the way” what/who “came off?”
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People who feel they must write as unknowns are cowards. We cannot defend and obey the First Amendment by hiding out.
‘Reporter’ is such a coward.
We are talking about the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings attempting to defend their own nation in the face of an intially overwhelming armed invasion by a foreign army from thousands of miles away.
We are talking about the thousands of deaths of our children who are engaged, by mere orders, to kill those once distant hundreds of thousands—in our name and with our wasted labor that paid the taxes to do these murders.
Where is your commonsense? Yes, do read Spooner’s “Trial BY Jury,” then read Paine’s “Common Sense,” and since you seem to have some free time, please read the Founding Documents starting with the glorious Declaration of Independence.
Question: If the British colonists who now recognized themselves as Americans, had the moral right to fire on the troops of the British king as invaders, what are the rights of Iraqis, Afghans, Iranians, etc., to deal with invaders?
Answer ______________?
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Clearly after reading all the above contents of debate, I’m further prided to be an American. We are not perfect, nor will we ever attain such, but our strive for excellence is held at such a high standard that we will endure our challenges, conquer our adversaries, and achieve our goals to the best our abilities at any given time and place. I will state this…. To the highly educated young minds that can determine our future, no degree, dictionary, or amount of research can ever be substitute to life experience. The truths we still seek can only be attained in objectivity. There is no black and white, only shades of gray. So take your knowledge with you on this journey called life and make a difference in tomorrow, BUT UNTIL THEN KEEP YOUR IGNORANT LITTLE TRAP SHUT! Our constitution might protect your freedom of speech legally, but it won’t protect your silver-spooned face from being decorated red, white, and blue at likes of me and many other Americans who have endured the loss of such patriotism whether it be in family, friendship, or brothers-in-arms. WHY DON’T YOU SPEAK YOUR SMALL-MINDED ILL WILL TO THE TWO SEALS WHO ARE STILL HERE WITH US! (or at least try, though your efforts will surely be useless) It matters not whether the battlefield remain abroad or come to the homefront. These same soldiers and patriots will be the ones protecting us on either front, and you my ingnorant coward will promise to seek cover while shouting cries of help to these same BROTHERS-IN ARMS!!!!!!!! GROW UP!
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And if you really served in our armed forces, don’t shoot your load off because your military career lacked brilliance, and the intel you felt deserving of was not privy to you and is ABOVE YOUR PAY GRADE!
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He was a good soldier and did a good thing, a hero? Maybe he didn’t cure cancer but to those men he saved, if I were one of them, I would call him a hero, since it is about out sacrifices that define us, not what Article of what we can cut and paste, or what book we have read as we click on a keyboard and try to make a point to people that could care less about your, or me for that matter.
Anyone can sit back and hold up a book and say “see, see, I don’t have too! Your wrong and I’m right!” as they read books and letters from 200 years ago. Times have changed people. I recall the scene in the movies when Al Pacino shouts “your out of order, your out of order…”
— I’m sorry to those who argue about the war/gov’t/Bush being a war crimnal/ or Obama’s birth certificate – very few people care about you for the most part. Stay behind your monitors were you are out of the way of people that work, and keep you safe at night.
You are just 1 vote, so use it, don’t ruin a man’s memorial by politics.
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George Taylor Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 15:43
My response to BOTH “J. Killbear†and “Keifer1080â€:
“He was a good soldier and did a good thing. … to those men he saved. …â€
“And if you really served in our armed forces, don’t shoot your load off because your military career lacked brilliance. …â€
“[I]t is about out sacrifices that define us, not what Article of what we can cut and paste, or what book we have read as we click on a keyboard and try to make a point to people that could care less about your, or me for that matter.
Anyone can sit back and hold up a book and say “see, see, I don’t have too! Your wrong and I’m right!†as they read books and letters from 200 years ago.†I am assuming that you are referring to the Constitution that your terrorist heroes swore an Oath to “protect and defend,†the very same Constitution that they have sold out for the sake of a twenty-year retirement, just as Judas sold out our Lord and Savior for thirty pieces of silver (About 208 “dollars†in your unconstitutional, depreciating Federal Reserve Notes that your high-paid mercenaries are so proud to say they are protecting me from).
“BUT UNTIL THEN KEEP YOUR IGNORANT LITTLE TRAP SHUT! Our constitution might protect your freedom of speech legally, but it won’t protect your silver-spooned face from being decorated red, white, and blue at likes of me and many other Americans who have endured the loss of such patriotism whether it be in family, friendship, or brothers-in-arms. WHY DON’T YOU SPEAK YOUR SMALL-MINDED ILL WILL TO THE TWO SEALS WHO ARE STILL HERE WITH US!†Are capital letters indicative of shouting and losing one’s temper? It must be because I have not read one single train of logical thought in your mindless jingoistic, flag-waving ramblings. And what make you think that I am “old money,†that is the “silver spoon†you refer to? You know nothing of my socio-economic status. You are only assuming that I am wealthy because I am able to construct a syllogism. Intelligence is no indicator of financial status, just look at your two heroes, Republican (fascist/socialist) George W. Bush, and Democrat (socialist/fascist) Al Gore, Jr.: Bush could hardly utter an extemporaneous paragraph without adding a new word to the English lexicon; Gore barely made through Harvard, and flunked out of divinity school. Yet both men are multi-millionaires. And I really do not think I have the small mind. You have yet to refute any of the logical arguments that I have raised. You only tactic is to wrapped yourself in a red, white and blue symbol of a government that is out of control, and call me “small-minded.†But you are correct, I do wish those two Sea, Air, and Land ForcEs (a.k.a. “SEALsâ€) – and anyone else who has violated his or her oath by kicking a Muslim hornet’s nest – “ill will.†I will tell those two cowards that as soon as you provide an e-mail address for me.
“Times have changed people. I recall the scene in the movies when Al Pacino shouts ‘your [sic] out of order, your [you’re] out of order…’â€
“It matters not whether the battlefield remain abroad or come to the homefront. These same soldiers and patriots will be the ones protecting us on either front, and you my ingnorant [sic] coward will promise to seek cover while shouting cries of help to these same BROTHERS-IN ARMS!!!!!!!! GROW[sic]â€
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Suggest you all read Article IV section 4 of the United States constitution. It was miss quoted by T Allen Caldwell to say what he wanted to think it to says, not what it says. It sates one guarantee the US makes to each state, Not an all inclusive list of what the Military may do.
Article IV Section 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
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T. Allen Caldwell ,you need to get into dome BDU.s,gear up and grab a weapon. Talk is cheap,put it on the line.
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