Fallen Hero

It's a Daddy-doggy weekend. My wife has left us alone 'til tomorrow afternoon and as I do on similar weekends, I plant myself in front of the TV and watch a movie or two that we wouldn't normally take in together. Earlier this afternoon I took in the annual viewing of Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down.

I'm amazed every time I see it by the Ranger ethos. Dozen's of men put their own lives on the line for one 18-year old newbie and then again for the crews of two Black Hawk helicopters, selflessly and without regard for their own safety. It is my earnest hope that I never take such bravery on the part of other men for granted.

Life imitates art when tonight I came across this story of Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor:

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities 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 sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."

Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.

His sounds like a story we could stand hearing more of.