Written By: Justin Hampton
On July 19th, the monument that honored the highly decorated U.S. Navy Seal Lt. Michael P. Murphy was vandalized.
Lt. Murphy joined the Navy Seals in July of 2002. He became most known for his courageous actions during Operation Red Wings, which left three of the four original members of the operation killed-in-action, including Murphy. During the fight, 16 other U.S. Special Operations soldiers were killed when their helicopter was shot down while they were trying to extract the four-man SEAL team.
On June 28, 2005, Murphy left his cover and went to an opening in the mountains during a gunfight. He did this to contact their headquarters and let them know that they needed reinforcements. Lt. Michael Murphy was a highly decorated member of the United States Navy Seals. He received 14 awards and decorations, most notably the Medal of Honor which was presented to Murphy’s parents in 2007 after his death in 2005. Murphy also received the Purple Heart Medal and the Special Warfare Insignia which is also known as the SEAL Trident. All three of the SEALs in Murphy’s team received the Navy Cross, which made them the most decorated team in Navy Seal history.
Murphy was awarded the highest medal the U.S Military has to offer, the Medal of Honor. He earned this through his actions during the Afghanistan War. Marcus Luttrell, the only survivor of Operation Red Wings was outraged and said “Only a coward would do this” on Instagram.
Police have arrested a 14-year-old boy at his home in Ronkonkoma at 3 am Friday morning for smashing the memorial that honors the Medal of Honor recipient, Michael P. Murphy. The 14-year-old has been charged with second-degree criminal mischief and is scheduled to be arraigned at a Family Court sometime in the near future. Police have not released the identity of the teen.
Daniel Murphy, Michael Murphy’s father, said that “Michael was the type of person who would have wanted to take this person under his wing, and talk to him.” Daniel also said that “the vandal doesn’t know the significance of his actions.” Murphy’s mother, Maureen Murphy, said that she hopes that someone will “speak to the boy about all that Lt. Murphy and his team of Navy SEALs did for the country.” She added that she wants the teen to read Lone Survivor, the book written by Marcus Luttrell about Operation Red Wings.
On July 20th Andrew Cuomo, the Governor Of New York, tweeted that he was “appalled and disgusted by this apparent act of vandalism…” He also added that the state of New York would fully fund the replacement of the memorial. He hopes the replacement of the memorial brings comfort to his family and the community and that everyone owes Lt. Michael Murphy a unpayable debt of gratitude.
If you would like to donate to the Michael Murphy Foundation please go to https://murphfoundation.org.
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