Navy SEAL Michael Murphy Died Fighting Terrorists

Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2007, with President Bush acknowledging "a debt that will not diminish with time." AP

Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2007, with President Bush acknowledging "a debt that will not diminish with time." AP View Enlarged Image

In a desolate ravine in Afghanistan, Michael Murphy was running out of options.

For more than two hours in June 2005, the 29-year-old lieutenant and his three fellow Navy SEALs had battled 100 Taliban fighters in the Hindu Kush Mountains.

As his unit suffered injuries, low ammunition and lost communications — and with another wave of enemy militia closing in — Murphy made a desperate decision: somehow reach open ground to call headquarters for reinforcements.

Although he'd been shot in the stomach, Murphy stepped out from behind his cover and into the line of fire with his mobile phone.

Reaching a clearing, he sat on a rock and began pounding in the numbers to the base. He took a shot in the back and dropped the transmitter moments later, but picked it up and continued the call.

Then he took a shot to his head, said "thank you" and resumed firing until he collapsed and died.

By the end of the firefight, in which 35 Taliban terrorists were killed, three SEALs were dead. A fourth team member managed to escape and was later rescued.

Murphy's last stand soon became part of military lore.

Murphy's Keys

    The first Navy SEAL to land the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.

    "I'm not going to fail,'' he said of becoming a SEAL.

In October 2007 President Bush awarded the first Medal of Honor for combat in Afghanistan to the New York native, who also was the first SEAL since Vietnam to receive the nation's highest award for combat bravery.

Special Man

"What he did didn't surprise us," Dan Murphy, Michael's father, told IBD. "We just kind of knew he'd be in the middle of something great. It was his nature. He was that kind of person."

Gary Williams, the author of "SEAL of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN" told IBD: "He was born to be a SEAL. I'm not the only one to recognize that. He's the most celebrated Medal of Honor winner since World War II."

Murphy grew up on Long Island, where the fearlessness and selflessness he displayed in Afghanistan surfaced at an early age. When he was 2, he jumped off a diving board into a neighbor's pool as his parents chatted nearby. By the time Dan could dive after his son, Michael had paddled to the other side.

"He was a risk taker. He was fearless. He always jumped in with both feet," said Dan Murphy.

When Michael was in junior high, he saw a group of bullies trying to push a special education student into a locker.