Movie Chronicles LI Hero’s Last Heroic Battle Lt. Michael Murphy, USN
Maureen Ledden Rossi
Michael Murphy ( photo courtesy murphfoundation.org )Michael Murphy grew up like every other Long Island boy – he went to the beach, ate hotdogs and played little league. Like every other lad with the surname Murphy both in the states and ‘on the other side’, his pals called him Murph. All who knew him say he had a great sense of humor and loved to have a good time but there was always something different about young Murph. His father Daniel Murphy spoke with Smithtown Matters about his son’s life. “Michael exhibited leadership qualities when he was really young, he always seemed to do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons, all his friends knew that about him,” he said.
Looking back his son’s childhood, Murphy recalled a time when he was coaching Michael’s little league team. His son was about eleven or twelve at the time; he was up at bat and slammed a shot that went barreling into the outfield. His teammates began to round the bases with Michael behind them and the whole team cheered like crazy when he arrived at home plate. “The kids were shouting you won the game, you won the game, you won the game and he said, I didn’t win the game, we all won the game,” laughed his father.
Michael Murphy was born in Smithtown but raised in Patchogue. His father regaled Smithtown Matters with tales of his son always sticking up for those in need – a special needs boy who was being bullied in Middle School and a homeless man who was at the wrong end of some ill-mannered teens. “That’s how Michael got the name The Protectors, he did the right thing,” he shared.
Doing the right thing is what took Lt. Michael Murphy’s life in a heroic battle in the remote mountainous region of the Kunar Province in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. The elite NAVY Seal officer led his four-man reconnaissance team to kill or capture a sought after member of the Taliban. Murphy and his men were dropped by helicopter near the Pakistan border and during their mission local goat herders came upon their location. The SEALs had a critical decision to make – they could kill the goat herders or allow them and their animals go about their way knowing full well that their whereabouts could be compromised. Murphy and his team let those goat herders go and unfortunately the enemy was apprised of their location. Murphy and his three fellow SEALs were attacked by Taliban forces. Enormously outnumbered Murphy and his men were all wounded; in a desperate attempt to call for military backup, knowing full well he could be killed, the officer fought his way to open terrain to make that call and get help for his team. His call was successful and in the final moments of his life he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded.
Unfortunately the Chinook helicopter, full of reinforcements to rescue Murphy and his team, was shot down by enemy fire and all sixteen servicemen were killed, eight SEALs and eight services members. Only one of Murphy’s four man team came out alive that day from the mission known as Operation Red Wings - Marcus Luttrell.
Luttrell was rescued several days later after wandering the mountain and then being protected by Afghani people from a small village. Luttrell was Murphy’s best friend and the Texan penned a book immortalizing their battle that day entitled Lone Survivor. There is also another book Seal of Honor. “Lone Survivor is strictly about the battle that day – Seal of Honor is about Michael’s life, it’s a biography,” said his father. Luttrell’s book Lone Survivor has been made into a film that opens in select theaters on Christmas Day in Los Angeles and New York and goes nation-wide on January 10th.
Michael’s dad enjoyed reading both books and attending the premier of the movie. “I think the movie did a better job of portraying Michael’s leadership than the books – he had innate extraordinary leadership abilities,” he added.
Only 29 when gave his life for his country and for his fellow SEALs Murphy was the first person to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the War in Afghanistan. He was also the first member of the United States Navy to receive the award since the Vietnam War. The medal was presented to his parents during a ceremony at the White House by President George W. Bush.
Lt. Michael Murphy’s life has been memorialized and celebrated over the last eight years so many ways. He had a United States Navy destroyer named after him, a post office, a combat training pool, a Sea Cadet unit and a park in addition to many scholarship funds. When it comes to the movie Lone Survivor –the senior Murphy felt that the actor who played his son really did an amazing job – he said he really had his mannerisms down, the way he stood, knelt and carried himself. Michael Murphy is played by Taylor Kitsch and Marcus Luttrell is played by Mark Wahlberg. “Taylor’s personality also fits in well with Michael’s friends; if you go on the Facebook page Seal of Honor, there is a photo with him and my son’s friends,” he shared. Murphy had the opportunity to converse with Taylor’s mother for about a half hour after the movie premier. “The boys had a lot of similar life experiences, both were hurt while playing hockey as boys, they were both quiet, they were both laid back,” he added.
Lt. Michael Murphy’s life was both mourned and celebrated in the Kings Park funeral home of his relatives, the McElhone family in the summer of 2005. Over 3,000 people filed into the small community to bid farewell to Murph and to surround his parents Maureen and Dan and his brother John with their love. Murphy said it’s very strange the way his son’s life was immortalized in the press on both the day he was born and the day he died. “Michael was the subject of a Newsday article, he was born in 1976 before Mother’s Day and they did a big Mother’s Day spread with a picture of Maureen and Michael”, he explained. “Maureen talked about how happy she was to be a mother.” Murphy is proud of his son and proud to be a Navy SEAL family member saying the training SEALs go through is beyond grueling and that many actually lose their lives during the training.
“Michael’s field class started with one hundred and ninety-eight men, only eighteen graduated,” he explained. He said they are the elite of the elite and there are only two thousand Navy SEALs on active duty and a mere four-hundred are officers like his son. Murphy said the attention given to his son’s life has been incredible. “If I have one regret is that we don’t honor more of these men and women who lose their lives defending us,” he lamented. He says every single one of them deserve a newspaper article and a story about their lives.
To make a tax deductible donation to the Lt. Michael Murphy Foundation check out: www.murphfoundation.org
The money raised is divided between 8 different scholarships. Two go to Suffolk County students, one goes to the child of a crew member of the USSS Michael Murphy, one to a Penn State student (Murphy’s alma mater), one to the child of a Wounded Warier and one to a child of a Navy Seal who lost his life.