[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 14 (Monday, April 14, 2008)]
[Pages 500-501]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting Posthumously the Congressional Medal of Honor to 
Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor

April 8, 2008

    Good afternoon, and welcome.
    The Medal of Honor is America's highest decoration for military 
valor. Over the years, many who have received the medal have given their 
lives in the action that earned it. The name of Petty Officer Michael 
Anthony Monsoor will now be among them.
    September 2006, Michael laid down his life for his brothers in arms. 
Today we remember the life of this faithful Navy SEAL. And on behalf of 
a grateful nation, we will present Michael Monsoor's family with the 
Medal of Honor that he earned.
    I welcome the Vice President. Secretary of Defense Gates, thank you 
for coming; Secretary of Veterans Affairs Peake; Secretary Don Winter of 
the Navy; Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and wife, 
Deborah; General James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and 
Annette; Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, and wife, 
Ellen; Senator John McCain; Congressman Ed Royce; Congresswoman Loretta 
Sanchez.
    Previous Medal of Honor recipients, thank you for joining us.
    I appreciate Chaplain Burt, Navy SEALs--the finest warriors on the 
face of the Earth, the Monsoor family, and everybody else.
    The Medal of Honor is awarded for an act of such courage that no one 
could rightly be expected to undertake it. Yet those who knew Michael 
Monsoor were not surprised when he did. The son of Orange County, 
California, grew up in a family where helping others was a way of life. 
Mike's father was a marine; his mother, a social worker. Together they 
raised their four children to understand the meaning of service and 
sacrifice.
    From a very early age, Mike showed the strength of his own 
convictions. Apparently going to kindergarten wasn't one of them. Mike 
had no complaints after the first week of school, until someone broke 
the news to him that he had to go back the next week. [Laughter] Many 
mornings, Mike refused to put on the nice clothes for school. Instead, 
he insisted on wearing mismatched outfits. Mike's mother soon discovered 
there was no stopping the determined young boy from mixing plaids and 
stripes. And years later, there would be no stopping an even more 
determined young man from donning a uniform of navy blue.
    In some ways, Mike was an unlikely candidate for the Navy. He 
suffered from terrible asthma as a child. On some nights, his coughing 
fits would land him in the hospital. But Mike would not lay low for 
long. He strengthened his lungs by racing his siblings in the swimming 
pool. He worked to wean himself off his inhaler. He built himself into a 
superb athlete, excelling from sports like football to snowboarding.
    After enlisting in the Navy, he began preparing for the ultimate 
test of physical endurance: SEAL training. Less than a third of those 
who begin this training become SEALs. But Mike would not be denied a 
spot. In September 2004, he earned the right to wear the Navy SEAL 
trident.
    The newly minted frogman became a beloved member of the SEAL team 
community. His teammates liked to laugh about the way his shiny Corvette 
would leave everybody in the dust. But deep down, they always knew Mike 
would never leave anybody behind when it counted. He earned their 
confidence with his attention to detail and quiet work ethic. One of 
Mike's officers remembers an instructor once asking after an intense 
training session, quote, ``What's the deal with the Monsoor guy? He just 
says, `Roger that,' to everything.''
    When Mike deployed with his team to Ramadi in the spring of 2006, he 
brought that attitude with him. Because he served as both a heavy 
machine gunner and a communications operator, he often had a double load 
of equipment, sometimes more than 100 pounds worth. But under the glare 
of the hot desert sun, he never lost his cool.

[[Page 501]]

    At the time, Ramadi was in the clutches of Al Qaida terrorists and 
insurgents. Together the SEALs and the Army 1st Battalion of the 506 
Infantry Regiment took the offense against the enemy. The SEALs carried 
out a broad range of special operations, including providing sniper 
cover in tough urban conditions and conducting raids against terrorists 
and insurgents. Overall, Mike's platoon came under enemy attack during 
75 percent of their missions. And in most of these engagements, Mike was 
out front defending his brothers.
    In May 2006, Mike and another SEAL ran into the line of fire to save 
a wounded teammate. With bullets flying all around them, Mike returned 
fire with one hand while helping pull the injured man to safety with the 
other. In a dream about the incident months later, the wounded SEAL 
envisioned Mike coming to the rescue with wings on his shoulders.
    On Saint Michael's Day, September 29, 2006, Michael Monsoor would 
make the ultimate sacrifice. Mike and two teammates had taken position 
on the outcropping of a rooftop when an insurgent grenade bounced off 
Mike's chest and landed on the roof. Mike had a clear chance to escape, 
but he realized that the other two SEALs did not. In that terrible 
moment, he had two options: to save himself or to save his friends. For 
Mike, this was no choice at all. He threw himself onto the grenade, and 
absorbed the blast with his body. One of the survivors puts it this way: 
``Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, `You cannot take my 
brothers. I will go in their stead.' ''
    Perhaps the greatest tributes to Mike's life is the way different 
service members all across the world responded to his death. Army 
soldiers in Ramadi hosted a memorial service for the valiant man who had 
fought beside them. Iraqi Army scouts, whom Mike helped train, lowered 
their flag and sent it to his parents. Nearly every SEAL on the west 
coast turned out for Mike's funeral in California. As the SEALs filed 
past the casket, they removed their golden tridents from their uniforms, 
pressed them onto the walls of the coffin. The procession went on nearly 
half an hour. And when it was all over, the simple wooden coffin had 
become a gold-plated memorial to a hero who will never be forgotten.
    For his valor, Michael Monsoor becomes the fourth Medal of Honor 
recipient in the war on terror. Like the three men who came before him, 
Mike left us far too early. But time will not diminish his legacy. We 
see his legacy in the SEALs whose lives he saved. We see his legacy in 
the city of Ramadi, which has gone from one of the most dangerous places 
in Iraq to one of the most safest. We see his legacy in the family that 
stands before us filled with grief, but also with everlasting pride.
    Mr. and Mrs. Monsoor: America owes you a debt that can never be 
repaid. This Nation will always cherish the memory of your son. We will 
not let his life go in vain. And this Nation will always honor the 
sacrifice he made. May God comfort you. May God bless America.
    Come on up. And now George and Sally Monsoor will be here--a 
Military Aide will read the citation.

Note: The President spoke at 3:07 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Rear Adm. Robert F. Burt, USN, 
Chief of Navy Chaplains. Following the President's remarks, Lt. Col. 
Gina C. Humble, USAF, Air Force Aide to the President, read the 
citation.