Profiles In Courage

WASHINGTON - "The last time Lt. Michael Murphy was seen alive, he was wounded in his arm and stomach, standing exposed on an Afghan peak so he could radio for a rescue helicopter, still firing at the Taliban and urging his men to escape.

But the day Murphy of Patchogue, L.I., was killed, he faced a moral crisis about whether to pull his trigger at all.

That morning, Murphy and three SEALs he commanded were hunting a top Taliban commander, Ahmad Shah, known as Ismail, according to sources interviewed by the Daily News in Afghanistan and in Washington.

But a pair of Afghan goatherds - one a young boy - stumbled on the team, the sources said. Being spotted instantly put their lives at risk and jeopardized a classified mission to find Ismail so he could be killed or captured.

"It was a classic special ops ethical dilemma. There are no right answers," said one source who knew the SEALs. "But Murph decided to let them go." While the sources said there is no evidence the goatherds ratted the men out to the Taliban, two hours later the SEALs saw 40 militiamen pouring over a ridgeline and headed toward their position.

A running firefight began as the Taliban attacked from three sides. For 20 minutes, the SEALs leapfrogged backward down the steep slope, covering each other as they moved.

Three SEALs were wounded by gunfire or rocket-propelled grenades. One screamed, "I'm hit!" But Murphy yelled back, "We're all hit! Keep moving!"

Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Danny Dietz was the first to die as they tumbled 2,600 feet downhill, firing the whole way. Sonar Technician 2nd Class Matthew Axelson is believed to have been the second to fall. Intelligence later estimated the SEALs killed as many as 20 Taliban.

As their situation became desperate, Murphy crawled into the open, exposing himself to get a clear signal on his satellite radio in the mountains, according to accounts given by the fourth SEAL, who survived but hasn't been publicly identified.

"Troops in contact!" Murphy screamed, according to a source who heard the transmission.

He was bleeding from severe wounds in his arm and stomach, but still firing his M4 rifle at the enemy and encouraging his men to escape while he held off their attackers - a selfless act common in citations for the Medal of Honor.

"Murph was the last guy between the team and the Taliban," said a friend. "He knew he had to expose himself to save his team."

The fourth SEAL tried to help Murphy and Axelson, who had a head wound, but an RPG explosion knocked him down. Before passing out, the surviving SEAL heard his dying lieutenant calling him by name.

A quick reaction force of SEALs and Army special operations soldiers was dispatched, but their chopper was shot down nearby. All 16 aboard were killed.

A photo of Murphy with a shaggy beard in a beloved FDNY T-shirt he wore every day used to hang on a wall inside his SEAL team's old briefing room at the U.S. base in Bagram, Afghanistan, beside framed photos of the 10 other SEALs killed that day.

A few weeks later, a SEAL told a visitor, "We look at their faces each time we walk out the door."

Murphy's mud-soaked body was identified quickly because of the T-shirt.

There was also an "El Barrio's Bravest" FDNY patch on Murphy's sleeve when he fell. The red patch is clearly visible in a grainy Al Qaeda propaganda video, which shows his killers removing his wristwatch. The patch now hangs below his framed photo on the wall of the Spanish Harlem ladder company."

Sometimes you screw the pooch. Sometimes the enemy just gets lucky. But always, in the back of your mind, you say, "man, they fucked up." It is impossible to believe otherwise because you go to war "knowing" that if everyone does his job, things will turn out okay. No sane person could think anything else and volunteer to walk into the meat grinder.

This link is to a Guest Book in memory of Mike.