Supreme Sacrifice

On June 28, 2005, Lt. Michael Murphy led a four-man SEAL team deep into enemy territory through the rugged mountains of Afghanistan. Their mission was to scout out a Taliban leader who lived in the region. Murphy and his team came across a group of Afghan goat-herders. Marcus Luttrell, the second in command, had a gut feeling that the group might be Taliban spies. The team voted on what to do—finish them or free them—they decided to let them go.

A few hours later, the SEAL team was ambushed. Sure enough, the goat-herders had gone and reported their location to the Taliban. Outnumbered and at a terrain disadvantage, the SEAL team fought for nearly an hour until, the communications officer, Danny Dietz, attempted to send a distress call for air support. Dietz was shot before he was able to send the transmission.

Realizing that a distress call had to be made, Murphy risked his life to save his team. Since the rough terrain made a broadcast difficult, he went into the open, despite his wounds, in order to request emergency assistance. As he was being fired upon, Murphy made contact with Bagram Air Base. During the transmission, he was shot in the back and dropped the radio, but he quickly picked it up and completed the call.  

A MH-47 Chinook helicopter, was sent in to extract the SEALs, but as the chopper approached the battle zone, a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Chinook and killed all 16 men aboard.

After about two hours of fighting, Murphy, Dietz, and Matthew Axelson were killed. Luttrell, though severely wounded, crawled down the side of a cliff and traveled seven miles on foot, evading the enemy. Locals came to his aid and carried him to a nearby village where he was given shelter for three days before he was rescued by U.S. forces.

Because of his courage and ultimately sacrificing his life, Lt. Murphy was able to place the call that led to the rescue of one of his team members. For his heroics, Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Oct. 27, 2007.  



                                                                   Michael Murphy

Men like Michael Murphy are the embodiment of Jesus’ words in John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Memorial Day is a time of solemn remembrance for those who shed their blood for our national freedom, and to look to the One who shed His blood on the Cross for our spiritual freedom. According to the Bible, all love carries with it a price tag called sacrifice, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16).

The world has many misconceptions about what love is, but the Cross of Christ shows us that love is not just an emotion or a warm feeling we have. Love is displayed by willing the good of another no matter the cost. Christian love is voluntary (John 10:18), we give ourselves freely; vicarious (Gal. 2:20), we give ourselves for others; and vulnerable (Matt. 5:43-47) we give ourselves despite the fact we may not be loved in return. Francis Schaffer said it best, “Love is ultimate apologetic and the badge of the believer.” Let’s wear Christ’s love well.  -DM