The highest honor for the greatest sacrifice
Back when the ceremony took place, I meant to link to the story of a new recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor because it is awe inspiring. And we are in dire need of witnessing people of noble character these days.
I just noticed George Weigel’s piece on this young man, but with a profound and added depth. Weigel reflects on what a ‘martyr of charity’ means.
The idea of a “martyr of charity” continued to intrigue me, though, most recently in the case of Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael Anthony Monsoor, who died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on 29 September 2006. Michael Monsoor was a devout Catholic of Arab Christian descent, who had grown up in Garden Grove. Two years after his high school graduation, he enlisted in the Navy, where this superb athlete was soon attracted to the toughest of the tough, the Navy SEALS.
Read the account of his heroism in the self-sacrifice that saved others, an act Weigel sees as intuitive, based on the values that informed Monsoor.
No one knows whether, in the split-second of his decision, Michael Monsoor thought himself called to the martyrdom of charity; like most Catholics, he’d probably never heard the term. But everything we know about this remarkable young SEAL suggests that his instantaneous decision to give his life for the sake of his teammates and allies was rooted in his Catholic faith and his understanding of its demands.