| While the three major U.S. presidential candidates condemned the Bush administration’s Iraq policy in Senate hearings in Washington, Americans tuned into the Medal of Honor ceremony Tuesday in the White House.
President George W. Bush said at the ceremony, "[Michael A. Monsoor’s] 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.”
Bush’s voice trembled when he described Navy Seal Monsoor’s bravery, who was posthumously awarded the honor.
Monsoor, who enlisted in March 2001, challenged death many times in Iraq. In May 2006, he ran into the line of fire to save a wounded comrade. Despite bullets flying all around him, he returned fire with one hand while using the other to pull the injured soldier to safety.
In September 2006, Monsoor and two others were on a rooftop in Ramadi, central Iraq. An insurgent’s grenade bounced off his chest and landed on the roof.
“Mike had a clear chance to escape, but he realized that the other two Seals did not,” Bush said. “In that terrible moment, he had two options — to save himself, or to save his friends. Mike threw himself onto the grenade and absorbed the blast with his body.”
Bush also quoted one of the survivors who witnessed Monsoor’s sacrifice. "Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, `You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.`"
Tears welled up in his eyes as Bush read the official citation. He had to wipe away tears with his hand after hugging Monsoor`s parents.
Though Bush is the person chiefly blamed for the Iraq War that killed tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and more than 4,000 American troops, few Americans seemed to blame him at that moment.
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