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I got a phone call one day
from the principal.
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And he said, "Mrs. Murphy,
I have to call you on this," he goes,
3
00:00:31,700 --> 00:00:33,910
"but Mike's not really in trouble.
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I have to tell you because
we gotta report these things."
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00:00:36,705 --> 00:00:38,039
He says,
"Mike was in a fight."
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I know there was a kid in school
at one point when he was younger
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that they were bullying,
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and he wouldn't put up with it.
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Some of these kids
were bullying a child
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00:00:51,219 --> 00:00:53,012
who was in--
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00:00:53,179 --> 00:00:54,723
who had learning disabilities.
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00:00:54,889 --> 00:00:56,683
So they were trying
to stuff him in a locker,
13
00:00:56,850 --> 00:00:58,643
you know,
thinking it was funny.
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00:00:58,810 --> 00:01:02,230
And Mike came along and,
you know, told them, "Let him go."
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00:01:02,397 --> 00:01:05,859
A lot of people say things
about people that passed away
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00:01:06,025 --> 00:01:08,987
and they might
rightfully be glorified,
17
00:01:09,154 --> 00:01:13,491
but anything that has ever been said
about Mike is spot-on true.
18
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The little kid
was really scared.
19
00:01:15,326 --> 00:01:18,163
He was like--
you know, he thanked Mike.
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00:01:18,329 --> 00:01:21,124
He was Michael the protector.
And that's what he was doing.
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00:01:21,291 --> 00:01:24,419
When we were lifeguards, we would have
so-called "lifeguard parties."
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00:01:24,586 --> 00:01:28,131
And, you know, every now and then
someone would get out of control.
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And if there was a mismatch
in a fight with someone,
24
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Mike would make sure
that it "evened out," let's say.
25
00:01:34,345 --> 00:01:36,848
And he would, you know,
stand to that guy's guard.
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He was always
very protective of people.
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He reflected that in his whole life.
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It was always
"please" and "thank you"
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and the protector image
that he projected.
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I said that, you know,
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"You treat people
the way you want to be treated."
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Which was,
"It's not about me, it's about you."
33
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And he really was a protector.
34
00:01:56,117 --> 00:01:59,329
This one person
made such an impact
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00:01:59,496 --> 00:02:01,289
on everything, you know.
36
00:02:01,456 --> 00:02:03,500
But he was the protector.
37
00:03:23,997 --> 00:03:26,332
Maureen Murphy:
Well, we moved to Patchogue
38
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when Mike was about two and half.
39
00:03:28,543 --> 00:03:31,504
And, you know, he was little.
40
00:03:31,671 --> 00:03:34,465
And we had a house built.
41
00:03:34,632 --> 00:03:37,552
And his room
was up on the second floor.
42
00:03:37,719 --> 00:03:40,013
And for a little man, I mean,
43
00:03:40,179 --> 00:03:42,515
he couldn't wait
to get his own room.
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00:03:42,682 --> 00:03:45,935
He went up into that room,
into his first captain's bed,
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'cause he wasn't gonna get
the crib, you know,
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and he went to bed,
said good night, and that was it.
47
00:03:51,441 --> 00:03:53,526
Never bothered for water or--
48
00:03:53,693 --> 00:03:56,195
he was that kind of a kid. He was
very mature even for a little guy.
49
00:03:56,362 --> 00:03:59,908
Mike wasn't afraid of anything.
He would just go and do it.
50
00:04:00,074 --> 00:04:01,826
And once he got his mind set to it,
51
00:04:01,993 --> 00:04:04,287
he was doing it
and nobody was stopping him.
52
00:04:04,454 --> 00:04:06,122
We took him
into my neighbor's pool.
53
00:04:06,289 --> 00:04:07,957
We didn't have a pool
back then.
54
00:04:08,124 --> 00:04:12,128
And he was like-- loved the water.
He just loved it.
55
00:04:12,295 --> 00:04:16,132
And one day
he just walked over there
56
00:04:16,299 --> 00:04:18,259
and thought he could go in it
and dove in.
57
00:04:18,426 --> 00:04:21,220
And I got in the water,
picked him up.
58
00:04:21,387 --> 00:04:24,474
And, you know, I see this little face
looking at me through the water.
59
00:04:24,641 --> 00:04:26,893
And I picked him up and I put
the towel around him and I said,
60
00:04:27,060 --> 00:04:29,771
"Don't do that. You can't go in there
unless an adult goes in with you."
61
00:04:29,938 --> 00:04:32,273
And as I turned to put the towel,
he dove in again.
62
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,653
So he just was like
a little water bug.
63
00:04:36,819 --> 00:04:39,489
Mike is my cousin.
We grew up together.
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00:04:39,656 --> 00:04:43,034
He lived five minutes
from my house.
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00:04:43,201 --> 00:04:45,745
We went to middle school together.
We went to high school together.
66
00:04:45,912 --> 00:04:48,373
And he always had kids to play with.
Even though he was an only child,
67
00:04:48,539 --> 00:04:51,918
he always had, you know,
cousins and friends to play with.
68
00:04:52,085 --> 00:04:55,505
So my back yard was like
the back yard for all the kids.
69
00:04:55,672 --> 00:04:59,175
We were just playing roller hockey
and stuff in his driveway.
70
00:04:59,342 --> 00:05:01,469
And even then
71
00:05:01,636 --> 00:05:04,347
he might not have been even
the best skater at that time,
72
00:05:04,514 --> 00:05:07,976
but he was diving, blocking shots,
poke-checking, in your way.
73
00:05:08,142 --> 00:05:12,480
He was the guy that got
the skinned knee and kept going.
74
00:05:12,647 --> 00:05:14,983
He had a group of friends.
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00:05:15,149 --> 00:05:17,026
I wouldn't say
that Mike was the guy
76
00:05:17,193 --> 00:05:19,070
that was jumping
from friends to friends.
77
00:05:19,237 --> 00:05:22,156
He had this core group of guys
that were his buddies,
78
00:05:22,323 --> 00:05:25,076
guys that remained his friends
for the rest of his life.
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00:05:25,243 --> 00:05:26,953
Micheal Mistretta: When we were kids,
we were playing football
80
00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:29,080
across the street
from his mother's house.
81
00:05:29,247 --> 00:05:32,750
I launched a pass to him
and it was so far to the right.
82
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He actually dove and laid out
like it was an ESPN commercial.
83
00:05:36,212 --> 00:05:38,881
He disappeared
into the hedges.
84
00:05:39,048 --> 00:05:41,592
And I remember thinking to myself,
"My God, what happened to Mike?"
85
00:05:41,759 --> 00:05:44,053
He came out.
He was full of blood, mud,
86
00:05:44,220 --> 00:05:46,264
his shirt ripped,
a hole in his pants.
87
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Walked out, he went, "Touchdown!"
and dropped the ball and walked away.
88
00:05:50,309 --> 00:05:52,645
Mike was an only child
for a long time.
89
00:05:52,812 --> 00:05:56,065
And 10 years later
I had John.
90
00:05:56,232 --> 00:05:59,110
And he never said he wanted
a brother or a sister,
91
00:05:59,277 --> 00:06:01,195
but I think he really wanted
a brother.
92
00:06:01,362 --> 00:06:03,906
And I was in the hospital
and I had John.
93
00:06:04,073 --> 00:06:06,534
And that afternoon
Mike comes walking in the hospital,
94
00:06:06,701 --> 00:06:10,246
and it was really cute-- he bounces up
on the side of the bed and he says,
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"Mom, you made me
the happiest kid. I have a brother."
96
00:06:12,832 --> 00:06:15,126
Brought tears to my eyes.
97
00:06:15,293 --> 00:06:17,170
John: I remember going
to the games a lot.
98
00:06:17,336 --> 00:06:19,088
And I remember
at the football games,
99
00:06:19,255 --> 00:06:21,215
of course football
being in the fall and the winter,
100
00:06:21,382 --> 00:06:23,926
sitting on the bench,
watching Michael play
101
00:06:24,093 --> 00:06:26,596
and also at the same time
kind of feeling cold,
102
00:06:26,763 --> 00:06:29,182
like, "How much longer do I have
to be here? I'd rather be home,"
103
00:06:29,348 --> 00:06:31,559
you know,
play with toys or something
104
00:06:31,726 --> 00:06:33,728
and, you know,
in the nice, warm weather.
105
00:06:33,895 --> 00:06:37,815
But, I mean, still watching him play.
It was nice to watch him play.
106
00:06:37,982 --> 00:06:41,861
Michael was such a good kid
107
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that he would go with his father
108
00:06:44,489 --> 00:06:46,616
on the slightest errands.
109
00:06:46,783 --> 00:06:50,161
Dan would say, "Let's go
across the street to 7-Eleven,"
110
00:06:50,328 --> 00:06:54,165
and Michael would say, "Okay, Pop."
And off they would go to 7-Eleven.
111
00:06:54,332 --> 00:06:57,877
As a real young boy,
he was always in a good mood,
112
00:06:58,044 --> 00:07:01,964
always happy. And he was--
he was up for everything.
113
00:07:02,131 --> 00:07:04,133
His dogs
Blackie and Charlie--
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00:07:04,300 --> 00:07:06,719
he would tell you
what was going on with them.
115
00:07:06,886 --> 00:07:10,098
And he'd always be devoted to them,
making sure they had water
116
00:07:10,264 --> 00:07:12,391
and letting them out,
making sure they were okay.
117
00:07:12,558 --> 00:07:14,769
He was a great swimmer.
And they had a pool in the back yard.
118
00:07:14,936 --> 00:07:18,648
And he would do silly dives,
119
00:07:18,815 --> 00:07:20,650
whether it was cannonballs or--
120
00:07:20,817 --> 00:07:22,610
Dan used to do
something called "pencil."
121
00:07:22,777 --> 00:07:24,654
And Mike would do that
because he was--
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00:07:24,821 --> 00:07:26,781
he loved swimming.
He loved the water.
123
00:07:26,948 --> 00:07:29,117
( woman over speakers )
Michael Murphy.
124
00:07:29,283 --> 00:07:31,494
( children cheering, clapping )
125
00:07:33,204 --> 00:07:35,790
Man: Come on, Michael,
you're the youngest one there.
126
00:07:36,791 --> 00:07:38,793
Woman:
Good.
127
00:07:40,753 --> 00:07:43,506
Where is he?
128
00:07:43,673 --> 00:07:45,383
Daniel Murphy:
It was chaotic and fun.
129
00:07:45,550 --> 00:07:48,177
Typical Michael--
when the girls moved in,
130
00:07:48,344 --> 00:07:51,556
they were-- I mean, they were--
I think Cathy was nine,
131
00:07:51,722 --> 00:07:54,892
Kelly was 11
and Colleen was 12.
132
00:07:55,059 --> 00:07:57,145
My dad passed away
when I was younger.
133
00:07:57,311 --> 00:08:01,107
And Aunt Maureen had taken me
and my sisters
134
00:08:01,274 --> 00:08:03,860
and gave us, you know,
a family and a place to live.
135
00:08:04,026 --> 00:08:06,112
Daniel: Their father
had died of cancer.
136
00:08:06,279 --> 00:08:08,990
Their mother had basically
abandoned them.
137
00:08:09,157 --> 00:08:11,993
And their grandmother
literally wanted
138
00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,453
to move them along.
139
00:08:14,620 --> 00:08:16,706
Michael and I laughed
140
00:08:16,873 --> 00:08:19,542
because she was so intent
on getting them out of her house
141
00:08:19,709 --> 00:08:22,670
that she delivered them to us
in the middle of a snowstorm.
142
00:08:22,837 --> 00:08:25,089
Mike gave up his room
143
00:08:25,256 --> 00:08:27,341
and, you know, we became
like brothers and sisters.
144
00:08:27,508 --> 00:08:31,012
Daniel: "Mom, Dad, the girls
have to stay somewhere.
145
00:08:31,179 --> 00:08:34,557
I'll move out of the big room
so they can go in that room."
146
00:08:34,724 --> 00:08:37,185
And always helped me,
you know, study.
147
00:08:37,351 --> 00:08:39,896
If I didn't know something,
he would help me, teach me.
148
00:08:40,062 --> 00:08:42,023
He actually taught me to drive.
( laughing )
149
00:08:42,190 --> 00:08:44,233
Scott Mactavish:
Tell me more about that.
150
00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,569
Yeah, my first car was his first car.
151
00:08:46,736 --> 00:08:49,655
And he'd take me to a parking lot
152
00:08:49,822 --> 00:08:53,075
of an abandoned supermarket
or empty supermarket,
153
00:08:53,242 --> 00:08:56,245
and he'd teach me
to go in circles
154
00:08:56,412 --> 00:08:58,581
and then venture out
onto the roads.
155
00:08:58,748 --> 00:09:00,958
( crowd cheering )
156
00:09:10,927 --> 00:09:13,095
- ( whistle tweets )
- Yes! Yes!
157
00:09:15,264 --> 00:09:16,974
Sports was his thing.
He loved it.
158
00:09:17,141 --> 00:09:19,352
He played soccer.
He wasn't wild about soccer,
159
00:09:19,518 --> 00:09:23,522
but he loved baseball.
He loved football and hockey, yeah.
160
00:09:23,689 --> 00:09:26,400
Anything kind of dangerous
he liked.
161
00:09:26,567 --> 00:09:28,861
And so he made the football team.
And Mike in high school
162
00:09:29,028 --> 00:09:31,113
was not the Mike you see
in a SEAL uniform.
163
00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,199
Mike was kind of a wiry guy.
164
00:09:33,366 --> 00:09:35,409
He was fierce.
The hardest hitter.
165
00:09:35,576 --> 00:09:36,953
Very small. He was a small guy,
you know.
166
00:09:37,119 --> 00:09:39,455
He didn't weigh all that much.
But he played safety.
167
00:09:39,622 --> 00:09:42,291
And he would just-- he would
knock the crap out of people.
168
00:09:42,458 --> 00:09:45,086
And he was fast too.
He was really fast.
169
00:09:45,253 --> 00:09:49,131
He lost his spot to, actually,
Kristin's boyfriend at the time.
170
00:09:49,298 --> 00:09:52,760
And he actually worked with him
to make him a better football player.
171
00:09:52,927 --> 00:09:55,930
That's who he was, you know.
He knew this guy was taking his spot,
172
00:09:56,097 --> 00:09:57,556
but he was gonna help him
get better.
173
00:09:57,723 --> 00:10:01,435
He stepped aside to let
this freshman come up, and willingly,
174
00:10:01,602 --> 00:10:04,981
and mentored him
that entire season, because he knew
175
00:10:05,147 --> 00:10:07,650
that he would be a better fit
for the team in how he played.
176
00:10:07,817 --> 00:10:09,694
Bogenshutz: After the last game,
which they lost,
177
00:10:09,860 --> 00:10:12,822
the coach came out
and said to the team,
178
00:10:12,989 --> 00:10:14,991
"You know what?
You guys gave up.
179
00:10:15,157 --> 00:10:17,827
Every one of you,
leave your uniforms outside the door.
180
00:10:17,994 --> 00:10:21,247
I don't even want to see you.
Except for Michael Murphy.
181
00:10:21,414 --> 00:10:23,916
You can come in
and you can hand your uniform in,
182
00:10:24,083 --> 00:10:25,960
'cause you're the only guy
that continued
183
00:10:26,127 --> 00:10:28,546
to give 100% out on that field
all day long."
184
00:10:34,844 --> 00:10:37,972
So this is Lake Ronkonkoma.
This is where we worked.
185
00:10:38,139 --> 00:10:40,850
The boys would swim out
across the lake.
186
00:10:41,017 --> 00:10:44,770
They would do it for their workouts.
They would run all the way around.
187
00:10:44,937 --> 00:10:47,523
So the lifeguard stand
was right there
188
00:10:47,690 --> 00:10:50,276
where that white stick is.
189
00:10:50,443 --> 00:10:53,654
In my first year of lifeguard,
he was the beach attendant.
190
00:10:53,821 --> 00:10:55,865
And I didn't know any--
I was at Holtsville Pool.
191
00:10:56,032 --> 00:10:58,200
I didn't know anybody.
You know, I got there.
192
00:10:58,367 --> 00:11:00,328
They walked me in.
They sat me on a bench.
193
00:11:00,494 --> 00:11:03,539
And I hear, "Keenan!"
I'm like, "What? Where is this--?"
194
00:11:03,706 --> 00:11:07,043
He was like, "Yo, it's Murph."
I was like, "Hey, man, what's going on?"
195
00:11:07,209 --> 00:11:08,961
Emmerich: He kind of liked
the gig a little bit,
196
00:11:09,128 --> 00:11:11,047
how everybody was
lifeguards.
197
00:11:11,213 --> 00:11:13,507
And he just from there,
I guess,
198
00:11:13,674 --> 00:11:15,718
what he thought was he just wanted
to become a lifeguard.
199
00:11:15,885 --> 00:11:17,678
And he worked out
and he trained
200
00:11:17,845 --> 00:11:20,056
and the next year
he joined the lifeguarding staff.
201
00:11:20,222 --> 00:11:22,475
And that was my first year.
202
00:11:22,641 --> 00:11:25,144
And we all just became friends
from that point forward.
203
00:11:25,311 --> 00:11:27,730
Jessica was, for Mike--
204
00:11:27,897 --> 00:11:30,691
- we started work here.
- She was quiet.
205
00:11:30,858 --> 00:11:32,902
There was a little quiet girl
working at the beach
206
00:11:33,069 --> 00:11:35,196
who sat down under the shack
reading a book.
207
00:11:35,363 --> 00:11:36,947
Mike starts talking to Jess.
208
00:11:37,114 --> 00:11:39,992
And he's like,
"You're the beach attendant.
209
00:11:40,159 --> 00:11:42,244
You're supposed to clean the bathrooms
and put up the flag."
210
00:11:42,411 --> 00:11:44,330
He's like, "We can't be
having a girl do that."
211
00:11:44,497 --> 00:11:48,084
So then, two minutes, he's got all of us
running down the beach,
212
00:11:48,250 --> 00:11:51,087
the guys cleaning the beach,
dumping the garbages.
213
00:11:51,253 --> 00:11:53,381
- The goose poop.
- Yeah, pick up goose crap.
214
00:11:53,547 --> 00:11:55,674
We're like, "Where did she go?
She's gone."
215
00:11:55,841 --> 00:11:58,511
Like, "We just did this girl's job,
and she's gone."
216
00:11:58,677 --> 00:12:02,306
She comes back.
She's got TCBY.
217
00:12:02,473 --> 00:12:04,392
'Cause I went
to my second job.
218
00:12:04,558 --> 00:12:06,936
We didn't know, 'cause we didn't
take the time to find out,
219
00:12:07,103 --> 00:12:08,771
- Jessica worked for TCBY.
- James: At night.
220
00:12:08,938 --> 00:12:10,940
- At night.
- And that day and many days after
221
00:12:11,107 --> 00:12:13,401
the whole beach won out.
222
00:12:13,567 --> 00:12:15,444
So it was a spoiled crew,
223
00:12:15,611 --> 00:12:17,279
thanks to Mike, you know,
224
00:12:17,446 --> 00:12:19,281
finding that little girl
sitting there reading a book.
225
00:12:19,448 --> 00:12:21,617
- Flower child.
- Yeah, a hippie flower child.
226
00:12:21,784 --> 00:12:23,202
He called her a "tree hugger."
227
00:12:23,369 --> 00:12:25,621
He always wanted to have fun.
228
00:12:25,788 --> 00:12:28,207
And he always wanted
to make people laugh.
229
00:12:28,374 --> 00:12:29,792
And that was his goal,
I felt like.
230
00:12:29,959 --> 00:12:31,752
That's always
what he wanted to do.
231
00:12:31,919 --> 00:12:34,130
I had this minivan that--
232
00:12:34,296 --> 00:12:36,799
it was my dad's family car.
It was our--
233
00:12:36,966 --> 00:12:39,718
we had a GMC Safari
that he passed down to me.
234
00:12:39,885 --> 00:12:42,805
And Mike at one point wanted
to reenact "The A-Team" scenes.
235
00:12:42,972 --> 00:12:45,724
And we would slide the door open
and glide down the road
236
00:12:45,891 --> 00:12:48,352
and he tried to dive in it
while it was moving.
237
00:12:48,519 --> 00:12:50,521
Corey Beach.
And he was so tired.
238
00:12:50,688 --> 00:12:52,982
We had, like, a night
of drinking night before.
239
00:12:53,149 --> 00:12:55,192
- And-- can I say that stuff?
- Yeah.
240
00:12:55,359 --> 00:12:57,027
That's all right?
So we had a night of drinking before,
241
00:12:57,194 --> 00:12:58,612
and he was passed out tired.
242
00:12:58,779 --> 00:13:00,990
Michael liked to party too.
So, you know,
243
00:13:01,157 --> 00:13:03,909
he was not one
to miss out on a party.
244
00:13:04,076 --> 00:13:06,829
So I actually went up on a gazebo,
climbed up on a gazebo,
245
00:13:06,996 --> 00:13:09,623
threw a football at him.
And he was like-- he was so pissed.
246
00:13:09,790 --> 00:13:12,126
He wasn't pissed
pissed, but he--
247
00:13:12,293 --> 00:13:14,336
and he went looking for me.
I was on top of the gazebo.
248
00:13:14,503 --> 00:13:15,838
And he actually found me
249
00:13:16,005 --> 00:13:18,340
and started throwing rocks at me.
And I couldn't get down
250
00:13:18,507 --> 00:13:21,010
unless he started-- you know,
'cause he was pelting me with rocks.
251
00:13:28,225 --> 00:13:31,020
So my parents-- they're both
252
00:13:31,187 --> 00:13:33,939
different in their ways of parenting,
but very much the same.
253
00:13:34,106 --> 00:13:36,358
They were always focused
on my well-being.
254
00:13:36,525 --> 00:13:39,612
So whether or not that was getting me
involved in sports to keep active
255
00:13:39,778 --> 00:13:41,697
or STEP program on Saturdays
256
00:13:41,864 --> 00:13:43,616
to keep my interest
in the sciences fostered.
257
00:13:43,782 --> 00:13:45,659
While other kids were going out
and playing video games
258
00:13:45,826 --> 00:13:48,704
and playing basketball, they always
wanted me to be involved in something,
259
00:13:48,871 --> 00:13:50,080
to have my own identity.
260
00:13:50,247 --> 00:13:54,043
My husband and I have very different
parenting styles.
261
00:13:54,210 --> 00:13:56,670
And as a family, you need that.
262
00:13:56,837 --> 00:13:59,381
You need to have that balance.
263
00:14:01,300 --> 00:14:03,677
I was the disciplinarian.
264
00:14:03,844 --> 00:14:06,472
A lot of it was left up to me,
what I wanted to participate in,
265
00:14:06,639 --> 00:14:08,182
whether it was jujitsu
or Boy Scouts.
266
00:14:08,349 --> 00:14:10,434
But some of it
was some gentle nudging
267
00:14:10,601 --> 00:14:12,520
and letting me know
that I had to do something.
268
00:14:12,686 --> 00:14:14,522
So I still appreciate that.
Now I appreciate that.
269
00:14:14,688 --> 00:14:16,690
As a 13-year-old kid,
knowing that I have to get up
270
00:14:16,857 --> 00:14:19,109
at 8:00 on a Saturday,
that's another story.
271
00:14:19,276 --> 00:14:21,904
I don't care
what you choose to do.
272
00:14:22,071 --> 00:14:23,906
It's your choosing.
273
00:14:24,073 --> 00:14:26,492
We are here as parents
to make sure
274
00:14:26,659 --> 00:14:28,577
that you accomplish that,
275
00:14:28,744 --> 00:14:30,579
to support you on that.
276
00:14:30,746 --> 00:14:33,791
But the only bargaining chip
that we have
277
00:14:33,958 --> 00:14:36,835
is that--
no question about it,
278
00:14:37,002 --> 00:14:39,255
that you have to be
a college graduate.
279
00:14:41,799 --> 00:14:45,302
Craig Palmer:
The first time I ever saw Murph
280
00:14:45,469 --> 00:14:47,763
was day number one
at Penn State.
281
00:14:47,930 --> 00:14:52,393
It was 1994.
282
00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,105
And here,
a bunch of young kids,
283
00:14:56,272 --> 00:14:59,441
a mixture of being scared
and as excited as hell to be on your own
284
00:14:59,608 --> 00:15:01,902
and out in a big school
like Penn State.
285
00:15:02,069 --> 00:15:04,363
And I'm moving my stuff
into my dorm room
286
00:15:04,530 --> 00:15:07,491
and I notice this guy
right across the hall.
287
00:15:07,658 --> 00:15:09,702
He seemed like a good guy.
We started speaking.
288
00:15:09,868 --> 00:15:13,747
And, I guess,
30 seconds into the conversation
289
00:15:13,914 --> 00:15:16,292
he mentioned he was
from Patchogue, New York.
290
00:15:16,458 --> 00:15:18,168
And I said,
"You're not gonna believe this.
291
00:15:18,335 --> 00:15:20,296
I'm from a little town
called East Moriches,
292
00:15:20,462 --> 00:15:22,715
you know,
a good 15 minutes away."
293
00:15:22,881 --> 00:15:25,050
And, you know,
the connection was instant.
294
00:15:25,217 --> 00:15:27,469
We formed a bond
that first day that--
295
00:15:27,636 --> 00:15:30,514
I mean, I thank God
that it happened.
296
00:15:30,681 --> 00:15:33,350
He's 10 years older
than his brother John.
297
00:15:33,517 --> 00:15:35,644
So when he went into college
at 18 or 19,
298
00:15:35,811 --> 00:15:37,021
John was eight or nine.
299
00:15:37,187 --> 00:15:39,481
And he used to bring John
up to school with him
300
00:15:39,648 --> 00:15:41,734
for about a week at a time.
And I would say to him,
301
00:15:41,900 --> 00:15:44,486
"Why would you have
an eight-year-old with you?"
302
00:15:44,653 --> 00:15:46,947
And he'd say,
"Because he's a chick magnet."
303
00:15:47,114 --> 00:15:49,533
A lot of the times he was referred to
as Murph and that was--
304
00:15:49,700 --> 00:15:52,286
he even tried to get that to stick
with us as his nickname.
305
00:15:52,453 --> 00:15:55,581
Mike was very superstitious.
It was incredible.
306
00:15:55,748 --> 00:15:58,834
Whenever it came to sport--
not so much in life, but in athletics.
307
00:15:59,001 --> 00:16:02,087
And he would wear
the same shirt
308
00:16:02,254 --> 00:16:04,506
to play football in
without washing it.
309
00:16:04,673 --> 00:16:06,383
That was him.
That's what he would do.
310
00:16:06,550 --> 00:16:10,512
And he would say, "Well, if someone's
gonna have to tackle me,
311
00:16:10,679 --> 00:16:12,681
they're gonna have to
get through the stink."
312
00:16:12,848 --> 00:16:14,266
And so
from that day forward,
313
00:16:14,433 --> 00:16:17,686
he was known as Stinky
among our tight group of friends.
314
00:16:17,853 --> 00:16:19,146
He really did love Penn State.
315
00:16:19,313 --> 00:16:22,066
He had really good friends.
316
00:16:22,232 --> 00:16:24,193
He had his home friends.
317
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:26,195
And everybody always
kept up with each other.
318
00:16:26,362 --> 00:16:28,530
What more could you ask for?
He was happy.
319
00:16:28,697 --> 00:16:31,700
I wasn't quite sure what his path was
gonna be when he went to Penn State,
320
00:16:31,867 --> 00:16:33,994
but it was something
that was in his heart
321
00:16:34,161 --> 00:16:35,537
and something
that he wanted to pursue.
322
00:16:35,704 --> 00:16:37,247
And, you know,
I was very proud of him.
323
00:16:37,414 --> 00:16:40,501
The kid was smarter
and more well-read
324
00:16:40,668 --> 00:16:42,878
than anyone would ever know,
325
00:16:43,045 --> 00:16:45,547
because it's not something
that he talked about or let on.
326
00:16:45,714 --> 00:16:47,549
He was a prolific reader,
you know.
327
00:16:47,716 --> 00:16:50,219
He read everything
that he could get his hands on.
328
00:16:50,386 --> 00:16:52,888
But on his list of reading material
he said,
329
00:16:53,055 --> 00:16:54,807
"Look, if you want to get me
something for Christmas,
330
00:16:54,973 --> 00:16:56,517
there's this great book
I'd like called
331
00:16:56,684 --> 00:16:58,143
"The Bear On the Other Side
of the Mountain,"
332
00:16:58,310 --> 00:16:59,937
or "The Bear Over the Mountain."
333
00:17:00,104 --> 00:17:04,191
We didn't put any stock--
it kind of-- whew-- over our heads.
334
00:17:04,358 --> 00:17:06,777
Afterwards we find out,
"The Bear Over the Mountain"
335
00:17:06,944 --> 00:17:09,988
was a story about the Russian
invasion into Afghanistan.
336
00:17:10,155 --> 00:17:12,741
And it was almost like a clue
that we didn't pick up.
337
00:17:12,908 --> 00:17:14,660
I thought he was gonna go
to law school, just because.
338
00:17:14,827 --> 00:17:17,287
As far as we knew,
he was always gonna go to law school.
339
00:17:17,454 --> 00:17:19,581
He had all these accolades,
the grades.
340
00:17:19,748 --> 00:17:21,875
His dad's a lawyer.
That's what his dad wanted him to do.
341
00:17:22,042 --> 00:17:23,085
And Mike, he had the grades.
342
00:17:23,252 --> 00:17:26,171
To my knowledge, got into
U Penn Law School, Tennessee Law.
343
00:17:26,338 --> 00:17:28,257
He didn't really,
like, talk about it much.
344
00:17:28,424 --> 00:17:30,217
He started taking it to the next level.
345
00:17:30,384 --> 00:17:32,261
He started training,
just because
346
00:17:32,428 --> 00:17:35,347
he wanted to be in top shape
before he did it.
347
00:17:35,514 --> 00:17:37,683
So clearly he was getting
prepared for something.
348
00:17:37,850 --> 00:17:39,727
The SEALs-- this is crazy,
you know.
349
00:17:39,893 --> 00:17:41,854
It's like the elite of the elite.
350
00:17:42,020 --> 00:17:43,981
And I didn't really, truly believe
that he was gonna do it.
351
00:17:44,148 --> 00:17:46,775
Michael turns to me
and says, "Dad,"
352
00:17:46,942 --> 00:17:49,403
he said, "you know,
we've been talking
353
00:17:49,570 --> 00:17:52,156
about legal education
and stuff,
354
00:17:52,322 --> 00:17:55,868
but I've been looking
at the special operations branch,
355
00:17:56,034 --> 00:17:57,828
specifically the Navy SEALs."
356
00:17:57,995 --> 00:18:00,456
All of a sudden, he just said,
"I want to do this."
357
00:18:00,622 --> 00:18:03,709
And I have to tell you,
I tried to talk him out of it and said,
358
00:18:03,876 --> 00:18:06,211
"But you're really good with people.
You could be a good teacher."
359
00:18:06,378 --> 00:18:09,423
And I looked at him
and I told him,
360
00:18:09,590 --> 00:18:13,343
I said I'd disown him
if he joined the military.
361
00:18:13,510 --> 00:18:15,387
And it was something like,
"Oh, you know,
362
00:18:15,554 --> 00:18:18,223
it's really hard to get into,"
and all this.
363
00:18:18,390 --> 00:18:20,267
And don't say that to Mike,
364
00:18:20,434 --> 00:18:24,062
because when you say he can't do
something, he will just go for it.
365
00:18:24,229 --> 00:18:26,815
Of course you don't wish that
for your eldest son--
366
00:18:26,982 --> 00:18:30,027
to be put in harm's way.
367
00:19:02,476 --> 00:19:04,812
Captain Ryan McCombie:
SEALs are about team.
368
00:19:04,978 --> 00:19:06,855
They always are. They're not about
individual accomplishment.
369
00:19:07,022 --> 00:19:09,358
They're not about who--
370
00:19:09,525 --> 00:19:12,820
who can score the most points
in a basketball game.
371
00:19:12,986 --> 00:19:14,863
They're usually about the guy
372
00:19:15,030 --> 00:19:17,908
that made the best passes
in a basketball game,
373
00:19:18,075 --> 00:19:20,035
not the guy that dunked it.
374
00:19:20,202 --> 00:19:22,079
It must have been
something he read about
375
00:19:22,246 --> 00:19:24,873
and he liked the idea
of the work that they did
376
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,501
and he got it in his head.
377
00:19:27,668 --> 00:19:29,378
And then
it was one of those--
378
00:19:29,545 --> 00:19:33,590
again, Michael becomes focused
and determined-- "Oh, this is my path."
379
00:19:33,757 --> 00:19:37,302
The first time I ever met Michael
was by phone
380
00:19:37,469 --> 00:19:39,346
when he called me up
and asked me
381
00:19:39,513 --> 00:19:43,600
if I would talk to him
about becoming a Navy SEAL.
382
00:19:43,767 --> 00:19:46,728
I told Michael to come by on--
I believe it was a Saturday--
383
00:19:46,895 --> 00:19:49,064
and I'd be happy
to talk to him about it.
384
00:19:49,231 --> 00:19:50,732
When he met Mike, he said
385
00:19:50,899 --> 00:19:52,985
there's certain guys
you tell right off the bat.
386
00:19:53,151 --> 00:19:55,404
And he said,
"I was out there chopping wood
387
00:19:55,571 --> 00:19:58,198
and Mike comes around the corner
and introduces himself
388
00:19:58,365 --> 00:19:59,825
and says,
'Hi. I'm Mike Murphy."'
389
00:19:59,992 --> 00:20:01,743
I was splitting wood
and said, "Who are you?"
390
00:20:01,910 --> 00:20:04,872
And he said that,
"I'm Michael Murphy."
391
00:20:05,038 --> 00:20:08,250
And I said, "Well, good for you.
I understand you'd like
392
00:20:08,417 --> 00:20:10,210
to talk about SEAL Team."
393
00:20:10,377 --> 00:20:12,421
And he looked at me
394
00:20:12,588 --> 00:20:15,591
and said, "No, sir,
I want to be a SEAL."
395
00:20:15,757 --> 00:20:17,759
He says, "I'm interested
in becoming a Navy SEAL."
396
00:20:17,926 --> 00:20:20,762
And with that,
he's chopping wood,
397
00:20:20,929 --> 00:20:22,431
he didn't even say anything
to Mike.
398
00:20:22,598 --> 00:20:25,058
Mike took off his jacket,
rolled up his sleeves
399
00:20:25,225 --> 00:20:27,477
and started helping him
chop the wood without even asking.
400
00:20:27,644 --> 00:20:30,272
We talked about SEAL Team
for some period of time
401
00:20:30,439 --> 00:20:32,774
and my experiences in it
and what I thought it would take
402
00:20:32,941 --> 00:20:35,611
for him to achieve that.
403
00:20:35,777 --> 00:20:37,654
And he convinced me
404
00:20:37,821 --> 00:20:40,782
that he absolutely should have
the opportunity to try,
405
00:20:40,949 --> 00:20:44,328
which was--
it's not often that that happens
406
00:20:44,494 --> 00:20:47,456
over a period of a singular--
single conversation.
407
00:20:47,623 --> 00:20:51,627
If he hadn't come out
and helped split the wood,
408
00:20:51,793 --> 00:20:54,129
our conversation
would have been very brief
409
00:20:54,296 --> 00:20:56,214
after we got done.
But he didn't know that.
410
00:20:56,381 --> 00:20:59,009
Men:
Two, three,
411
00:20:59,176 --> 00:21:01,637
four...
412
00:21:01,803 --> 00:21:05,057
You know,
Mike would go upstate
413
00:21:05,223 --> 00:21:07,434
to do fitness tests to qualify.
414
00:21:07,601 --> 00:21:10,979
And every day at the beach
was a chance to train.
415
00:21:11,146 --> 00:21:14,024
So he'd be doing sit-ups,
running, swimming,
416
00:21:14,191 --> 00:21:15,901
whether it would be leave here
and go to the pool
417
00:21:16,068 --> 00:21:18,278
to drown-proof himself
or to do sidestroke
418
00:21:18,445 --> 00:21:21,531
or do sit-ups till he yakked
and then continued some more.
419
00:21:21,698 --> 00:21:24,743
James: Oh, he literally
would do sit-ups till he puked.
420
00:21:24,910 --> 00:21:27,037
He'd come up,
turn to his side, puke
421
00:21:27,204 --> 00:21:30,165
and get mad at himself.
I was like, "What's wrong with you?"
422
00:21:30,332 --> 00:21:32,417
- Owen: Then continue doing sit-ups.
- And then keep going, yeah.
423
00:21:32,584 --> 00:21:35,462
And then he said something to me
which made me just say,
424
00:21:35,629 --> 00:21:37,047
"You know what, Mike?
Go for it."
425
00:21:37,214 --> 00:21:39,883
He said, "Mom, would you like me
to sit at a desk
426
00:21:40,050 --> 00:21:42,135
and not be happy
for the next 30 years
427
00:21:42,302 --> 00:21:44,638
or do you really--
would you be happy,
428
00:21:44,805 --> 00:21:47,683
you know, that I'm doing
something that I really want?"
429
00:21:47,849 --> 00:21:51,353
What can you say?
You just want what your kids--
430
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:53,355
if they're happy,
you're fine with it.
431
00:21:53,522 --> 00:21:56,900
Even though it's dangerous work,
he was happy with it.
432
00:21:57,067 --> 00:21:58,819
He loved it.
433
00:21:58,986 --> 00:22:00,862
He'd do it all over again.
434
00:22:01,029 --> 00:22:03,448
I know him.
He would do it all over again.
435
00:22:04,491 --> 00:22:06,743
( blades whirring )
436
00:22:08,704 --> 00:22:11,540
Jeff Widenhofer: I went to Naval
Academy, graduated in 1997,
437
00:22:11,707 --> 00:22:13,709
went right to flight school
from there.
438
00:22:13,875 --> 00:22:15,836
I was down in Florida, San Diego,
439
00:22:16,003 --> 00:22:19,089
and Virginia, flying the H-46.
440
00:22:19,256 --> 00:22:21,466
I got to my squadron
right before September 11th,
441
00:22:21,633 --> 00:22:23,218
about a year before.
So I did a full deployment
442
00:22:23,385 --> 00:22:25,178
and then September 11th
happened,
443
00:22:25,345 --> 00:22:27,139
and everybody was going out to sea
and deploying
444
00:22:27,305 --> 00:22:28,974
and going to the Middle East
and that part of the world.
445
00:22:29,141 --> 00:22:31,393
And I went two more times
during my tour, so I was going a lot.
446
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,105
So I was in Persian Gulf a whole lot
during that time.
447
00:22:35,272 --> 00:22:38,859
After my flying tour,
I went to be stationed
448
00:22:39,026 --> 00:22:40,861
at Kings Point
Merchant Marine Academy,
449
00:22:41,028 --> 00:22:44,865
which is there in Kings Point,
New York, on Long Island.
450
00:22:45,032 --> 00:22:47,367
So one of our extra duties
is to be available
451
00:22:47,534 --> 00:22:51,621
to be casualty officers
for any families in the local area.
452
00:22:51,788 --> 00:22:53,081
Man:
March!
453
00:22:53,248 --> 00:22:55,625
( band playing march music )
454
00:23:01,423 --> 00:23:05,010
Mike was from Long Island,
then went to Penn State University
455
00:23:05,177 --> 00:23:07,929
and graduated there,
right after that went to OCS.
456
00:23:08,096 --> 00:23:11,308
Daniel: We go down to see him
graduate from Pensacola.
457
00:23:11,475 --> 00:23:14,603
And I don't see him.
You know, we get down there,
458
00:23:14,770 --> 00:23:17,731
we get down there late,
and they're marching onto the field.
459
00:23:17,898 --> 00:23:20,067
Dan and I were catching a plane
to get down there,
460
00:23:20,233 --> 00:23:23,487
but there was a big windstorm, so
Newark Airport, you know, closed down.
461
00:23:23,653 --> 00:23:25,614
Dan and I had to take a car.
462
00:23:25,781 --> 00:23:27,449
So Maureen, John and I,
we drive there
463
00:23:27,616 --> 00:23:30,786
and they held us up
because they were--
464
00:23:30,952 --> 00:23:34,331
the graduating class
was marching down the road.
465
00:23:34,498 --> 00:23:36,458
Maureen:
There was about 400 of them
466
00:23:36,625 --> 00:23:38,794
in, you know, uniform.
And Danny looks over at me.
467
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:40,754
And we're seeing them
coming at us.
468
00:23:40,921 --> 00:23:43,548
And Dan goes,
"You're never gonna see him in this.
469
00:23:43,715 --> 00:23:46,051
Everybody's all dressed alike.
It's like a sea of blue."
470
00:23:46,218 --> 00:23:48,136
I go and I turn to Maureen
and I say,
471
00:23:48,303 --> 00:23:50,639
"Maureen," I said, "there is no way
we're gonna be--
472
00:23:50,806 --> 00:23:52,474
I mean, how are we supposed
to find Michael?"
473
00:23:52,641 --> 00:23:55,060
And as I turned, I said,
"There he is right there."
474
00:23:55,227 --> 00:23:56,686
And I spotted him.
475
00:23:56,853 --> 00:23:58,730
And Maureen goes, she said,
"There he is."
476
00:23:58,897 --> 00:24:00,482
And Danny goes,
"How did you do that?"
477
00:24:00,649 --> 00:24:02,192
I said,
"I know that walk anywhere."
478
00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,653
And I said,
"How can you tell?"
479
00:24:04,820 --> 00:24:06,530
And she said,
"I'd know that walk anywhere.
480
00:24:06,696 --> 00:24:09,032
It looks--
he walks just like you."
481
00:24:09,199 --> 00:24:11,535
Actually, when I heard him
barking all these orders out,
482
00:24:11,701 --> 00:24:13,078
I was like, "That's Mike?"
483
00:24:13,245 --> 00:24:15,497
He sounded like--
this really deep voice and everything.
484
00:24:15,664 --> 00:24:17,916
I couldn't believe it was him.
He was very authoritative.
485
00:24:18,083 --> 00:24:20,710
But she spotted him right away,
which was amazing.
486
00:24:20,877 --> 00:24:22,712
They get a certain amount
of coins.
487
00:24:22,879 --> 00:24:24,881
And they give it to the first person
that salutes them.
488
00:24:25,048 --> 00:24:28,760
And you're supposed to give it to
the people that influenced you the most.
489
00:24:28,927 --> 00:24:31,555
And he gave one to his dad,
one to me and his brother.
490
00:24:31,721 --> 00:24:34,015
I have that coin.
I will never let that go.
491
00:24:34,182 --> 00:24:36,184
And I thought that--
492
00:24:37,435 --> 00:24:39,855
it was a beautiful thing.
493
00:24:40,021 --> 00:24:41,356
- ( double whistle )
- Men: Crawl.
494
00:24:42,357 --> 00:24:43,567
- ( double whistle )
- Crawl.
495
00:24:43,733 --> 00:24:46,695
- ( whistling repeats )
- Crawl. Crawl.
496
00:24:46,862 --> 00:24:48,864
( rapid gunfire rattles )
497
00:24:51,700 --> 00:24:53,785
- Trainer: Hold up boat.
- Men: Up boat.
498
00:24:53,952 --> 00:24:55,954
- Trainer: Down boat.
- Down boat.
499
00:24:56,121 --> 00:24:58,623
- Trainer: Up boat.
- Up boat.
500
00:24:58,790 --> 00:25:01,668
- Down boat.
- Down boat.
501
00:25:01,835 --> 00:25:03,211
- Hold up boat.
- Up boat.
502
00:25:03,378 --> 00:25:05,297
- Down boat.
- Trainer: Down--
503
00:25:06,548 --> 00:25:09,593
( commands repeat )
504
00:25:09,759 --> 00:25:13,346
Daniel: When he goes to BUD/S,
I was concerned
505
00:25:13,513 --> 00:25:16,183
because I knew how demanding
the program was.
506
00:25:16,349 --> 00:25:20,854
I also knew how people fail.
507
00:25:21,021 --> 00:25:23,190
You know, you read about
508
00:25:23,356 --> 00:25:27,027
less than 15%, 20% graduate.
509
00:25:27,194 --> 00:25:29,487
And I know Michael had a class
of about 200.
510
00:25:29,654 --> 00:25:33,950
And he was relaying to me
how one of the first initiations was,
511
00:25:34,117 --> 00:25:35,744
"Look to the guy to the left
of you
512
00:25:35,911 --> 00:25:38,538
and look to the guy
to the right of you.
513
00:25:38,705 --> 00:25:41,249
They won't make it
through the program."
514
00:25:41,416 --> 00:25:43,293
That's how difficult it is.
515
00:25:43,460 --> 00:25:46,922
Oftentimes the best athlete
in the class doesn't make it.
516
00:25:47,088 --> 00:25:50,050
I know in my class,
the best athlete in our class quit.
517
00:25:50,217 --> 00:25:52,719
It's very difficult
to look at somebody and say
518
00:25:52,886 --> 00:25:54,971
that he is a SEAL
or he's going to be a SEAL.
519
00:25:55,138 --> 00:25:58,475
I mean, today
they're 6'6", 260 pounds,
520
00:25:58,642 --> 00:26:02,938
down to 5' 5", 130 pounds.
521
00:26:03,104 --> 00:26:05,440
Because it's all in your heart
and it's all in your head.
522
00:26:05,607 --> 00:26:08,109
It's really not about
your physical abilities.
523
00:26:08,276 --> 00:26:09,945
They'll give you
the physical abilities.
524
00:26:10,111 --> 00:26:11,947
One thing about training
in the SEALs
525
00:26:12,113 --> 00:26:14,115
is they'll ensure that you have
the physical abilities.
526
00:26:14,282 --> 00:26:16,117
What they can't give people,
527
00:26:16,284 --> 00:26:18,161
and sometimes have difficulty
528
00:26:18,328 --> 00:26:21,122
recognizing it and defining it
prior to the beginning,
529
00:26:21,289 --> 00:26:23,166
is the mental and the heart.
530
00:26:24,251 --> 00:26:27,504
( blades whirring )
531
00:26:27,671 --> 00:26:29,923
Announcer: Meanwhile,
the division's 3rd Brigade
532
00:26:30,090 --> 00:26:32,509
had begun arriving from Hawaii
by airlift.
533
00:26:32,676 --> 00:26:34,886
Their destination was Pleiku
534
00:26:35,053 --> 00:26:37,222
in the central highlands
of Vietnam.
535
00:26:37,389 --> 00:26:40,684
This was to be the 25th
Infantry Division's forward base.
536
00:26:40,850 --> 00:26:44,729
Daniel: When I was injured in Vietnam,
I was in a hospital.
537
00:26:44,896 --> 00:26:48,692
And I had-- an RPG landed
at my left ankle.
538
00:26:48,858 --> 00:26:51,319
And I was wrapped
around a rock.
539
00:26:51,486 --> 00:26:55,699
And so I was peppered
from the waist down.
540
00:26:55,865 --> 00:26:57,826
So I survived.
541
00:26:57,993 --> 00:26:59,995
I wouldn't have survived
if I hadn't.
542
00:27:00,161 --> 00:27:02,163
But because I was wrapped
around a large rock
543
00:27:02,330 --> 00:27:05,041
and I was shooting uphill,
it landed at my left ankle,
544
00:27:05,208 --> 00:27:08,420
fractured my left ankle
and peppered me from the waist down.
545
00:27:08,586 --> 00:27:11,715
Because we were in the middle
of a major fight,
546
00:27:11,881 --> 00:27:14,676
I was laying on that mountain
for about seven hours
547
00:27:14,843 --> 00:27:17,637
till I finally got dusted off.
As I was being dusted off,
548
00:27:17,804 --> 00:27:19,848
I got shot in a leg by a sniper.
549
00:27:20,015 --> 00:27:21,891
And I looked and I said,
"I just got shot."
550
00:27:22,058 --> 00:27:24,019
And I said, "What a day."
551
00:27:27,522 --> 00:27:30,692
What happened in the hospital-- I was
in the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon
552
00:27:30,859 --> 00:27:33,820
and the general came in
and was pinning this Purple Heart on me.
553
00:27:33,987 --> 00:27:36,698
And he took a picture.
I wasn't aware of it at the time,
554
00:27:36,865 --> 00:27:39,451
that they take that picture
and they send it to my parents.
555
00:27:46,791 --> 00:27:48,501
Maureen:
It was St. Patrick's Day.
556
00:27:48,668 --> 00:27:51,087
Michael liked St. Patrick's Day.
And I was in Manhattan.
557
00:27:51,254 --> 00:27:55,091
And I was watching the parade.
And I went to give him a call.
558
00:27:55,258 --> 00:27:58,219
And the phone--
there was no answer.
559
00:27:58,386 --> 00:28:00,764
So I called later on during the day
and later on,
560
00:28:00,930 --> 00:28:04,476
and I said, "Something's up,"
because he would have called me back.
561
00:28:04,642 --> 00:28:07,020
So he doesn't call.
562
00:28:07,187 --> 00:28:09,230
Maureen realizes that there's
something wrong right away.
563
00:28:09,397 --> 00:28:11,066
So she calls me and she says,
564
00:28:11,232 --> 00:28:14,319
"Dan, you know, I didn't hear
from Michael on St. Patrick's Day.
565
00:28:14,486 --> 00:28:16,112
I think there's some--
there's a problem."
566
00:28:16,279 --> 00:28:18,239
I wanted to wish him
a happy St. Patrick's Day.
567
00:28:18,406 --> 00:28:20,200
So I didn't hear from him.
568
00:28:20,367 --> 00:28:23,244
And about 10 days later,
I get a phone call
569
00:28:23,411 --> 00:28:26,414
and I pick up and it's Mike.
And the first thing I say is,
570
00:28:26,581 --> 00:28:28,458
"What happened to you?
You were in the hospital."
571
00:28:28,625 --> 00:28:32,045
As usual, Michael is so focused
and determined,
572
00:28:32,212 --> 00:28:36,674
he ignores the initial signs
of there being a problem,
573
00:28:36,841 --> 00:28:40,095
because he's so focused on
completing BUD/S and getting through
574
00:28:40,261 --> 00:28:44,641
that it gets worse
until eventually he can't walk
575
00:28:44,808 --> 00:28:48,770
and they have to cut him
out of his boots and his clothing.
576
00:28:48,937 --> 00:28:52,941
Michael's thought wasn't about
worrying about losing a leg.
577
00:28:53,108 --> 00:28:55,318
It was, "Oh, I'm gonna be rolled
to the next BUD/S class."
578
00:28:55,485 --> 00:28:58,988
Yeah, Murphy during training--
it happens quite frequently--
579
00:28:59,155 --> 00:29:01,116
ended up getting a pretty severe
case of cellulitis,
580
00:29:01,282 --> 00:29:03,159
which, you know, I've had it.
I've had it before.
581
00:29:03,326 --> 00:29:05,203
And it's extraordinarily painful.
582
00:29:05,370 --> 00:29:07,831
It's a pretty serious bacteria--
staph infection.
583
00:29:07,997 --> 00:29:12,419
Maureen: Apparently he got--
I think it's called cellulitis.
584
00:29:12,585 --> 00:29:15,338
And he almost lost his legs
because of it.
585
00:29:15,505 --> 00:29:17,298
And Michael got it
so severe in his legs
586
00:29:17,465 --> 00:29:18,967
that he ended up having to
roll back in training.
587
00:29:19,134 --> 00:29:21,845
He goes, "Mama, I was rolled."
And "rolled" means that
588
00:29:22,011 --> 00:29:26,307
he couldn't go back
to his original SEAL class.
589
00:29:26,474 --> 00:29:28,810
When you get rolled out
of your BUD/S class,
590
00:29:28,977 --> 00:29:31,146
you-- a lot of guys
just lose heart.
591
00:29:31,312 --> 00:29:32,939
We have a saying
in the teams, you know,
592
00:29:33,106 --> 00:29:35,150
"Everyone wants to be a frogman
on a sunny day."
593
00:29:35,316 --> 00:29:37,819
But, you know, most of your days
are gonna be cold, wet and sandy,
594
00:29:37,986 --> 00:29:39,821
especially in BUD/S.
595
00:29:39,988 --> 00:29:42,031
And sometimes one more injury
on top of that
596
00:29:42,198 --> 00:29:43,950
like cellulitis,
and you get rolled back,
597
00:29:44,117 --> 00:29:46,077
it can be that one thing
that pushes you over the edge to say,
598
00:29:46,244 --> 00:29:48,037
"You know what?
I don't want it that much."
599
00:29:48,204 --> 00:29:52,208
He never spoke about
how difficult it was
600
00:29:52,375 --> 00:29:54,878
or the different things
he had to endure
601
00:29:55,044 --> 00:29:56,379
to get through what he did.
602
00:29:56,546 --> 00:29:59,466
He calls me up, I guess, about
the week before he starts Hell Week,
603
00:29:59,632 --> 00:30:01,301
and he says to me,
"Dad," he said,
604
00:30:01,468 --> 00:30:04,012
"do you remember that picture
that Grandma had of you,
605
00:30:04,179 --> 00:30:06,931
you know, from Vietnam
when you were in the hospital bed?"
606
00:30:07,098 --> 00:30:10,351
And I said, "Yes."
And he said, "Could you do me a favor?"
607
00:30:10,518 --> 00:30:13,480
He said, "Do you have any extras?"
And I said, "Yeah."
608
00:30:13,646 --> 00:30:15,607
And he said,
"Could you send me one?"
609
00:30:15,773 --> 00:30:17,859
And I said to him, I said,
"Michael,
610
00:30:18,026 --> 00:30:20,653
why do you want that picture?"
611
00:30:20,820 --> 00:30:23,198
And he says to me,
he says, "Dad..."
612
00:30:25,533 --> 00:30:28,828
He said, "If you could get
through that,"
613
00:30:28,995 --> 00:30:30,872
he said, "then I can
get through Hell Week."
614
00:30:33,416 --> 00:30:37,837
And I just thought
to myself...
615
00:30:40,465 --> 00:30:44,385
if a son could give a father
a compliment,
616
00:30:44,552 --> 00:30:48,389
( stammering )
You-- you prob--
617
00:30:48,556 --> 00:30:50,934
you probably couldn't get
a better compliment,
618
00:30:51,100 --> 00:30:54,062
that he not only recognized
my service,
619
00:30:54,229 --> 00:30:58,858
but he understood the difficulties
that I went through
620
00:30:59,025 --> 00:31:01,903
and recognizing,
"Dad, if you could get through that,
621
00:31:02,070 --> 00:31:05,490
and-- and I was so proud
of what you did,
622
00:31:05,657 --> 00:31:07,742
then I should be able
to get through Hell Week,
623
00:31:07,909 --> 00:31:12,664
which is nowhere near
what you had to deal with."
624
00:31:12,830 --> 00:31:14,707
For Michael, it was just--
625
00:31:14,874 --> 00:31:17,126
it was just one more obstacle
he had to overcome.
626
00:31:17,293 --> 00:31:19,045
And he didn't look back.
627
00:31:19,212 --> 00:31:22,340
And, you know, it's a testament
to his character
628
00:31:22,507 --> 00:31:25,260
and a testament to, you know,
his quiet passion
629
00:31:25,426 --> 00:31:27,554
and commitment to making it
on the team.
630
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,264
He went to SEAL training
to become a SEAL.
631
00:31:29,430 --> 00:31:30,932
That was--
and nothing was gonna stop it.
632
00:31:36,187 --> 00:31:38,398
Maureen:
I sent him a card.
633
00:31:38,565 --> 00:31:40,942
When he was little,
he used to like
634
00:31:41,109 --> 00:31:43,987
the story about the train.
635
00:31:44,153 --> 00:31:46,447
I go to the card store
and I see this card.
636
00:31:46,614 --> 00:31:48,449
And it's a little train.
637
00:31:48,616 --> 00:31:51,244
And it says,
"I think I can, I think I can."
638
00:31:51,411 --> 00:31:54,706
And when you open the card, it said,
"I knew you could. Love, Mom."
639
00:31:54,872 --> 00:31:58,376
He called me when he got it
and he said,
640
00:31:58,543 --> 00:32:01,212
"Mom," he said,
"that was the best present I ever got,"
641
00:32:01,379 --> 00:32:04,757
he says, "that you knew
that I could do it."
642
00:32:09,137 --> 00:32:10,972
Velez: These are just tons
of memories--
643
00:32:11,139 --> 00:32:14,851
memories from high school,
644
00:32:15,018 --> 00:32:16,561
junior high, all the way
up until now even.
645
00:32:16,728 --> 00:32:19,897
Over here, these are
some of my jujitsu medals,
646
00:32:20,064 --> 00:32:22,567
some of my science medals.
This medical shadow box--
647
00:32:22,734 --> 00:32:25,653
my dad gave this one to me.
It was for one of my birthdays.
648
00:32:25,820 --> 00:32:27,822
And I remember he gave it to me
and I'm looking at it
649
00:32:27,989 --> 00:32:29,324
and in my mind I'm thinking,
650
00:32:29,490 --> 00:32:31,534
"This is probably a hundred years old."
( laughs )
651
00:32:31,701 --> 00:32:33,828
I'm looking at it now
and realizing, most likely not.
652
00:32:33,995 --> 00:32:37,206
But realizing how
the medical profession
653
00:32:37,373 --> 00:32:40,251
was back then and how it is now,
and, you know,
654
00:32:40,418 --> 00:32:43,004
despite all the advances in technology
and medicine and science,
655
00:32:43,171 --> 00:32:45,423
it's still helping somebody.
656
00:32:45,590 --> 00:32:48,343
I'm very proud,
very proud of Hector
657
00:32:48,509 --> 00:32:52,180
as-- as the person
658
00:32:52,347 --> 00:32:56,434
that he is developing into,
659
00:32:56,601 --> 00:32:59,771
very proud that he's choosing--
and I want to be very clear--
660
00:32:59,937 --> 00:33:02,690
not medicine or what it is.
661
00:33:02,857 --> 00:33:06,819
I'm very proud that he's choosing
to give of himself and to help others.
662
00:33:06,986 --> 00:33:09,197
Leaving high school, I knew,
663
00:33:09,364 --> 00:33:11,366
I knew, I knew, I knew
that I was gonna be a doctor.
664
00:33:11,532 --> 00:33:14,035
So, through college, that was
the unifying thread
665
00:33:14,202 --> 00:33:16,204
in all my internships,
all my research experience.
666
00:33:16,371 --> 00:33:18,539
I wanted that passion,
that contact with people,
667
00:33:18,706 --> 00:33:20,708
where I could relate to them
and I could try to help them out
668
00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:22,669
in any way possible.
Obviously, as an undergrad,
669
00:33:22,835 --> 00:33:25,296
I don't have all the skills
where I could be treating patients,
670
00:33:25,463 --> 00:33:29,050
but in any way that I could,
that's what I was willing to do.
671
00:33:34,472 --> 00:33:37,058
Widenhofer: Mike and Heather
went to Penn State together.
672
00:33:37,225 --> 00:33:39,268
They knew each other there,
but they didn't start dating
673
00:33:39,435 --> 00:33:42,313
till he had graduated
and he'd gone off to OCS
674
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,190
and was now in the Navy.
675
00:33:44,357 --> 00:33:47,402
And once he was--
once he moved to Hawaii
676
00:33:47,568 --> 00:33:49,570
and was stationed
with his SEAL team out there,
677
00:33:49,737 --> 00:33:51,739
then that's when they
got engaged.
678
00:33:51,906 --> 00:33:53,741
He lost touch with all of us.
679
00:33:53,908 --> 00:33:57,537
We didn't know that he had
circled back with Heather.
680
00:33:57,704 --> 00:33:59,997
None of us knew that.
681
00:34:00,164 --> 00:34:03,793
And when I heard
that they were actually engaged
682
00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,546
and she was his fiancée,
it made me feel a little bit better,
683
00:34:06,713 --> 00:34:10,341
because knowing how much
he loved her
684
00:34:10,508 --> 00:34:12,385
all through college--
685
00:34:12,552 --> 00:34:15,596
I mean, he was--
she was his Everest.
686
00:34:15,763 --> 00:34:17,515
I mean, he adored her.
687
00:34:17,682 --> 00:34:19,517
A year before she went
to Penn State,
688
00:34:19,684 --> 00:34:21,769
someone introduced them
689
00:34:21,936 --> 00:34:23,646
because she was gonna go.
690
00:34:23,813 --> 00:34:25,690
And he, being Mike,
you know--
691
00:34:25,857 --> 00:34:27,859
"I'll show her around.
I'll take care of her."
692
00:34:28,025 --> 00:34:30,111
Evidently he decided
693
00:34:30,278 --> 00:34:32,613
he was gonna take care of her
for a lot longer than the four years.
694
00:34:32,780 --> 00:34:35,533
You talk about sticking to goals
695
00:34:35,700 --> 00:34:37,827
or having
mental toughness--
696
00:34:37,994 --> 00:34:41,581
I mean, he always knew
that she was the girl for him.
697
00:34:41,748 --> 00:34:43,207
Yeah, he was crazy
about Heather.
698
00:34:43,374 --> 00:34:45,126
That was-- we all knew that.
699
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,309
Mike was pretty quiet.
700
00:35:01,476 --> 00:35:03,311
He was-- again,
he was a junior guy out of--
701
00:35:03,478 --> 00:35:06,481
he was an L2,
or a Lieutenant Junior Grade.
702
00:35:06,647 --> 00:35:08,483
And I was, like,
Lieutenant Commander at the time.
703
00:35:08,649 --> 00:35:11,736
When you're forward deployed,
every day is Groundhog Day.
704
00:35:11,903 --> 00:35:14,322
It's always the same
and it's got plenty of work.
705
00:35:14,489 --> 00:35:17,658
And again, I will tell you,
Mike was--
706
00:35:17,825 --> 00:35:21,496
he was just a very conscientious,
dedicated young guy.
707
00:35:21,662 --> 00:35:23,581
You know, he understood
the big picture.
708
00:35:23,748 --> 00:35:27,084
It may not be what he wanted to do
or where he wanted to be,
709
00:35:27,251 --> 00:35:28,711
but he knew
that was the best way
710
00:35:28,878 --> 00:35:30,338
he could support us,
the command, at the time.
711
00:35:30,505 --> 00:35:33,508
And so, he rucked up
and did the job.
712
00:35:33,674 --> 00:35:36,302
And as I talked to him
off-line one time,
713
00:35:36,469 --> 00:35:39,180
I said, "There'll come a day
when you're gonna get tested,
714
00:35:39,347 --> 00:35:42,600
so, you know, just be patient."
715
00:35:42,767 --> 00:35:44,560
And Michael was tested.
716
00:35:44,727 --> 00:35:47,188
He rarely spoke of the SEALs.
717
00:35:47,355 --> 00:35:51,317
He would answer our questions
718
00:35:51,484 --> 00:35:53,653
very vaguely,
I would have to say.
719
00:35:53,820 --> 00:35:55,530
You know, "Oh, it's tough."
( chuckles )
720
00:35:55,696 --> 00:35:57,365
"Oh, yeah, I've gone
a couple of places."
721
00:35:57,532 --> 00:35:59,242
Daniel: And he gave us
some instructions, he said,
722
00:35:59,408 --> 00:36:00,993
"I can't tell you where I am,"
he said,
723
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,205
"but I will keep in touch by e-mail.
Please do me a favor,
724
00:36:04,372 --> 00:36:06,582
do not talk about
time differentials,
725
00:36:06,749 --> 00:36:10,545
because time differentials
deal with the location."
726
00:36:10,711 --> 00:36:12,463
Maureen: He didn't really
talk much about it
727
00:36:12,630 --> 00:36:14,757
because a lot of things
that he had to do,
728
00:36:14,924 --> 00:36:18,553
you know, they're very tight-lipped
about it, most of them are.
729
00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:21,389
Michael would relate funny stories.
He said, "Oh, it was funny.
730
00:36:21,556 --> 00:36:25,393
I was out."
And he said, "I was running."
731
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:27,436
He was jogging one time,
732
00:36:27,603 --> 00:36:30,565
and he saw these green eyes
on the side.
733
00:36:30,731 --> 00:36:32,233
And then he saw another pair.
734
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:34,694
So all they had was
shorts and boots, that's it.
735
00:36:34,861 --> 00:36:36,612
He didn't have
anything else with him.
736
00:36:36,779 --> 00:36:38,906
He said,
"And I didn't carry my weapon."
737
00:36:39,073 --> 00:36:42,368
And he said, "And I got attacked
by a bunch of hyenas."
738
00:36:42,535 --> 00:36:45,913
Maureen: One of the hyenas
went to go lunge at him.
739
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,333
And he just jammed it right in the face
with his fist.
740
00:36:49,500 --> 00:36:51,586
He yelped like a little dog.
741
00:36:51,752 --> 00:36:53,838
Scurried away,
because they travel in packs.
742
00:36:54,005 --> 00:36:55,882
He said, "I'm kicking him
743
00:36:56,048 --> 00:36:58,718
and trying to run
at the same time."
744
00:36:58,885 --> 00:37:00,761
The reason why I know
is because
745
00:37:00,928 --> 00:37:02,805
I found out about it
and then I questioned him.
746
00:37:02,972 --> 00:37:07,101
And Maureen said,
"Michael, there's no hyenas in Iraq."
747
00:37:07,268 --> 00:37:09,437
And he said,
"Oh, Mom, you caught me."
748
00:37:09,604 --> 00:37:11,188
And he said,
"Yeah, I was in Africa."
749
00:37:11,355 --> 00:37:13,524
And that's when he said,
"Mom, I nearly lost my life."
750
00:37:13,691 --> 00:37:15,276
He says,
"It was kind of scary."
751
00:37:15,443 --> 00:37:17,445
When he would come home,
no, he would never talk about work.
752
00:37:17,612 --> 00:37:19,864
It was just, "Hey, how are you doing?"
And everything was about--
753
00:37:20,031 --> 00:37:21,908
never about him.
It was about, "How are you?"
754
00:37:22,074 --> 00:37:23,910
You know?
That's just-- no, I never heard--
755
00:37:24,076 --> 00:37:25,536
I would try to pull stuff
out of him,
756
00:37:25,703 --> 00:37:27,747
but never-- he would never
talk about work.
757
00:37:27,914 --> 00:37:30,124
We all stayed in touch with Michael
through e-mails
758
00:37:30,291 --> 00:37:32,501
and kept up with what's going on.
When he could tell us
759
00:37:32,668 --> 00:37:34,962
where he was, he did.
You know, that wasn't very often.
760
00:37:35,129 --> 00:37:37,089
But, you know,
he e-mails me one day
761
00:37:37,256 --> 00:37:39,425
and he's like, "Hey, Owen,
can I get a firehouse patch?"
762
00:37:39,592 --> 00:37:41,427
So I said, "No problem, Mike.
I'll get you a patch."
763
00:37:41,594 --> 00:37:43,429
Then in the next e-mail he says,
764
00:37:43,596 --> 00:37:47,850
"Well, actually, I need 30 patches."
"30 patches?"
765
00:37:48,017 --> 00:37:50,478
Now to be honest, that's more guys
than we had in the firehouse.
766
00:37:50,645 --> 00:37:54,357
And he told me that basically
he wanted a reason...
767
00:37:54,523 --> 00:37:55,524
James: The guys know
why they're there.
768
00:37:55,691 --> 00:37:57,735
Owen: ...the guys could think about
while they're away,
769
00:37:57,902 --> 00:37:59,820
something from home,
to remind them why they're there
770
00:37:59,987 --> 00:38:02,490
and what they were doing
and who they were there for.
771
00:38:02,657 --> 00:38:04,617
So the minute he got
the patches,
772
00:38:04,784 --> 00:38:06,911
Mike sewed it onto his uniform.
773
00:38:07,078 --> 00:38:09,914
And his teammates told me
he wore it every day, every mission,
774
00:38:10,081 --> 00:38:13,084
just to constantly remind himself
and the guys he worked with
775
00:38:13,250 --> 00:38:15,127
that there was a bigger picture,
776
00:38:15,294 --> 00:38:17,171
the people back home
who they were fighting for,
777
00:38:17,338 --> 00:38:19,298
and the people that suffered
after 9/11,
778
00:38:19,465 --> 00:38:21,467
not to forget.
779
00:38:40,152 --> 00:38:42,196
Widenhofer:
Operation Red Wings
780
00:38:42,363 --> 00:38:45,741
was a mission to get some
real bad guys out in the Hindu Kush.
781
00:38:45,908 --> 00:38:49,078
Those guys were remote.
They were far away.
782
00:38:49,245 --> 00:38:51,497
It was enemy territory.
783
00:38:51,664 --> 00:38:53,541
And we sent in
784
00:38:53,708 --> 00:38:56,419
Mike, Axe,
785
00:38:56,585 --> 00:38:59,213
Marcus and Danny
786
00:38:59,380 --> 00:39:01,757
to go get their eyes
on the bad guys
787
00:39:01,924 --> 00:39:03,926
as close as possible.
788
00:39:04,093 --> 00:39:06,220
And they--
they went out there
789
00:39:06,387 --> 00:39:08,014
and were out there
for several days.
790
00:39:08,180 --> 00:39:09,849
They were compromised.
791
00:39:10,016 --> 00:39:12,810
The enemy found them,
was tracking them down.
792
00:39:12,977 --> 00:39:15,146
And in a real short
amount of time,
793
00:39:15,312 --> 00:39:17,440
probably just minutes
and hours maybe,
794
00:39:17,606 --> 00:39:19,400
they were in a huge firefight.
795
00:39:19,567 --> 00:39:22,403
( gunfire crackling )
796
00:39:24,030 --> 00:39:25,990
O'Shea:
I was in Iraq serving
797
00:39:26,157 --> 00:39:29,076
when the call came in--
came in to MNFI,
798
00:39:29,243 --> 00:39:31,203
Multinational Forces Iraq,
at about midnight
799
00:39:31,370 --> 00:39:34,582
that four troops were in contact,
or troops in contact.
800
00:39:34,749 --> 00:39:37,793
And I was told,
"Hey, Dan, those are four SEALs."
801
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:39,420
I said, "What do you have?"
802
00:39:39,587 --> 00:39:41,297
And he said,
"Well, I'll get you more information.
803
00:39:41,464 --> 00:39:44,091
We don't have any names yet, but
they're in the firefight of their life."
804
00:39:44,258 --> 00:39:47,094
And I went back in, you know,
first thing the next morning.
805
00:39:47,261 --> 00:39:49,263
And sure enough, by that point
the battle had been going on,
806
00:39:49,430 --> 00:39:53,100
raging for hours,
and still not a whole lot of detail.
807
00:39:53,267 --> 00:39:55,728
I was watching television,
the news.
808
00:39:55,895 --> 00:39:58,022
And on the news
809
00:39:58,189 --> 00:40:01,525
it had this picture of,
810
00:40:01,692 --> 00:40:03,611
like, fake mountains.
811
00:40:03,778 --> 00:40:05,946
It was almost like,
drawn on there,
812
00:40:06,113 --> 00:40:07,615
like, you know,
like mountains.
813
00:40:07,782 --> 00:40:10,284
But they said that
they were outnumbered
814
00:40:10,451 --> 00:40:12,787
and there's just four men
trapped on the ground
815
00:40:12,953 --> 00:40:14,997
and these guys
are under heavy fire.
816
00:40:15,164 --> 00:40:16,582
And I thought,
"Oh, my God."
817
00:40:16,749 --> 00:40:19,960
And then I went, "Oh, no."
I said, "What's the shot of that?"
818
00:40:20,127 --> 00:40:22,838
At the operations center,
they were following the beacons
819
00:40:23,005 --> 00:40:25,007
and they knew
the guys were there,
820
00:40:25,174 --> 00:40:27,468
but they had no idea
what was actually unfolding.
821
00:40:27,635 --> 00:40:29,553
So I went to work the next day
822
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:31,597
and somebody came in
and said,
823
00:40:31,764 --> 00:40:34,308
"Oh, my God, did you know
there was a helicopter
824
00:40:34,475 --> 00:40:36,477
that went down
with Navy SEALs?"
825
00:40:36,644 --> 00:40:38,896
And I said, "Well,
that happened yesterday."
826
00:40:39,063 --> 00:40:40,981
And she goes,
"No, I heard it today on the news."
827
00:40:41,148 --> 00:40:43,984
And I said, "Oh." And then I started
to get a little bit nervous,
828
00:40:44,151 --> 00:40:46,112
'cause it was like, "Well, that was
two stories I heard."
829
00:40:46,278 --> 00:40:48,155
That Chinook that went in
830
00:40:48,322 --> 00:40:50,241
to get those guys,
the Quick Reaction Force,
831
00:40:50,407 --> 00:40:52,576
was a helo aircraft
832
00:40:52,743 --> 00:40:55,162
full of real American heroes,
833
00:40:55,329 --> 00:40:58,999
real dedicated, talented,
834
00:40:59,166 --> 00:41:01,377
tough people.
835
00:41:01,544 --> 00:41:03,754
People that you want to be out
doing that type of work.
836
00:41:03,921 --> 00:41:07,258
So by the time I got home,
837
00:41:07,424 --> 00:41:11,846
actually, Heather
had called and said,
838
00:41:12,012 --> 00:41:14,515
"Did you hear anything?"
And I said, "No."
839
00:41:14,682 --> 00:41:17,518
So, you know,
I was starting
840
00:41:17,685 --> 00:41:19,728
to get a little bit more worried
about it and everything.
841
00:41:19,895 --> 00:41:22,898
And she said that-- she said,
"Well, there's a number,
842
00:41:23,065 --> 00:41:24,984
but I'm not married to him,
so I can't get through."
843
00:41:25,151 --> 00:41:26,610
So I said,
"Well, give me the number."
844
00:41:26,777 --> 00:41:29,113
As an aviator,
as a helicopter pilot,
845
00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:32,825
I know how badly
you want to get in and help.
846
00:41:32,992 --> 00:41:35,286
They wanted to start saving lives.
847
00:41:35,452 --> 00:41:38,372
And they were just
totally focused on--
848
00:41:38,539 --> 00:41:41,542
on getting in there despite
what was being shot at them,
849
00:41:41,709 --> 00:41:44,211
despite what was around them
or who was in front of them
850
00:41:44,378 --> 00:41:47,548
or to the side of them.
They go and they do the work.
851
00:41:47,715 --> 00:41:50,467
And I knew something was up
because when I called California,
852
00:41:50,634 --> 00:41:53,220
all I said was,
"My name is Maureen Murphy.
853
00:41:53,387 --> 00:41:56,015
I'm calling about my son Mike."
And I kept getting pushed.
854
00:41:56,182 --> 00:41:58,851
And then it was like-- you know,
like put onto somebody else.
855
00:41:59,018 --> 00:42:00,686
Then I knew-- "Oh, my God,
I didn't even give
856
00:42:00,853 --> 00:42:04,940
any other identification other than
my name and Mike's first name."
857
00:42:05,107 --> 00:42:09,403
And then I had a feeling, "Oh, my God,
he's involved in this," you know?
858
00:42:09,570 --> 00:42:11,614
Heather came down
and asked, you know.
859
00:42:11,780 --> 00:42:13,657
And I said,
"Look, he's in Iraq."
860
00:42:13,824 --> 00:42:15,701
I said, "He just sent me
a picture
861
00:42:15,868 --> 00:42:18,579
for Father's Day
of him and his team."
862
00:42:18,746 --> 00:42:21,207
I said, "And there were mountains
in the background,"
863
00:42:21,373 --> 00:42:23,876
I said, you know, so--
but it looked like desert.
864
00:42:24,043 --> 00:42:26,295
I said, "They're in desert fatigues."
I said, "He's in Iraq."
865
00:42:26,462 --> 00:42:28,255
And she said, "Yeah, but what about
those mountains there?"
866
00:42:28,422 --> 00:42:31,759
Dan got an e-mail
on Father's Day from Mike.
867
00:42:31,926 --> 00:42:34,845
And I got an e-mail from him
and I said, "Well, thank God."
868
00:42:35,012 --> 00:42:38,098
Because he said, "Mama, I'm back,
but I've been away for a while.
869
00:42:38,265 --> 00:42:40,392
I'm sorry I didn't keep in contact,
but everything's okay.
870
00:42:40,559 --> 00:42:43,938
I really like it here. And I got some
really funny stories to tell you
871
00:42:44,104 --> 00:42:45,439
and some sad ones too."
872
00:42:45,606 --> 00:42:48,025
One of my friends
is a county attorney.
873
00:42:48,192 --> 00:42:49,568
His name-- Tony.
874
00:42:49,735 --> 00:42:53,364
And he's a reserve lieutenant colonel
in the Army.
875
00:42:53,530 --> 00:42:56,408
And he's been to Iraq
and a bunch of places.
876
00:42:56,575 --> 00:42:58,535
And so he says,
"Oh, how's Mike doing?"
877
00:42:58,702 --> 00:43:00,246
I said, "Oh, he's deployed.
I think he's in--"
878
00:43:00,412 --> 00:43:03,457
I said, "I believe he's in Iraq.
He sent me this great picture
879
00:43:03,624 --> 00:43:05,209
of him and his SEAL team."
880
00:43:05,376 --> 00:43:07,211
And he looks at it and he said,
"He's in Afghanistan."
881
00:43:07,378 --> 00:43:09,046
I said, "No, he's not."
I said, "He's in Iraq."
882
00:43:09,213 --> 00:43:10,839
'Cause I had known
he went to Qatar.
883
00:43:11,006 --> 00:43:13,634
We were like-- we didn't really
know what was going on.
884
00:43:13,801 --> 00:43:15,886
But it was getting kind of like
a little bit tense.
885
00:43:16,053 --> 00:43:18,347
And, you know, I said,
"Oh, my God, this is literally
886
00:43:18,514 --> 00:43:19,890
kind of getting me scared,"
you know?
887
00:43:20,057 --> 00:43:22,977
When Heather comes down
and Maureen,
888
00:43:23,143 --> 00:43:26,480
I'm trying to reassure them,
"No, he's in Iraq. Everything's okay."
889
00:43:26,647 --> 00:43:29,942
But in the back of my head, you know,
that little birdie sits there and says,
890
00:43:30,109 --> 00:43:32,319
"Oh, boy," you know,
"Tony told me that's Afghanistan.
891
00:43:32,486 --> 00:43:34,154
Maybe this isn't so good."
892
00:43:34,321 --> 00:43:36,490
Anyway, that night
893
00:43:36,657 --> 00:43:40,035
I went to bed and I just said,
"You know what?
894
00:43:40,202 --> 00:43:42,079
I'm just gonna say my prayers
before I go to bed."
895
00:43:42,246 --> 00:43:44,498
it was almost 12:00.
And I remember saying to John,
896
00:43:44,665 --> 00:43:48,502
"You know what, John?" I said,
"I called about six, seven hours ago."
897
00:43:48,669 --> 00:43:51,505
I said, "We haven't heard anything.
That's probably a good sign."
898
00:43:51,672 --> 00:43:54,258
So I got through
saying my prayers
899
00:43:54,425 --> 00:43:57,803
and as I put out the light,
900
00:43:57,970 --> 00:44:00,597
I heard a car pull up
901
00:44:00,764 --> 00:44:02,975
and I heard four doors closing.
902
00:44:03,142 --> 00:44:05,019
So we parked the car
across the street
903
00:44:05,185 --> 00:44:06,937
in a little parking lot
right outside the house.
904
00:44:07,104 --> 00:44:09,398
And the first thing I notice is
all the lights are on.
905
00:44:09,565 --> 00:44:11,859
And it's pretty late.
It's almost midnight.
906
00:44:12,026 --> 00:44:13,861
But they're awake.
907
00:44:14,028 --> 00:44:15,988
And I thought
that was a good thing,
908
00:44:16,155 --> 00:44:17,990
but it also meant
we had to get to work right away.
909
00:44:18,157 --> 00:44:20,909
And the doorbell rang.
And I told John, so naive,
910
00:44:21,076 --> 00:44:23,537
I said, "John, don't answer it,"
'cause I figured they'd go away.
911
00:44:23,704 --> 00:44:27,333
John answered and said, "Mom,
you probably want to come down here.
912
00:44:27,499 --> 00:44:29,460
There's some guys in uniform
outside."
913
00:44:29,626 --> 00:44:32,379
Took their hats off
and stood back for a minute,
914
00:44:32,546 --> 00:44:34,673
asked me who I was.
915
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:37,217
And I just said,
"No. No."
916
00:44:37,384 --> 00:44:39,887
And I just did not
want to hear it.
917
00:44:40,054 --> 00:44:42,639
We told her right away
that Mike was missing.
918
00:44:42,806 --> 00:44:45,017
We made sure to not say
that he was deceased.
919
00:44:45,184 --> 00:44:47,227
We didn't know what was going on
out in Afghanistan.
920
00:44:47,394 --> 00:44:50,356
We just got word that he
and the three other guys
921
00:44:50,522 --> 00:44:53,275
were missing and they weren't
in communication.
922
00:44:53,442 --> 00:44:55,486
And Father Coyle--
he was really good.
923
00:44:55,652 --> 00:44:57,404
He stepped forward and he said,
"I'm a chaplain."
924
00:44:57,571 --> 00:44:59,907
He goes, "Mike wasn't
in the helicopter,"
925
00:45:00,074 --> 00:45:04,870
which-- I had,
like, temporary relief.
926
00:45:05,037 --> 00:45:07,539
And he said, "He wasn't in
the helicopter. He was on the ground."
927
00:45:07,706 --> 00:45:09,249
And he says,
"He's just missing."
928
00:45:09,416 --> 00:45:11,085
She wasn't falling apart
or anything,
929
00:45:11,251 --> 00:45:12,920
because we weren't giving her
much information.
930
00:45:13,087 --> 00:45:14,922
She was trying
to get more from us.
931
00:45:15,089 --> 00:45:18,300
But Father Coyle was there,
kind of settled us all down.
932
00:45:18,467 --> 00:45:24,014
And he said a prayer.
And we all joined in.
933
00:45:24,181 --> 00:45:27,267
Maureen calls me right away.
I live just down the block.
934
00:45:27,434 --> 00:45:30,437
So she calls me
and she says,
935
00:45:30,604 --> 00:45:33,107
"The Navy is here, Dan.
Michael is missing."
936
00:45:33,273 --> 00:45:35,442
You're creating
these images of,
937
00:45:35,609 --> 00:45:38,070
you know, if he's alive now,
where is he?
938
00:45:38,237 --> 00:45:40,155
Is he captured?
Is he on the run?
939
00:45:40,322 --> 00:45:42,491
It's like really painful
when you don't know
940
00:45:42,658 --> 00:45:44,451
what happened to your child.
941
00:45:44,618 --> 00:45:46,995
Even though he's a grown man,
but he's still your child.
942
00:45:47,162 --> 00:45:50,082
And you don't know
if he's maybe
943
00:45:50,249 --> 00:45:52,960
hiding behind a rock
and bleeding to death
944
00:45:53,127 --> 00:45:55,045
or maybe they're torturing him
945
00:45:55,212 --> 00:45:57,923
or doing something,
you know, horrible,
946
00:45:58,090 --> 00:46:00,676
or maybe just
dying there by himself,
947
00:46:00,843 --> 00:46:03,095
you know, maybe
in a cave or something,
948
00:46:03,262 --> 00:46:05,472
if he was lucky enough
to get away.
949
00:46:05,639 --> 00:46:08,684
And so I started asking,
you know, questions about,
950
00:46:08,851 --> 00:46:11,520
what do we know, like,
what happened, et cetera, et cetera.
951
00:46:11,687 --> 00:46:13,856
And they didn't have
a lot of information there.
952
00:46:14,022 --> 00:46:15,524
He's missing?
What are you talking about?
953
00:46:15,691 --> 00:46:19,194
So I leave work. I go. It was right
around the corner from his house.
954
00:46:19,361 --> 00:46:23,657
And everybody's, you know--
and it wasn't confirmed yet.
955
00:46:23,824 --> 00:46:26,743
But I just figured
956
00:46:26,910 --> 00:46:29,663
there's no way he's gonna--
you know, the team is missing.
957
00:46:29,830 --> 00:46:31,665
He's gonna pop up somewhere.
It's just how he was.
958
00:46:31,832 --> 00:46:33,208
He's gonna find a way
to get out.
959
00:46:33,375 --> 00:46:36,378
We try to reassure each other
that everything's gonna work out,
960
00:46:36,545 --> 00:46:41,133
and these are the most elite,
trained military persons
961
00:46:41,300 --> 00:46:43,177
we have in the country.
962
00:46:43,343 --> 00:46:45,429
- Retreated to Maureen's house.
- We retreated to Maureen's house
963
00:46:45,596 --> 00:46:48,307
- to see how she was doing and try--
- To do anything for her.
964
00:46:48,474 --> 00:46:50,434
Provide any comfort and help
we could to her.
965
00:46:50,601 --> 00:46:53,103
And Maureen said,
"Let's get these uniforms off.
966
00:46:53,270 --> 00:46:55,147
It's stressing me out
too much."
967
00:46:55,314 --> 00:46:58,775
So we came over
in regular clothes the next day.
968
00:46:58,942 --> 00:47:02,321
It starts off small and ends up
to be like-- like a lot more.
969
00:47:02,488 --> 00:47:05,532
There was probably
30, 40 people at--
970
00:47:05,699 --> 00:47:08,160
you know, at some points
971
00:47:08,327 --> 00:47:10,245
just waiting for news.
972
00:47:10,412 --> 00:47:13,415
There were points
during those four days
973
00:47:13,582 --> 00:47:16,877
that we were able to laugh
and we shared margaritas
974
00:47:17,044 --> 00:47:19,213
and we had some beers.
975
00:47:19,379 --> 00:47:22,090
And we held onto some hope
that we got,
976
00:47:22,257 --> 00:47:24,593
that sprinkled in
from some of the reports.
977
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,597
My house was filled with, like,
a hundred people at a clip,
978
00:47:28,764 --> 00:47:30,307
between people
coming and going.
979
00:47:30,474 --> 00:47:33,352
And they were really kind.
They brought all kinds of food.
980
00:47:33,519 --> 00:47:35,437
Even neighbors
I didn't even really know
981
00:47:35,604 --> 00:47:37,606
had brought all kinds of food
and everything,
982
00:47:37,773 --> 00:47:40,025
'cause there was just
so much going on.
983
00:47:40,192 --> 00:47:43,779
And so for six days
he was missing.
984
00:47:43,946 --> 00:47:45,864
But the rest of the time
was difficult, you know.
985
00:47:46,031 --> 00:47:47,699
We passed the time
with small talk.
986
00:47:47,866 --> 00:47:50,452
And the news was on constantly
in the background.
987
00:47:50,619 --> 00:47:52,454
And anytime
anything would come up,
988
00:47:52,621 --> 00:47:54,790
we'd stop what we were doing
and listen.
989
00:47:54,957 --> 00:47:56,750
And it was excruciating.
990
00:47:56,917 --> 00:47:58,627
You know, I said, "Maureen,
he knows what he's doing.
991
00:47:58,794 --> 00:48:00,837
He's great at this.
He's a smart guy," you know.
992
00:48:01,004 --> 00:48:04,258
She said, "But he's not gonna
get hurt on his own.
993
00:48:04,424 --> 00:48:06,593
He's gonna get hurt
trying to protect somebody."
994
00:48:20,148 --> 00:48:23,402
Maureen: It was a couple of minutes just
before the end of the Fourth of July.
995
00:48:23,569 --> 00:48:27,864
And we got the news
that Michael didn't make it.
996
00:48:28,031 --> 00:48:31,577
And I went into total shock,
997
00:48:31,743 --> 00:48:34,830
'cause I was, like, looking,
and everybody's crying.
998
00:48:34,997 --> 00:48:38,166
And my body just shut down.
I just was like--
999
00:48:38,333 --> 00:48:41,169
all I could think of is,
he's not in pain anymore
1000
00:48:41,336 --> 00:48:45,007
and that he's in heaven
1001
00:48:45,173 --> 00:48:47,509
and...
1002
00:48:47,676 --> 00:48:51,138
all the pain that he probably
did suffer is gone.
1003
00:48:51,305 --> 00:48:55,350
And I don't know,
I just got this numb feeling.
1004
00:48:55,517 --> 00:48:59,313
And I just was telling people
he's okay, you know,
1005
00:48:59,479 --> 00:49:02,316
and not to be upset.
I don't know.
1006
00:49:02,482 --> 00:49:04,359
Well, when he showed up
that night in his whites,
1007
00:49:04,526 --> 00:49:08,071
because this was formal,
Dan was walking around his back yard.
1008
00:49:08,238 --> 00:49:10,616
And I saw him turn to Jeff
and say,
1009
00:49:10,782 --> 00:49:12,534
"I don't want to talk to you."
1010
00:49:12,701 --> 00:49:14,119
And I heard Mr. Murphy,
1011
00:49:14,286 --> 00:49:16,330
I heard him yell a few times
he didn't want to talk to Jeff.
1012
00:49:16,496 --> 00:49:18,040
"Keep Jeff away.
I don't want to see him."
1013
00:49:18,206 --> 00:49:20,208
Dan had rosaries
1014
00:49:20,375 --> 00:49:22,878
that he held for five days
while Mike was missing.
1015
00:49:23,045 --> 00:49:25,797
And I had come to find out
during the course of those five days
1016
00:49:25,964 --> 00:49:28,050
that those rosaries
had belonged to my mother.
1017
00:49:28,216 --> 00:49:30,636
And when my brother Dan
was hurt in Vietnam,
1018
00:49:30,802 --> 00:49:33,513
my mother held onto those rosaries
until she knew he was okay.
1019
00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:36,016
So for five days
Dan held those rosaries.
1020
00:49:36,183 --> 00:49:39,227
He started to walk into his house, and
there was a garbage can to his right.
1021
00:49:39,394 --> 00:49:41,188
And he took the rosary beads
1022
00:49:41,355 --> 00:49:43,106
and he just threw them in the garbage
and kept walking.
1023
00:49:43,273 --> 00:49:47,444
While conducting surveillance
on a mountain ridge in Afghanistan,
1024
00:49:47,611 --> 00:49:49,613
he and three fellow SEALs
were surrounded
1025
00:49:49,780 --> 00:49:52,532
by a much larger enemy force.
1026
00:49:52,699 --> 00:49:55,243
Their only escape
was down the side of a mountain.
1027
00:49:55,410 --> 00:49:58,330
And the SEALs launched
a valiant counterattack
1028
00:49:58,497 --> 00:50:01,750
while cascading
from cliff to cliff.
1029
00:50:01,917 --> 00:50:03,251
But as the enemy closed in,
1030
00:50:03,418 --> 00:50:05,545
Michael recognized
that the survival of his men
1031
00:50:05,712 --> 00:50:09,132
depended on calling back
to the base for reinforcements.
1032
00:50:09,299 --> 00:50:12,135
With complete disregard
for his own life,
1033
00:50:12,302 --> 00:50:15,597
he moved into a clearing
where his phone would get reception.
1034
00:50:15,764 --> 00:50:18,100
He made the call,
1035
00:50:18,266 --> 00:50:21,311
and Michael then
fell under heavy fire.
1036
00:50:21,478 --> 00:50:23,730
Yet his grace and upbringing
never deserted him.
1037
00:50:23,897 --> 00:50:25,774
Though severely wounded,
1038
00:50:25,941 --> 00:50:28,110
he said, "Thank you,"
before hanging up
1039
00:50:28,276 --> 00:50:31,988
and returned to the fight
before losing his life.
1040
00:50:32,155 --> 00:50:34,700
Unfortunately, the helicopter
carrying the reinforcements
1041
00:50:34,866 --> 00:50:37,119
never reached the scene.
1042
00:50:37,285 --> 00:50:41,873
It crashed after being struck
by a rocket-propelled grenade.
1043
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:44,710
And in the end more Americans
died in Afghanistan
1044
00:50:44,876 --> 00:50:47,879
on June 28th, 2005,
than on any other day
1045
00:50:48,046 --> 00:50:51,466
since the beginning
of Operation Enduring Freedom.
1046
00:50:51,633 --> 00:50:56,430
This day of tragedy
also has the sad distinction
1047
00:50:56,596 --> 00:51:00,142
of being the deadliest
for Navy Special Warfare Forces
1048
00:51:00,308 --> 00:51:02,894
since World War ll.
1049
00:51:03,061 --> 00:51:05,522
One of Michael's fellow SEALs
did make it off the mountain ridge.
1050
00:51:05,689 --> 00:51:08,316
He was one of Michael's
closest friends,
1051
00:51:08,483 --> 00:51:11,445
Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell
of Texas,
1052
00:51:11,611 --> 00:51:14,448
author of a riveting book
called "Lone Survivor."
1053
00:51:14,614 --> 00:51:18,618
"Put it this way--
Mikey was the best officer I ever knew.
1054
00:51:18,785 --> 00:51:21,246
An iron-souled warrior
1055
00:51:21,413 --> 00:51:25,167
of colossal and almost unbelievable
courage in the face of the enemy."
1056
00:51:25,333 --> 00:51:27,252
Daniel:
When I was told about it,
1057
00:51:27,419 --> 00:51:30,797
that Michael's final words were,
"Thank you, sir,"
1058
00:51:30,964 --> 00:51:32,841
or, "Roger that. Thank you, sir,"
1059
00:51:33,008 --> 00:51:35,719
Maureen and I looked at each other,
we were not surprised.
1060
00:51:35,886 --> 00:51:39,014
Everything about Mike,
his whole life led up to that.
1061
00:51:39,181 --> 00:51:43,143
He, you know, led his whole life
with honor, so...
1062
00:51:48,648 --> 00:51:50,859
Yeah, I'm not surprised.
1063
00:51:51,026 --> 00:51:53,028
I mean, we knew it.
1064
00:51:54,696 --> 00:51:57,324
It was his sacrifice.
1065
00:52:07,709 --> 00:52:09,544
Velez: Leaving high school,
I knew
1066
00:52:09,711 --> 00:52:13,256
that college was gonna be
a big issue financially.
1067
00:52:13,423 --> 00:52:15,884
I knew that if I wanted to go,
I would have to apply myself.
1068
00:52:16,051 --> 00:52:17,886
And wanting, you know--
having the desire to go
1069
00:52:18,053 --> 00:52:19,679
and having the grades to go
are one thing,
1070
00:52:19,846 --> 00:52:22,057
but there are very tangible things
that you must have
1071
00:52:22,224 --> 00:52:23,725
in order to continue
that goal.
1072
00:52:23,892 --> 00:52:27,938
So in my senior year of high school,
I actually applied to 49 scholarships.
1073
00:52:28,104 --> 00:52:32,108
Yes. Knowing that,
I only received eight.
1074
00:52:32,275 --> 00:52:33,985
However, those eight
have been a blessing.
1075
00:52:34,152 --> 00:52:37,405
And those eight have been able
to sustain my entire college career.
1076
00:52:40,033 --> 00:52:43,995
The last time I saw Michael
was on Easter Sunday that year, 2005.
1077
00:52:44,162 --> 00:52:48,083
And, you know,
we were all set to say goodbye.
1078
00:52:48,250 --> 00:52:49,751
And I said to him,
"Bye, Mike."
1079
00:52:49,918 --> 00:52:51,628
And he said, "Mama,
you never say goodbye to me."
1080
00:52:51,795 --> 00:52:53,755
And I said,
"I don't know why I said that."
1081
00:52:53,922 --> 00:52:55,423
I said, "Oh, don't pay
attention to me."
1082
00:52:55,590 --> 00:52:58,677
But then he said goodbye to everybody
else and he told Kelly and John,
1083
00:52:58,844 --> 00:53:01,096
he said, "Oh, I'll see you." And they
said, "Yeah, we'll see you," like that.
1084
00:53:01,263 --> 00:53:03,014
So I didn't think
anything more about it.
1085
00:53:03,181 --> 00:53:07,185
I pick him up
and I take him to the airport.
1086
00:53:07,352 --> 00:53:08,812
And we're driving to the airport.
1087
00:53:08,979 --> 00:53:10,480
We're talking about
a hundred different things.
1088
00:53:10,647 --> 00:53:13,233
And I said, "Oh, God," I said,
"Michael, please do me a favor,
1089
00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:17,112
call and let us know
that you got home to Hawaii safe."
1090
00:53:17,279 --> 00:53:18,989
Maureen: And I said,
"Hey, Mike, do me a favor,
1091
00:53:19,155 --> 00:53:22,200
when you get out to Hawaii,
make sure you give me a call back."
1092
00:53:22,367 --> 00:53:25,996
You know, 'cause we-- I just want to
make sure that he gets home okay.
1093
00:53:26,162 --> 00:53:28,790
So in the meantime,
he never did call.
1094
00:53:28,957 --> 00:53:31,626
(thumps, whirrs)
1095
00:53:39,009 --> 00:53:42,804
Maureen: We were told when he was
gonna come to the United States.
1096
00:53:42,971 --> 00:53:45,515
And Danny and I decided
to go down to Dover.
1097
00:53:45,682 --> 00:53:50,270
Maureen and I wanted to meet Michael
when he returned to US soil.
1098
00:53:50,437 --> 00:53:53,732
They took him
out of the plane.
1099
00:53:53,899 --> 00:53:58,194
And they took him down
on this big--
1100
00:53:58,361 --> 00:54:00,238
it was almost like a carrier
1101
00:54:00,405 --> 00:54:03,867
that comes up to the height
of the plane to take the casket.
1102
00:54:04,034 --> 00:54:06,161
As the casket came down
1103
00:54:06,328 --> 00:54:09,331
and it went down--
all the way down to the ground,
1104
00:54:09,497 --> 00:54:13,001
I could picture Michael coming
in his white uniform towards us.
1105
00:54:13,168 --> 00:54:16,338
I could just picture him, 'cause he
was-- one foot turned in a little bit.
1106
00:54:16,504 --> 00:54:18,506
And I could picture him
walking over to us.
1107
00:54:18,673 --> 00:54:21,217
When it hit the ground
at about the length of the time
1108
00:54:21,384 --> 00:54:24,054
that it could have taken him
to walk over to us,
1109
00:54:24,220 --> 00:54:26,681
there was this warmth,
1110
00:54:26,848 --> 00:54:28,767
honest to God.
1111
00:54:28,934 --> 00:54:31,102
And it was almost like a hug
from him.
1112
00:54:31,269 --> 00:54:33,146
And I looked down
and I looked
1113
00:54:33,313 --> 00:54:34,981
and everybody felt
the same reaction.
1114
00:54:35,148 --> 00:54:36,983
And we all--
it was, like, calm.
1115
00:54:37,150 --> 00:54:39,319
And I remember
we all looked at each other
1116
00:54:39,486 --> 00:54:41,279
and I said,
"Did you feel that?"
1117
00:54:41,446 --> 00:54:43,323
And everybody--
my brother-in-law,
1118
00:54:43,490 --> 00:54:45,825
my sister-in-law,
Dan, John--
1119
00:54:45,992 --> 00:54:48,703
we all felt it.
It was like this warm,
1120
00:54:48,870 --> 00:54:51,581
like, calm that came over.
1121
00:54:51,748 --> 00:54:54,709
All the way home,
we were just calm.
1122
00:54:54,876 --> 00:54:56,920
I wanted to ride with my son.
1123
00:54:57,087 --> 00:54:59,089
It was his last trip home.
1124
00:54:59,255 --> 00:55:03,718
So I told Maureen that I would ride
in the hearse with Michael.
1125
00:55:03,885 --> 00:55:07,430
And she rode in--
1126
00:55:07,597 --> 00:55:09,975
her uncle provided a limousine.
1127
00:55:10,141 --> 00:55:12,560
She rode with the family
right behind us.
1128
00:55:12,727 --> 00:55:15,647
And we drove.
1129
00:55:15,814 --> 00:55:19,734
Maryland, we had, like,
a two-police-car escort.
1130
00:55:19,901 --> 00:55:23,113
And then New Jersey,
the New Jersey troopers met us
1131
00:55:23,279 --> 00:55:26,157
and they were
a two-car escort.
1132
00:55:26,324 --> 00:55:30,036
And we get to the Verrazano Bridge.
And at the Verrazano Bridge--
1133
00:55:30,203 --> 00:55:33,748
only Commissioner Kelly
of New York City, you know?
1134
00:55:33,915 --> 00:55:35,917
New York City
always seems to do it
1135
00:55:36,084 --> 00:55:38,086
bigger and better
than everybody else.
1136
00:55:38,253 --> 00:55:41,089
Every town stopped traffic,
1137
00:55:41,256 --> 00:55:44,342
had police standing on the corner
saluting him.
1138
00:55:44,509 --> 00:55:46,928
When we came over the bridges
coming back,
1139
00:55:47,095 --> 00:55:49,472
the Belt Parkway was
completely shut down.
1140
00:55:49,639 --> 00:55:52,434
Every stop,
those officers would be there
1141
00:55:52,600 --> 00:55:54,894
blocking the traffic
so they couldn't get through
1142
00:55:55,061 --> 00:55:57,480
and saluting his casket
coming past.
1143
00:55:57,647 --> 00:55:59,441
I will never forget that
as long as I live.
1144
00:55:59,607 --> 00:56:02,819
Remember, this is before we knew
anything about the battle,
1145
00:56:02,986 --> 00:56:05,113
anything of his courage
or what he did.
1146
00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:08,742
He was just a Navy SEAL
being returned home.
1147
00:56:08,908 --> 00:56:10,785
They close down
the Belt Parkway
1148
00:56:10,952 --> 00:56:12,996
and there is a New York City
police officer
1149
00:56:13,163 --> 00:56:16,750
who salutes Michael
as he goes by.
1150
00:56:16,916 --> 00:56:19,586
And I turned,
I put my hand on the casket
1151
00:56:19,753 --> 00:56:22,464
and I just said, "Michael,"
I said, "this is all for you.
1152
00:56:22,630 --> 00:56:24,049
And you deserve it."
1153
00:56:24,215 --> 00:56:26,176
One of the things I'm proud of is,
as first responders,
1154
00:56:26,342 --> 00:56:28,261
we take care of each other
as best we can.
1155
00:56:28,428 --> 00:56:30,430
And it was nice to know
1156
00:56:30,597 --> 00:56:34,809
that they accepted Mike
and his sacrifice
1157
00:56:34,976 --> 00:56:37,479
as one of the local guys.
And they went out of their way--
1158
00:56:37,645 --> 00:56:39,981
The police department, the fire
department-- everybody turned out.
1159
00:56:40,148 --> 00:56:42,150
Owen: Volunteer or paid,
everybody came together
1160
00:56:42,317 --> 00:56:46,237
and did everything they could
to try to make the situation
1161
00:56:46,404 --> 00:56:50,325
as easy or as bearable
for Dan and Maureen as possible.
1162
00:56:50,492 --> 00:56:53,453
Daniel: At the funeral,
they filled the church.
1163
00:56:53,620 --> 00:56:57,248
The church holds, like,
I think, 2000-2500 people.
1164
00:56:57,415 --> 00:56:59,209
The church was filled.
And they were outside.
1165
00:56:59,375 --> 00:57:02,170
It was raining too, so everybody
was standing out in the rain.
1166
00:57:02,337 --> 00:57:04,214
Maureen:
It was pouring rain.
1167
00:57:04,380 --> 00:57:08,593
And I remember getting into
the limousine and looking out,
1168
00:57:08,760 --> 00:57:11,179
and I saw these men
1169
00:57:11,346 --> 00:57:14,182
that obviously served
in World War ll or Korea--
1170
00:57:14,349 --> 00:57:17,519
old men--
standing at attention
1171
00:57:17,685 --> 00:57:22,398
and saluting him all the way
down the street out of Kings Park.
1172
00:57:22,565 --> 00:57:25,360
You know, everybody is still
in a kind of shock at the same time.
1173
00:57:25,527 --> 00:57:27,362
You know, you're going
through the motions
1174
00:57:27,529 --> 00:57:30,031
and you're,
you know, realizing,
1175
00:57:30,198 --> 00:57:32,033
but yet not realizing
what's going on,
1176
00:57:32,200 --> 00:57:33,993
because you just don't
want to believe that it's happened.
1177
00:57:34,160 --> 00:57:36,955
I'll never forget
them wheeling the casket
1178
00:57:37,122 --> 00:57:39,040
down the middle of the church.
1179
00:57:39,207 --> 00:57:42,335
And it came time
to go right past me,
1180
00:57:42,502 --> 00:57:44,712
and that was--
1181
00:57:44,879 --> 00:57:47,340
that was the hardest I've cried
in my life.
1182
00:57:47,507 --> 00:57:51,052
I'd never felt that before,
because it wasn't a sadness for me.
1183
00:57:51,219 --> 00:57:54,222
It wasn't a pity thing.
It was-- I--
1184
00:57:54,389 --> 00:57:58,434
my heart was broken
for another being and another family.
1185
00:57:58,601 --> 00:58:00,478
And I didn't know
what to do with myself.
1186
00:58:00,645 --> 00:58:05,358
The fact that he--
that he wasn't there anymore,
1187
00:58:05,525 --> 00:58:07,735
that he paid
the ultimate sacrifice,
1188
00:58:07,902 --> 00:58:11,072
just killed me,
absolutely killed me.
1189
00:58:11,239 --> 00:58:13,241
When we left
the funeral home,
1190
00:58:13,408 --> 00:58:16,661
the Suffolk Police Department
provided
1191
00:58:16,828 --> 00:58:18,830
- a motorcycle escort in the rain...
- An escort in the rain.
1192
00:58:18,997 --> 00:58:20,874
...with a couple other
departments as well.
1193
00:58:21,040 --> 00:58:24,127
When they approached
the entrance to Calverton,
1194
00:58:24,294 --> 00:58:26,421
the local fire departments
got together
1195
00:58:26,588 --> 00:58:28,464
and set up ladder trucks
1196
00:58:28,631 --> 00:58:31,092
and hung tremendous...
1197
00:58:31,259 --> 00:58:32,802
- Huge American flags.
- ...American flags
1198
00:58:32,969 --> 00:58:35,430
from the top of the ladder trucks
over the roadway.
1199
00:58:35,597 --> 00:58:37,682
Keenan:
Brings back memories now.
1200
00:58:37,849 --> 00:58:40,185
You know, I can kind of picture
the flags waving.
1201
00:58:40,351 --> 00:58:42,729
The engine trucks--
the fire engine trucks-- it was--
1202
00:58:42,896 --> 00:58:45,940
it was--
it was awesome, really.
1203
00:58:46,107 --> 00:58:48,318
Daniel: We all park
and there's a private service--
1204
00:58:48,484 --> 00:58:50,486
the O'Callaghans
and Michael's friends
1205
00:58:50,653 --> 00:58:52,947
and really tight Navy--
1206
00:58:53,114 --> 00:58:56,075
an aide had come.
They lift out Michael
1207
00:58:56,242 --> 00:58:58,536
and they bring him over
to his gravesite and put him down.
1208
00:58:58,703 --> 00:59:01,164
And there's a short service
by Father Coyle there.
1209
00:59:01,331 --> 00:59:04,667
And we--
the service ends,
1210
00:59:04,834 --> 00:59:06,961
and Maureen and I and John,
we turn
1211
00:59:07,128 --> 00:59:09,547
and we are heading back
to the car,
1212
00:59:09,714 --> 00:59:11,966
which is literally
50 feet away.
1213
00:59:12,133 --> 00:59:15,094
And we just leave Mike.
We were the last two to leave.
1214
00:59:15,261 --> 00:59:17,138
We turn around
and we head back.
1215
00:59:17,305 --> 00:59:20,767
And Maureen's phone goes off.
And I remember it so vividly.
1216
00:59:20,934 --> 00:59:24,145
She says, "Who would be
calling me now?
1217
00:59:24,312 --> 00:59:25,855
They all know
we're at a funeral."
1218
00:59:26,022 --> 00:59:28,983
I look down
and my cell phone's going off.
1219
00:59:29,150 --> 00:59:32,779
And so I look at my cell,
I open it up.
1220
00:59:32,946 --> 00:59:36,032
And then I see tears
welling up in her eyes.
1221
00:59:36,199 --> 00:59:39,369
And my first thought was,
"Oh, she got more bad news. What?"
1222
00:59:39,535 --> 00:59:41,412
And I said,
"Maureen, are you okay?"
1223
00:59:41,579 --> 00:59:45,250
And she can't speak.
And she just hands me the phone.
1224
00:59:45,416 --> 00:59:47,293
And I look at the phone
1225
00:59:47,460 --> 00:59:51,881
and it's a message from Michael
that says,
1226
00:59:52,048 --> 00:59:55,051
"Mama, home safe and sound.
Love, Mike."
1227
00:59:55,218 --> 00:59:57,345
And in it, it says,
1228
00:59:57,512 --> 00:59:59,472
"Mama, home safe and sound."
1229
00:59:59,639 --> 01:00:04,352
And I thought, "Oh, my God,"
you know, that's a gift,
1230
01:00:04,519 --> 01:00:06,354
knowing that your child--
1231
01:00:06,521 --> 01:00:10,191
temporarily you won't see him,
but he's okay.
1232
01:00:10,358 --> 01:00:14,862
Now remember, we're in July--
July 13th now, he's being buried.
1233
01:00:15,029 --> 01:00:17,657
The message
on March 31st was,
1234
01:00:17,824 --> 01:00:20,702
"Mama, got home
safe and sound," to Hawaii.
1235
01:00:20,868 --> 01:00:22,328
"Love, Mike."
1236
01:00:22,495 --> 01:00:25,873
But we get the message from Michael
after we leave the gravesite,
1237
01:00:26,040 --> 01:00:27,875
saying, "Mama,
home safe and sound."
1238
01:00:28,042 --> 01:00:29,502
And now of course
Maureen says
1239
01:00:29,669 --> 01:00:32,505
that's Mike letting her know
that he's okay.
1240
01:00:32,672 --> 01:00:37,343
I don't know why--
why it chose
1241
01:00:37,510 --> 01:00:41,055
to come at that
particular point,
1242
01:00:41,222 --> 01:00:43,308
just after we've left
the gravesite
1243
01:00:43,474 --> 01:00:45,184
and before we get
to our car,
1244
01:00:45,351 --> 01:00:47,478
where we've just said goodbye
to our son
1245
01:00:47,645 --> 01:00:50,273
and we're going back,
and Maureen gets this message.
1246
01:01:09,250 --> 01:01:12,795
Daniel: I guess it was
about the last week in August, I think,
1247
01:01:12,962 --> 01:01:14,839
I get a call
from the White House
1248
01:01:15,006 --> 01:01:17,592
from President Bush's
military liaison
1249
01:01:17,759 --> 01:01:20,970
to indicate that Michael's being awarded
the Medal of Honor.
1250
01:01:21,137 --> 01:01:24,640
My dad came here
as, you know, an immigrant.
1251
01:01:24,807 --> 01:01:27,643
And he was just ready to burst,
1252
01:01:27,810 --> 01:01:30,188
'cause he was like,
"I'm here in the White House,
1253
01:01:30,355 --> 01:01:33,024
and my grandson is receiving
the Medal of Honor."
1254
01:01:33,191 --> 01:01:34,942
But it's typical that he gets
the Medal of Honor,
1255
01:01:35,109 --> 01:01:37,070
just 'cause he's
such an amazing person.
1256
01:01:37,236 --> 01:01:40,573
You know,
it's an outstanding feat
1257
01:01:40,740 --> 01:01:43,117
that he got that.
It's unbelievable.
1258
01:01:43,284 --> 01:01:45,995
President Bush was so gracious.
He let us come into the--
1259
01:01:46,162 --> 01:01:48,539
he wanted to meet us--
into the Oval Office.
1260
01:01:48,706 --> 01:01:50,917
We present him
with Michael's dog tags
1261
01:01:51,084 --> 01:01:52,293
and he says,
"Thank you very much."
1262
01:01:52,460 --> 01:01:56,297
Dan and I had given him,
like, gold-plated dog tags.
1263
01:01:56,464 --> 01:02:00,468
And he actually put them on, and
I'm looking, like, "What's he doing?"
1264
01:02:00,635 --> 01:02:04,180
And I can tell the same thoughts
going in both our heads--
1265
01:02:04,347 --> 01:02:07,100
"Why is the president getting
undressed in the Oval Office?"
1266
01:02:07,266 --> 01:02:09,143
Maureen: He said that Mike
was "next to my heart."
1267
01:02:09,310 --> 01:02:10,895
I thought that was so nice.
1268
01:02:11,062 --> 01:02:13,314
Daniel: And he gives Maureen
a hug and a kiss
1269
01:02:13,481 --> 01:02:14,857
and he gives me a hug.
1270
01:02:15,024 --> 01:02:16,943
And he says to us,
which was really cool--
1271
01:02:17,110 --> 01:02:19,862
he goes, "Murphs, you did good."
He said, "But you know what?"
1272
01:02:20,029 --> 01:02:21,906
He said, "I gotta tell you,
I did better."
1273
01:02:22,073 --> 01:02:23,950
He said...
( quavers )
1274
01:02:24,117 --> 01:02:26,661
"I had Michael
right next to my heart."
1275
01:02:30,581 --> 01:02:33,626
As soon as I was charged
with writing that speech,
1276
01:02:33,793 --> 01:02:36,170
Michael Murphy popped into my head.
He was still fresh in my mind.
1277
01:02:36,337 --> 01:02:38,965
And even in my dorm room,
I had a picture of him on my wall.
1278
01:02:39,132 --> 01:02:42,385
As I started to get to know and
research more about Michael Murphy,
1279
01:02:42,552 --> 01:02:44,554
I started to see a lot
of parallels in our lives.
1280
01:02:44,720 --> 01:02:46,514
I mean, we only grew up
15 minutes from each other.
1281
01:02:46,681 --> 01:02:49,058
His dad was a DA.
My father worked in law enforcement.
1282
01:02:49,225 --> 01:02:52,562
He was a lifeguard over the summers.
I was a camp counselor over the summers.
1283
01:02:52,728 --> 01:02:54,355
He had a heart
and a passion for people
1284
01:02:54,522 --> 01:02:56,524
that drove him into
the Navy SEALs.
1285
01:02:56,691 --> 01:02:58,317
And I have a similar heart
and passion for people
1286
01:02:58,484 --> 01:02:59,861
that has driven me
towards medicine.
1287
01:03:00,027 --> 01:03:01,904
That morning
1288
01:03:02,071 --> 01:03:06,200
one of the staff call us
1289
01:03:06,367 --> 01:03:10,288
and say, "We have a surprise.
Hector was selected."
1290
01:03:10,455 --> 01:03:14,625
And I-- we were floored.
We were very proud to hear that.
1291
01:03:14,792 --> 01:03:18,212
And my husband and I decided that
we were not gonna share that with him.
1292
01:03:18,379 --> 01:03:20,423
And my parents said,
"Hey, I think there's something
1293
01:03:20,590 --> 01:03:22,800
that's gonna be going on."
And they gave me an inkling of it,
1294
01:03:22,967 --> 01:03:24,677
but I didn't really know
what was going on.
1295
01:03:24,844 --> 01:03:26,846
I just knew that something special
was gonna happen that night.
1296
01:03:29,307 --> 01:03:32,351
- ( cheering, applause )
-( band playing march music )
1297
01:03:45,781 --> 01:03:49,327
Linda: It was surreal.
It was just unbelievable
1298
01:03:49,494 --> 01:03:52,663
to see this big object.
And we saw how it was being built--
1299
01:03:52,830 --> 01:03:55,249
it was done in sections--
when we went up to Maine.
1300
01:03:55,416 --> 01:03:58,336
And just looking up
at this huge thing
1301
01:03:58,503 --> 01:04:00,963
and response for him.
1302
01:04:01,130 --> 01:04:04,258
Daniel: There were, like,
15 or 16 family members and stuff.
1303
01:04:04,425 --> 01:04:06,677
We turn and we look up
1304
01:04:06,844 --> 01:04:09,388
and there's Michael's name
1305
01:04:09,555 --> 01:04:12,558
in huge block letters--
1306
01:04:12,725 --> 01:04:14,602
"Michael Murphy."
1307
01:04:14,769 --> 01:04:19,315
And it literally stopped me dead,
I mean just-- whew.
1308
01:04:23,486 --> 01:04:26,364
They had to pick a warship,
to name it after Murphy, for sure.
1309
01:04:26,531 --> 01:04:30,910
I'm sure Michael--
I'm sure he's upstairs in heaven, going,
1310
01:04:31,077 --> 01:04:33,621
"Man, you guys are making--
this is way too big a deal for me."
1311
01:04:33,788 --> 01:04:36,791
And he's probably thinking,
"I'm a team guy."
1312
01:04:36,958 --> 01:04:38,876
One of the purposes,
the fact that's also a defense ship,
1313
01:04:39,043 --> 01:04:41,671
you know, for protecting the country
and its assets,
1314
01:04:41,837 --> 01:04:43,714
like, the idea that this is,
you know--
1315
01:04:43,881 --> 01:04:45,883
all the responsibilities
and all the things
1316
01:04:46,050 --> 01:04:48,344
that this ship represents,
and that it's named after him.
1317
01:04:48,511 --> 01:04:50,888
Our kids
are gonna read about
1318
01:04:51,055 --> 01:04:53,015
and learn in history
1319
01:04:53,182 --> 01:04:54,976
that my cousin, or brother,
1320
01:04:55,142 --> 01:04:57,019
was-- is part of history.
1321
01:04:57,186 --> 01:04:59,313
O'Shea: It's added
to the great Navy tradition
1322
01:04:59,480 --> 01:05:01,524
of naming our warships
after heroes.
1323
01:05:01,691 --> 01:05:04,402
And I couldn't think
of a better guy or a better candidate
1324
01:05:04,569 --> 01:05:07,113
for a warship to be named after
than Michael.
1325
01:05:07,280 --> 01:05:09,407
Mike would never want
a ship named after him.
1326
01:05:09,574 --> 01:05:12,118
If it was up to Mike,
he would have every name
1327
01:05:12,285 --> 01:05:14,870
that ever served in the military
on the side of a ship other than his.
1328
01:05:15,037 --> 01:05:18,583
If he could actually fit every name,
he would definitely do that.
1329
01:05:18,749 --> 01:05:21,294
It was important to us
as a family
1330
01:05:21,460 --> 01:05:24,380
that the ship,
while it's named after Michael,
1331
01:05:24,547 --> 01:05:26,424
embodies the spirit
1332
01:05:26,591 --> 01:05:29,635
of 19 really brave heroes.
1333
01:05:29,802 --> 01:05:31,512
That would have been
important to Michael,
1334
01:05:31,679 --> 01:05:33,931
that, you know,
"This is about my team.
1335
01:05:34,098 --> 01:05:38,311
I didn't operate in a vacuum,
and therefore
1336
01:05:38,477 --> 01:05:41,689
you remember me best
by remembering my men."
1337
01:05:48,529 --> 01:05:50,281
( Silent )
1338
01:05:51,282 --> 01:05:54,577
Palmer: In thinking about all the things
that are being named after him,
1339
01:05:54,744 --> 01:05:58,414
on one hand, I'd say,
you know...
1340
01:05:58,581 --> 01:06:01,459
it's amazing,
but it's not enough.
1341
01:06:01,626 --> 01:06:05,254
I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Murphy
would still rather have their son back.
1342
01:06:05,421 --> 01:06:07,381
I know I'd rather have
my friend back.
1343
01:06:07,548 --> 01:06:09,717
But it's nice
1344
01:06:09,884 --> 01:06:11,719
in this age
1345
01:06:11,886 --> 01:06:15,348
of the venerating
of celebrities
1346
01:06:15,514 --> 01:06:18,184
and people that have contributed
nothing to this world,
1347
01:06:18,351 --> 01:06:21,937
the fact that someone
like Michael Murphy,
1348
01:06:22,104 --> 01:06:24,982
who is such
1349
01:06:25,149 --> 01:06:28,653
a ridiculously unbelievable
individual,
1350
01:06:28,819 --> 01:06:33,324
now has people looking up
to someone like him.
1351
01:06:33,491 --> 01:06:36,744
When I see the pictures of little boys
going to visit his gravesite,
1352
01:06:36,911 --> 01:06:39,789
whether it be his namesake
or things of that nature--
1353
01:06:39,955 --> 01:06:41,832
you know, hallelujah.
1354
01:06:41,999 --> 01:06:44,585
Because he's the type of person
that people should look up to,
1355
01:06:44,752 --> 01:06:46,420
that they should
name things after.
1356
01:06:54,929 --> 01:06:56,764
Velez: When I got to
the awards dinner,
1357
01:06:56,931 --> 01:06:59,684
there were, I believe, four or five
other scholarship recipients
1358
01:06:59,850 --> 01:07:02,603
for the Suffolk Federal
Credit Union scholarship.
1359
01:07:02,770 --> 01:07:04,355
So we were all there.
We were all great.
1360
01:07:04,522 --> 01:07:07,108
I was just honored to be within--
to be chosen to be a part of it
1361
01:07:07,274 --> 01:07:10,194
and to be among these other top
high school seniors from Long Island.
1362
01:07:10,361 --> 01:07:12,988
One of Michael's
favorite sayings was,
1363
01:07:13,155 --> 01:07:14,949
"Education will set you free."
1364
01:07:15,116 --> 01:07:18,953
And I said, "I can't think
of any way better
1365
01:07:19,120 --> 01:07:22,790
to remember Michael's legacy,
or tribute"--
1366
01:07:22,957 --> 01:07:25,835
'cause remember, this is well--
long before the Medal of Honor--
1367
01:07:26,001 --> 01:07:29,380
is to have a scholarship
foundation
1368
01:07:29,547 --> 01:07:32,675
where we can offer scholarships
to deserving people.
1369
01:07:32,842 --> 01:07:35,553
And while we were there,
they started to announce
1370
01:07:35,720 --> 01:07:39,306
that there would be an inaugural
scholarship in Michael Murphy's honor.
1371
01:07:39,473 --> 01:07:42,101
There's a certain criteria.
They have to be team players.
1372
01:07:42,268 --> 01:07:45,229
They have to play in sports,
you know, keep their grades up.
1373
01:07:45,396 --> 01:07:47,398
The kid that is--
has his nose to the books,
1374
01:07:47,565 --> 01:07:49,900
that is working every day
to better himself,
1375
01:07:50,067 --> 01:07:52,319
that is a well-rounded kid,
1376
01:07:52,486 --> 01:07:54,739
not a kid who's solely focused
on academics,
1377
01:07:54,905 --> 01:07:57,616
because you have to be
well-rounded.
1378
01:07:57,783 --> 01:08:00,035
You have to have interests
in the arts or sports
1379
01:08:00,202 --> 01:08:02,163
or, you know,
community events.
1380
01:08:02,329 --> 01:08:04,540
That's the kid that's gonna
get that award.
1381
01:08:04,707 --> 01:08:06,667
But when they announced
my name, I was--
1382
01:08:06,834 --> 01:08:08,377
I was shocked. I was floored.
1383
01:08:08,544 --> 01:08:10,671
I was proud. I was happy.
1384
01:08:10,838 --> 01:08:12,840
And then it all started to sink in.
1385
01:08:13,007 --> 01:08:14,717
When I started to realize
it was his name
1386
01:08:14,884 --> 01:08:17,511
and who it was for
and who it represented,
1387
01:08:17,678 --> 01:08:19,930
I realized it was more than
just a check and a pat on the back,
1388
01:08:20,097 --> 01:08:22,725
but it was an honor.
It was a legacy that I was given.
1389
01:08:32,359 --> 01:08:34,445
Daniel:
You look at a man
1390
01:08:34,612 --> 01:08:38,741
who has probably dove to depths
that are classified and nobody knows,
1391
01:08:38,908 --> 01:08:42,495
jumped out of planes at heights
on oxygen, you know,
1392
01:08:42,661 --> 01:08:44,538
doing HALOs or whatever--
1393
01:08:44,705 --> 01:08:46,457
you know, so he did it all,
you know.
1394
01:08:46,624 --> 01:08:50,419
And I think in my mind
and my heart
1395
01:08:50,586 --> 01:08:54,089
at least I know that he lived
a really full life.
1396
01:08:54,256 --> 01:08:56,967
People should
remember him just--
1397
01:08:57,134 --> 01:08:59,595
I know everybody knows
as a great guy,
1398
01:08:59,762 --> 01:09:02,181
but Mike would have done
anything for anybody.
1399
01:09:02,348 --> 01:09:04,725
He would have been there for you
no matter what,
1400
01:09:04,892 --> 01:09:06,727
any type of weather.
1401
01:09:06,894 --> 01:09:10,022
He-- I don't know.
It's kind of hard to put into words
1402
01:09:10,189 --> 01:09:11,941
why people should
remember Mike,
1403
01:09:12,107 --> 01:09:15,653
but Mike is just the greatest guy
I've ever met in my whole life.
1404
01:09:15,820 --> 01:09:18,906
I guess what I would
tell him is that,
1405
01:09:19,073 --> 01:09:21,158
knowing him so much as a child,
1406
01:09:21,325 --> 01:09:25,162
I regret that I didn't get to spend
more time with him as an adult.
1407
01:09:25,329 --> 01:09:27,498
Giving myself over to others
is something
1408
01:09:27,665 --> 01:09:30,501
that from my parents has been ingrained,
from my family it's been ingrained,
1409
01:09:30,668 --> 01:09:32,711
and from Michael Murphy,
it just solidified it even more.
1410
01:09:32,878 --> 01:09:35,089
He gave me that opportunity,
and it's my chance
1411
01:09:35,256 --> 01:09:37,633
and my opportunity
to go forth with it.
1412
01:09:37,800 --> 01:09:40,261
So, I mean, it had to be
when Michael was, I guess, about 12
1413
01:09:40,427 --> 01:09:42,972
and we were down two runs.
It was the ninth inning.
1414
01:09:43,138 --> 01:09:45,474
And he hits a home run.
1415
01:09:45,641 --> 01:09:48,644
And he wins the game.
1416
01:09:50,104 --> 01:09:53,899
And comes around
the bases...
1417
01:09:56,902 --> 01:09:59,613
and all those boys
1418
01:09:59,780 --> 01:10:03,200
literally surround him,
1419
01:10:03,367 --> 01:10:05,244
you know,
the way they normally do,
1420
01:10:05,411 --> 01:10:08,497
because they won the game.
It was important.
1421
01:10:08,664 --> 01:10:11,083
And they're jumping around
1422
01:10:11,250 --> 01:10:14,503
and telling Michael,
1423
01:10:14,670 --> 01:10:17,172
"Michael, you won the game.
You won the game."
1424
01:10:17,339 --> 01:10:19,216
( quavering )
And it was funny--
1425
01:10:19,383 --> 01:10:22,344
Michael turns around to them
and says,
1426
01:10:22,511 --> 01:10:25,973
"I didn't win the game.
This was a team sport."
1427
01:10:26,140 --> 01:10:29,143
And he said,
"if you hadn't got on base,
1428
01:10:29,310 --> 01:10:31,312
if you hadn't got on base
1429
01:10:31,478 --> 01:10:34,523
for me to hit the hit
that scored the runs,
1430
01:10:34,690 --> 01:10:36,191
we wouldn't have won
the game."
1431
01:10:36,358 --> 01:10:38,694
That particular game
1432
01:10:38,861 --> 01:10:41,864
was so like him,
you know.
1433
01:10:42,031 --> 01:10:46,869
And it was just
a microcosm of his life.
1434
01:10:47,036 --> 01:10:49,246
It was always--
it was never about him.
1435
01:10:49,413 --> 01:10:53,334
It was always about
his teammates, his men.
1436
01:10:53,500 --> 01:10:55,669
And so that's why
1437
01:10:55,836 --> 01:10:58,339
when things happened
like they happened on that mountain,
1438
01:10:58,505 --> 01:11:00,257
it didn't surprise
Maureen and I at all.
1439
01:11:00,424 --> 01:11:02,468
I'd say thank you.
1440
01:11:02,635 --> 01:11:05,262
- I'm a better person for knowing Mike.
- Absolutely.
1441
01:11:05,429 --> 01:11:07,765
I think all of us,
1442
01:11:07,932 --> 01:11:09,808
you know, were blessed
to have him in our lives.
1443
01:11:09,975 --> 01:11:11,477
I'd thank him for every day,
1444
01:11:11,644 --> 01:11:13,687
- every second I had with him.
- We're gonna miss him.
1445
01:11:13,854 --> 01:11:15,606
- Owen: Definitely.
- Jessica: Absolutely.
1446
01:11:15,773 --> 01:11:17,691
Owen: I'd give anything
to have him back,
1447
01:11:17,858 --> 01:11:20,027
but I wouldn't trade anything
for what we had.
1448
01:11:21,612 --> 01:11:23,864
♪ All the money ♪
1449
01:11:24,031 --> 01:11:26,909
♪ That e'er I had ♪
1450
01:11:29,203 --> 01:11:35,542
♪ I spent it in good company ♪
1451
01:11:36,835 --> 01:11:42,132
♪ And all the harm I've ever done ♪
1452
01:11:44,385 --> 01:11:46,387
♪ Alas, it was ♪
1453
01:11:46,553 --> 01:11:50,057
♪ To none but me ♪
1454
01:11:52,017 --> 01:11:53,936
♪ And all I've done ♪
1455
01:11:54,103 --> 01:11:56,981
♪ For want of wit... ♪
1456
01:11:57,147 --> 01:11:59,483
( crowd chattering )
1457
01:12:03,320 --> 01:12:05,072
- There's no need to tape.
- Daniel: No?
1458
01:12:05,239 --> 01:12:07,866
- No.
- I have to. Just a little bit.
1459
01:12:08,033 --> 01:12:10,744
( chuckles )
Are you blushing?
1460
01:12:14,915 --> 01:12:20,087
♪ Good night,
and joy be to you all ♪
1461
01:12:22,923 --> 01:12:27,094
♪ Fill to me the parting glass ♪
1462
01:12:27,261 --> 01:12:32,599
♪ And drink a health whate'er befalls ♪
1463
01:12:33,934 --> 01:12:36,895
♪ Then gently rise ♪
1464
01:12:37,062 --> 01:12:39,398
♪ And softly call ♪
1465
01:12:39,565 --> 01:12:41,066
♪ Good night and joy ♪
1466
01:12:41,233 --> 01:12:44,278
♪ Be to you all... ♪
1467
01:13:07,676 --> 01:13:12,389
♪ All the comrades that e'er I had ♪
1468
01:13:14,975 --> 01:13:20,147
♪ They're sorry for my going away ♪
1469
01:13:22,608 --> 01:13:28,238
♪ And, oh, the sweetheart
fore'er I had ♪
1470
01:13:30,449 --> 01:13:33,327
♪ She wished me
one more day to stay... ♪
1471
01:13:33,494 --> 01:13:36,330
He kind of just--
he was okay with--
1472
01:13:36,497 --> 01:13:38,540
not that he never feared
the consequences.
1473
01:13:38,707 --> 01:13:41,627
He was okay
with the consequences.
1474
01:13:41,794 --> 01:13:43,879
You know,
this is the guy that--
1475
01:13:44,046 --> 01:13:46,840
that driving back to Penn State,
1476
01:13:47,007 --> 01:13:49,510
and instead of figuring out
a way for another ride,
1477
01:13:49,676 --> 01:13:51,053
he just wanted to go with me,
1478
01:13:51,220 --> 01:13:52,846
even though I already had
someone going with me.
1479
01:13:53,013 --> 01:13:56,767
And he just decided to lie down
in the bed of my pickup truck
1480
01:13:56,934 --> 01:13:58,936
for the entire trip
back to Penn State.
1481
01:13:59,103 --> 01:14:01,313
Now, I mean,
1482
01:14:01,480 --> 01:14:04,149
if anything goes wrong,
he's in trouble.
1483
01:14:04,316 --> 01:14:06,026
And that was clearly
spelled out to him.
1484
01:14:06,193 --> 01:14:08,195
He said, "Don't worry about it.
I'll be fine."
1485
01:14:08,362 --> 01:14:11,782
And that was just--
that was just how he was.
1486
01:14:11,949 --> 01:14:14,618
( laughs )
I mean--
1487
01:14:14,785 --> 01:14:16,036
- Mactavish: I never heard that.
- Yeah, just lying--
1488
01:14:16,203 --> 01:14:18,038
I mean, that's a 300-mile trip.
1489
01:14:18,205 --> 01:14:21,375
And it's not from San Diego
to Los Angeles.
1490
01:14:21,542 --> 01:14:24,670
We're talking in the dead of winter,
going to Penn State,
1491
01:14:24,837 --> 01:14:27,214
he's just lying down
in the bed of a pickup truck.
1492
01:14:27,381 --> 01:14:29,383
And I don't know if his mom
knows that story, so...
1493
01:14:29,550 --> 01:14:31,635
( laughs )
1494
01:14:39,434 --> 01:14:42,312
Man: CrossFit gyms recently participated
in a nationwide workout
1495
01:14:42,479 --> 01:14:45,190
to honor fallen heroes
and raise money for military charities
1496
01:14:45,357 --> 01:14:47,067
such as the Navy SEAL
Foundation.
1497
01:14:47,234 --> 01:14:50,821
The annual event honored fallen
Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael Murphy.
1498
01:14:50,988 --> 01:14:54,032
It was just a good cause.
It just brought a lot of camaraderie
1499
01:14:54,199 --> 01:14:57,619
with just the military
and just kind of really honoring
1500
01:14:57,786 --> 01:14:59,788
the fallen heroes
that died for our country.
1501
01:14:59,955 --> 01:15:03,750
Our owners Jake and John
are former Navy SEALs,
1502
01:15:03,917 --> 01:15:07,004
and so they're very big on giving back
to the Navy SEAL Foundation.
1503
01:15:07,171 --> 01:15:09,590
Man: The workout was
one of many events that are put on
1504
01:15:09,756 --> 01:15:12,217
by the CrossFit community each year
to support the military.
1505
01:15:12,384 --> 01:15:15,137
CrossFit East Village is
a huge military community.
1506
01:15:15,304 --> 01:15:17,639
A lot of our members
are actually part of the military.
1507
01:15:17,806 --> 01:15:19,433
Murph, you're a stud.
1508
01:15:19,600 --> 01:15:21,810
A huge inspiration for all of us
in the CrossFit community.
1509
01:15:21,977 --> 01:15:24,313
A hero, a real hero
1510
01:15:24,479 --> 01:15:27,983
for everybody that knows your story.
1511
01:15:28,150 --> 01:15:31,028
♪ They paved a trail ♪
1512
01:15:31,195 --> 01:15:35,824
♪ Pointed to a path that's less ♪
1513
01:15:38,202 --> 01:15:40,829
♪ Pulled the breath ♪
1514
01:15:40,996 --> 01:15:44,333
♪ That blew your sails ♪
1515
01:15:44,499 --> 01:15:47,002
♪ Taking your heart ♪
1516
01:15:47,169 --> 01:15:50,088
♪ From your chest ♪
1517
01:15:50,255 --> 01:15:53,675
♪ Oh, but time ♪
1518
01:15:53,842 --> 01:15:57,804
♪ ls sometimes too late ♪
1519
01:15:57,971 --> 01:16:02,643
♪ To find out
what you think you might ♪
1520
01:16:04,102 --> 01:16:06,980
♪ You decide ♪
1521
01:16:07,147 --> 01:16:10,317
♪ If it all comes down to fate ♪
1522
01:16:10,484 --> 01:16:12,861
♪ Is this sacrifice ♪
1523
01:16:13,028 --> 01:16:15,572
♪ The one thing right? ♪
1524
01:16:16,573 --> 01:16:20,619
♪ Oh, 'cause I am here ♪
1525
01:16:20,786 --> 01:16:23,247
♪ Tonight. ♪
127995
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