Navy SEAL honored with warship bearing his name

[GySgt~SPARTA~]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110505/ap_on_re_us/us_seal_hero_warship R.I.P SPARTAN

 

Navy Cmdr. Chad Muse, commanding officer of SEAL Delivery Team 1 in Hawaii, noted one of Murphy's favorite books was Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire," an account of outnumbered Spartans and their epic battle against hundreds of thousands of invading Persians nearly 2,500 years ago at the Battle of Thermopylae.

 

 

Like the Spartans, who were ultimately slaughtered, Murphy had a spirit that didn't give up. "It's about sacrifice and the Spartan ideal ? and valor and heroism in battle," Muse said.

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

If you haven't read Gates of Fire yet, you are truly missing out. I remember reading it sometime around 2000 and it changed my life in some ways. Now, i'm told, it's required reading for most Marine infantry, and the story, historical fictional as it is, has had profound impact on warrior training from all branches of service. Mike Murphy, as his actions show, was an expert at channeling his phobos (fear) and redirecting it into something useful, which is what earned him the Medal of Honor. Most soldiers learn to live with phobos or push it aside. A Spartan, like a martial artist, can use phobos as an advantage and manipulate it at will.

 

There are Spartans throughout the world, and I'm glad they're on our side.

[Zebb]

Thanks for the tip Durka', I'm grabbing from itunes now on audiobook to listen to on the way to work..