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The Grayback was to slip into North Vietnamese waters and let out several four-man SEAL teams in small, submersible vehicles just offshore on June 3. The teams were to rendezvous with the two prisoners – who had communicated their plans through a method that today remains secret – on an offshore island.

Navy officials have suspended parachute training at a facility near Marana after the second SEAL in less than a month died in an accident there. The latest incident occurred at about 8 a.m. Thursday when a SEAL suffered fatal injuries during parachute training at Pinal Airpark, according to a news release from the Navy's Special Warfare Command. The SEAL was flown to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The SEAL, who isn't being identified until his family is contacted, was based on the East Coast. In the wake of Thursday's incident and another fatal parachuting exercise on Feb....

SAN DIEGO – A rope barrier previously used at Children's Pool beach in La Jolla to protect a colony of harbor seals during their pupping season definitely won't go up this year. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the San Diego-based Animal Protection and Rescue League, which sought to compel San Diego to reinstall the rope. “This means the rope barrier is dead – at least for this year,” said attorney Bryan Pease, co-founder of the animal group. Pease said he will appeal the ruling. In past years, San Diego officials installed the rope to encourage the public...

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. -- A Virginia Beach-based Navy SEAL was found dead Wednesday morning on a golf course in Casa Grande. The SEAL, whose name was not released, was a Special Warfare Operator from Hampton Roads, Va. He died while conducting a parachute training operation out of Marana, about 30 miles south of Phoenix. The body was found near one of the greens shortly after 7 a.m. by a Mission Royale Golf Course maintenance worker on his morning rounds. Casa Grande police said the Navy arrived immediately to retrieve the body. "I was just coming out of the garage and...

The Navy this month completed its fourth conversion of a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine into an extremely powerful, conventionally armed cruise missile launcher and covert transporter of U.S. special operations force. The last converted missile sub the USS Georgia is now being readied for deployment around the world at its home port of Kings Bay, Ga., said skipper, Cmdr. Rodney E. Hutton. The conversion of the nuclear missile submarines into Tomahawk-firing submarines is one element of a new Pentagon strategy of building up forces to be ready to counter any emerging threat from China. Cmdr. Hutton said the Georgia...

FALLBROOK ---- Friends of a decorated Navy SEAL who grew up in Fallbrook and died in Iraq this week described him as a quiet, athletic young man whose dream was to join the elite Sea Air Land commandos after high school. Chief Petty Officer Mark T. Carter, 27, was killed "while conducting combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom," the Navy said in a press release Thursday. Navy officials declined to elaborate. As a SEAL, Carter earned a long list of honors, including two bronze stars with "V" for valor, a Joint Service Commendation Medal with "V" and various...

A Navy SEAL will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor on October 22. Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy is the third man to receive America's highest military award for valor in the War on Terror. U.S. Navy press release: Murphy was the officer-in-charge of the SEAL element, which was tasked with locating a high- level Taliban militia leader to provide intelligence for a follow-on mission to capture or destroy the local leadership and disrupt enemy activity. However local Taliban sympathizers discovered the SEAL unit and immediately revealed their position to Taliban fighters. The element was besieged on a mountaintop by scores...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2007 – Fallen Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy was inducted today into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes during a ceremony that honored the lone Medal of Honor recipient from the war in Afghanistan. (Video) Maureen and Daniel Murphy stand next to a framed picture and Medal of Honor citation during a ceremony where their son, Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy was inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, Oct. 23, 2007. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Molly A. Burgess, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Unveiled today, Murphy’s is the only...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2007 – President Bush today posthumously presented the Medal of Honor earned by Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL who sacrificed his life in an attempt to save fellow SEALs during a fierce battle with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The Medal of Honor, accepted by Murphy’s parents, Maureen and Dan Murphy, during a White House ceremony, is the highest military decoration. Murphy’s is the first Medal of Honor awarded for service in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. “Today we add Lieutenant Michael Murphy’s name to the list of recipients who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Bush said....

Family of Navy SEAL to Get Medal of Honor WASHINGTON — The first Medal of Honor awarded for combat in Afghanistan will be presented Monday to the family of a Navy SEAL from Long Island, N.Y, who gave his life to make a radio call for help for his team. President Bush is to present the nation's highest military honor for valor to the family of Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue, N.Y.

NORTH BEND, Wash. -- Two 15-year-old girls suffered minor injures when they were shot by teens wielding pellet guns as the girls got off a school bus in North Bend Tuesday afternoon. The two girls, both students at Mt. Si High School, were getting off their bus around 3:15 when they were shot, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Jeff Merrill. The girls ran a short distance to one of the girl's home. The shooters chased after them in a Ford Explorer, with two of the four people inside continuing to shoot at the girls while they ran, Merrill said. Merrill...

I just finished listening to the Audiobook of "Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell. It is one of the most amazing stories about survival I have ever read, but in my opinion, what is even more compelling about the book are the trials of honor and morality. This is a story that America should be aware of, and very few people are, even though the leader of this team LT Murphy was recently awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, and the other three members of the team were awarded the Navy Cross, two posthumously. This is an awful moral...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The White House announced Oct. 11 that the family of U.S. Navy SEAL, Lt. Michael P. Murphy will be presented the U.S. Navy Medal of Honor, awarded posthumously, during a ceremony at the White House Oct. 22. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Murphy’s father, Daniel, will accept the award on behalf of his son. Murphy will receive the award for his extraordinary, selfless heroism and steadfast courage while...

Dutch researcher claims to confirm Queen Jezebel's seal By Cnaan Liphshiz For some 40 years, one of the flashiest opal signets on display at the Israel Museum had remained without accurate historical context. Two weeks ago, Dutch researcher Marjo Korpel identified article IDAM 65-321 as the official seal of Queen Jezebel, one of the bible's most powerful and reviled women. Israeli archaeologists had suspected Jezebel was the owner ever since the seal was first documented in 1964. "Did it belong to Ahab's Phoenician wife?" wrote the late pioneering archaeologist Nahman Avigad of the seal, which he obtained through the antiquities...

NORMAN — Joseph Brent Link — a blind former Navy SEAL — heard the shots that killed his wife, mother and sister-in-law and reacted with his fists.

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2007 – A Navy SEAL recruiter went the extra mile – or extra 135 miles, to be exact – to reach athletes who may have the fitness and drive to make it through the notoriously difficult SEAL training course. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class David Goggins crosses Death Valley alongside French competitor Albert Vallee in the Badwater Ultramarathon. Photo by Seaman Michael Lindsey, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class David Goggins, assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Recruiting Directorate in Coronado, Calif., competed in and finished third place in the...

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three sailors who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died July 6 as a result of enemy action while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Baghdad, Iraq. The three sailors were assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team. Killed were: Petty Officer First Class Jason Dale Lewis, 30, of Brookfield, Conn., Petty Officer First Class Robert Richard McRill, 42, of Lake Placid, Fla., Petty Officer First Class Steven Phillip Daugherty, 28, of Barstow, Calif.

LITTLETON, Colo. (NNS) -- Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny P. Dietz was honored July 4, by his hometown of Littleton, Colo., with the dedication of a larger-than-life bronze statue in a park near his childhood family home. Dietz was killed by enemy forces during a combat mission in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005, as part of Operation Red Wing. The dedication ceremony speakers included the Secretary of the Navy, The Honorable Donald C. Winter; Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan; United States Congressman Tom Tancredo; Medal of Honor recipient, Petty Officer (SEAL) Mike Thornton; and Mrs....

WASHINGTON - A new book offers chilling details about the valor and sacrifice of a Long Island Navy SEAL - but it could also hurt his chances for the Medal of Honor. Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue died leading three other frogmen on a secret Afghan recon mission on June 28, 2005. One of them, Marcus Luttrell, writes in "Lone Survivor" that the team was surprised by three Pashtun tribesmen, including a young boy, herding goats. Luttrell made the shocking claim that Murphy took a vote on whether to kill them to stay covert. One SEAL abstained. One said they...