The Washington Post had the story yesterday:
That September morning, Monsoor and a group of SEAL snipers took up position on a residential rooftop as part of an operation to push into a dangerous section of southern Ramadi. Four insurgents armed with AK-47 rifles came into view, and the SEAL snipers opened fire, killing one and wounding another. Loudspeakers from a mosque broadcast calls for insurgents to rally, and residents blocked off nearby roads with rocks.
Insurgents shot back at the SEAL position with automatic weapons from a moving vehicle and fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the building. The SEALs knew that more attacks were inevitable but continued their mission of protecting the troops clearing the area below, according to an official account.
Monsoor's commander repositioned him in a small hidden location between two SEAL snipers on an outcropping of the roof, facing the most likely route of another insurgent attack. As Monsoor manned his gun, an insurgent lobbed up a hand grenade, which hit Monsoor in the chest and bounced onto the roof.
"Grenade!" Monsoor shouted. But the two snipers and another SEAL on the roof had no time to escape, as Monsoor was closest to the only exit. Monsoor dropped onto the grenade, smothering it with his body. It detonated, and Monsoor died about 30 minutes later from his wounds.
The president will present the Medal of Honor to Monsoor's family on April 8. This is only the third Medal of Honor awarded since the start of the Iraq war. According to Wikipedia, 246 such Medals were awarded for service in the Vietnam War. Is it possible that there are so many fewer acts of conspicuous gallantry in this war than in Vietnam? I find that hard to believe, but it seems like hurling one's self onto a grenade is about the only way to qualify anymore. And it doesn't help that the press takes almost no interest in stories of heroism, preferring to focus instead on the few veterans who return from Iraq to commit horrible crimes against their family and neighbors. As Noah Pollak points out at Contentions, the New York Times made no mention of the award in the paper's print edition, running only a three-line blurb from the AP online.
