“I Will Go In Their Stead”

War is a failure. No two ways around it. War is a horrific example of our fallen nature but war itself doesn’t preclude love, honor, and sacrifice. In fact, when things are darkest, the light shines all the brighter.

No matter what you think about the War in Iraq, I hope we can all agree that what Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor did was a brave and loving act.

When a grenade bounced off his chest and fell to the floor near his fellow troops, Monsoor acted out of instinct. And yesterday he received the Medal of Honor posthumously.

This from the Washington Post:

His actions didn’t stem from a lack of training. His instant reaction was to protect his comrades.

The Navy says he committed a selfless act — jumping on the grenade and taking the full force of the blast.

President Bush presented Monsoor’s parents with a posthumous Medal of Honor for their son at an emotional White House ceremony on Tuesday.

Bush quoted one of the SEALS saved by Mansoor as saying, “Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, ‘You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.'”

That statement says it all for me. You can take all your geopolitical strategies and your arguments for or against the war but yesterday it was about one thing – in the worst of circumstances a young American gave his life for his friends. And, I believe, it is right that we should honor Monsoor and the men and women like him serving our country. I am awed by such bravery and selflessness.

Such things have to make us wonder if we ourselves would have the courage to do the same; the courage to shine a light in the darkness and the courage to say “I will go in their stead.”