It is not a war that we are remembering with this national holiday. Rather, we are remembering those who served and those who gave their last full measure of devotion in order to ensure the freedoms that this country offers to all, are able to be passed on to future generations. We remember these people because they tell us something of our human dignity; they remind us of the cost of freedom and of the quality of our character, as a nation. We do not gather on this holiday to glorify war. Rather, we are challenged to remember that when wars come, unbidden to us, there are those who are willing to give their all to defend this nation. Deep down, we hope that we will find ways to prevent war and never again have to fight one again. There is, among veterans, no more hoped for desire than the desire that their own sons and daughters will never suffer the terrors or the effects of war.
– Dan Doyle
Today in honor of all service members who have paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting our country, we pay our tribute by doing the WOD “Murph”.
1.
“Murph”
For Time:
1-Mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Air Squats
1-Mile Run
*Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed.
The Man Behind Murph
Anyone who has been CrossFitting for a few months fears, hates or hides from Murph. That is because Murph as a WOD is a long, arduous, painful, grind that exhausts just about every muscle in your body. Just when you think you’re finished you have to run that one last mile. It’s actually that second mile that makes me think a lot about Murph’s last stand. You see, Murph to me is more then just a hard WOD, he was a good friend. I was in BUD/s with Murphy until a leg injury rolled him out of our class. I would still see him around the training compound but didn’t spend much time with him until we both found ourselves in Djibouti, Africa in the late summer of 2003.
We were both in Africa in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and had our daily duties so we didn’t see each other very much during the day. At night we generally had a fair amount of down time and since we both liked to stay up late, we found ourselves in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) telling war stories, writing emails and calling home. It was at this time that I really got to know Murphy. We spent hours talking about our lives back home and the different training we had gone through. We compared operations of SEAL Team Five and SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1. I learned a lot about SEAL Delivery Vehicles (SDVs); life in Hawaii, island fever, his girl Heather and Murphy himself.
Meanwhile, I had a family member back home that was sick and not getting better. It weighed heavily on my mind and when it was too overwhelming Murphy was there for me to calm me down. He would tell me everything is going to be OK, and work to cheer me up. Never once did I feel a strain in our friendship because he was an officer and I was enlisted. That was the thing about him; he was just one of the boys. I felt as if he would happily do anything for me if I ever asked and at the end of my deployment he invited me to come to Hawaii when we both got home and had some time off. A trip I regret I never took.
Two years later on June 28th, 2005 Murphy led a four-man reconnaissance team in Afghanistan that was compromised and overrun by hundreds of Taliban fighters. In an effort to save his boys Murphy took his mobile phone…
“…walked to open ground. He walked until he was more or less in the center, gunfire all around him, and he sat on a small rock and began punching in the numbers to HQ….I could hear him talking, ‘My men are taking heavy fire … we’re getting picked apart. My guys are dying out here … we need help.’ And right then Mikey took a bullet straight in the back. I saw the blood spurt from his chest. He slumped forward, dropping his phone and his rifle. But then he braced himself, grabbed them both, sat upright again, and once more put the phone to his ear. ‘Roger that, sir. Thank you,’ then Mikey continued to train fire on the enemy fighters.”
–Marcus Luttrell, The Lone Survivor.
On October of 2007 Michael Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the highest award any service member can receive – President Bush awarded it to Murphy’s family.
It is during that last mile of Muph that I think about fighting through the pain, I think about my friend Michael Murphy and the 10 other SEALs that lost their lives that day.
Friends, Brothers, I will never forget.
– Brett Vernon
We would like to make a donation of $5 for each person that participates in Memorial Day Murph at SRCF. We have chosen the following charity in which to donate the money.
EODWF (Explosive Ordnance Disposal Warrior Foundation)
The EOD Warrior Foundation (EODWF) serves the EOD community by providing financial assistance and support to active-duty and veteran wounded, injured or ill EOD warriors, families of our wounded and fallen EOD warriors and by maintaining the EOD Memorial.
To read more about this foundation, visit http://www.
The donation we are making is in memory of fallen hero, TSgt Phillip Myers USAF, who was killed in action 4/4/09 in Afghanistan while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Also, through this donation we honor his surviving family who are dear friends and a part of our local community: wife-Aimee, daughter-Dakotah, and son-Kaiden. May we never forget the sacrifice given by our service men and women as well as their families!
~Mike and Amy Emery
Darron and Hope Meares are donating $10 per participant at the 4 am WOD to the Lt. Michael Murphy Scholarship Foundation… so rise up and be a part!
For more information on the Foundation, click here:http://murphfoundation.org
For more information on the Foundation, click here:http://murphfoundation.org