LI SEAL honored at namesake ship ceremony

They wrapped mementos of their slain son's life inside the flag of the military unit he died trying to protect: A trident pin like the one he wore as a member of the elite Navy SEALs. A treasured family photograph. A shoulder patch of the Southampton Town Police Department, where his kid brother is now a member. A hockey puck battered during the countless games of street hockey he played in a parking lot across from his Patchogue childhood home.

Then, the parents of Lt. Michael P. Murphy -- first his father, Dan, and then his mother, Maureen -- squeezed through a hatch aboard a Navy destroyer bearing their son's name, and helped weld a metal box containing the mementos onto the ship's mast.

The mementos were affixed Friday during a mast-stepping ceremony at Bath Iron Works in Maine, where the 509-foot, 9,200-ton ship is nearing completion. The ship will be christened Saturday.

"Michael Murphy serves as a great role model for what someone can accomplish in a very short time, and what you can mean for your teammates," said Rear Adm. Garry Bonelli, deputy commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command.

In 2005, Murphy was a 29-year-old lieutenant in that command when he led a four-man SEAL reconnaissance team searching for a high-ranking Taliban leader across a mountainside in eastern Afghanistan. His unit was discovered and ambushed by dozens of heavily armed Taliban fighters. They killed Murphy, who had moved into an open area to call for help, and two of his teammates.

President George W. Bush cited Murphy's willingness to sacrifice his own safety when he granted him the nation's highest military award -- the Medal of Honor -- in 2007.

Mast-stepping ceremonies have their roots in Greek traditions, which called for coins to be placed in the mouths of dead sailors to pay for their passage to the afterlife.

The box that Murphy's parents helped affix included 112 cents -- signifying the USS Michael Murphy's hull number -- denominated in coins whose dates coincide with significant events in Murphy's life, including one for his birthday, which is Saturday.

"I'm so honored and privileged," said Maureen Murphy, who carries the honorary title of ship's sponsor. "I never dreamed I would be bestowed such an honor."