An Orange County Hero

We've recently had stories about the Orange County native who now serves as a spokesman for al-Qaeda and has been charged with treason. Well, we grow heroes around here too:

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.

"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."

Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.

According to the local paper his family in Garden Grove didn't even know he was in Iraq. He hadn't told them because he didn't want them to worry.

I understand that he will be awarded the Silver Star posthumously, but I'd like to know what it would take for him to qualify for the Congressional Medal of Honor. He certainly seems to deserve it.