A one-mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats and another mile run.
That was a routine workout for Navy Lt. Michael Murphy, Medal of Honor recipient killed in action in Afghanistan.
It is also a workout held in his honor each Memorial Day. The May 23 event was one of two Memorial Day events involving Fort Jackson but was the only one held on post.
The other was held May 27 at the Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia.
Maj. Gen. Jason E. Kelly, Fort Jackson commander, laid a wreath at the cemetery and said afterwards the day was a way “to vocalize that we have not forgotten the why of this day.”
“Memorial Day is super important,” said Col. David Uthlaut, 165th Infantry Brigade commander before the Murph Challenge. “If you think about the history of Memorial Day, it really goes back to the Civil War with a lot of fallen Americans on our own soil. A lot of family members took the opportunity once a year to recognize what used to be called Decoration Day.”
Memorial Day recognizes those who have fallen in all wars and have given “that sacrifice,” he said.
“That’s something special about this country and something special about the military … is that we are going to ask a lot of you. We are going to ask a lot of you in peace time and we’re certainly going to ask a lot of you, up to giving your own life in combat.”
Kelly said that as people reflect about the day he didn’t want them to “forget the why of this day. I want them to know (service members’) sacrifices were not in vain because the American way of life, the freedoms that we enjoy have been safeguarded by the sacrifices of their loved ones.”
According to the Navy.mil, Murphy gave his life, June 28, 2005, during Operation Red Wings as he fearlessly exposed himself to enemy fire in order to call for support during a heated firefight with the Taliban high in the Hindu Kush mountains.
“Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates,” the Navy’s Medal of Honor site stated. “Murphy, intent on making contact with headquarters, but realizing this would be impossible in the extreme terrain where they were fighting, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life moved into the open, where he could gain a better position to transmit a call to get help for his men.”
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