The actors in Act of Valor are real military, and the incidents are based on real events. One particularly moved us -- that of Michael Mansoor. Mansoor, a Navy SEAL on duty in Iraq in 2006, threw himself on a grenade, protecting his fellow soldiers. He died 30 minutes later.
Mansoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by George W. Bush, who attended his funeral. From Wikipedia:
As the coffin was moving from the hearse to the grave site, Navy SEALs were lined up forming a column of twos on both sides of the pallbearers route, with the coffin moving up the center. As the coffin passed each SEAL, they slapped down the gold Trident each had removed from his own uniform and deeply embedded it into the wooden coffin. For nearly 30 minutes the slaps were audible from across the cemetery as nearly every SEAL on the west coast repeated the ceremony.[8]
Bush later said, "When it was all over, the simple wooden coffin had become a gold-plated memorial to a hero who will never be forgotten.” Mansoor's parents later accepted the award on their son's behalf.
Such bravery from these soldiers, who risk themselves every day on our behalf, deserves our grateful thanks, not only around Memorial Day...but every day.
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