Penn State honors Medal of Honor recipient for Military Appreciation Week

Editor’s note: This is the first story in a three-part series featuring 1998 Penn State alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient LT. Michael P. Murphy. Read the second story on Penn State News on Nov. 13 and the third story on Nov. 14.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Michael P. Murphy, the 1998 Penn State alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient, showed leadership skills and a strong sense of right and wrong even as a young child, his father Dan said.

Like pieces of life’s puzzle, Dan said he remembers many moments that fit together to form Michael’s compassion, guidance and maturity. Childhood friends looked to Michael for what they would do during summer days. His peers knew Michael would stand up for others, regardless of who was or wasn’t watching.

Dan recalled an 8-year-old Michael hitting a game-winning home run during a championship baseball game. He rounded the bases, landing on home plate into the arms of teammates shouting, “You won the game!”

Michael disagreed.

“I didn’t win the game,” Dan remembered his son saying. “If you guys hadn’t gotten on base, I would have never got up to hit. We won this game as a team.”

That moment and countless others piece together “Murph the Protector,” a man whose heart and character led him to do what was right no matter what. Murphy graduated from Penn State in 1998, enlisted in the Navy and served as a SEAL.

He died on June 28, 2005, during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan. His heroic actions to save his team led to him posthumously receiving the Medal of Honor, the highest recognition in the U.S. military.

“The fact that he became a [Navy] SEAL didn’t surprise me,” Dan said. “It didn’t surprise me during Operation Red Wings when he sacrificed himself for his teammates. That was just his character.”

A strong sense of right and wrong

Michael grew up on Long Island, the son of Dan and Maureen Murphy, with his brother John. His father described him as smart, athletic and caring. Michael was kind and a protective friend to all, he said.

He earned the “Murph the Protector” nickname that followed him through life when he stopped classmates from bullying a student with special needs in elementary school.

After graduating from Patchogue-Medford High School in 1994, Michael chose to attend college at Penn State University Park.

“He loved Penn State,” Dan said. “I think Penn State just fit really well for him.”

Michael had a close-knit group of friends during his years in Happy Valley. Dan said they’d play club football together, affectionally renaming Michael as “Stinky” during games.

“He’d wear the same shirt that he never cleaned every time,” Dan said. “He told them they would have to get through the stink in order to tackle him.”

Some of his friends remain in touch with the Murphy family, still attending events organized in his honor, Dan said.

“We love Penn State — there’s no other way to say it,” Dan said. His daughter and Michael’s stepsister, Kristen, followed in her older brother’s footsteps and graduated from Penn State in 2021. The family returns for athletic and campus events. Most recently, Dan, his wife, Karen, and Kristen appeared in Michael’s honor on the field during the Military Appreciation football game on Nov. 8.

Deciding to pursue military service

In college, Michael would often take a bus home from State College to Long Island on Friday afternoons to spend the weekend with his family. Instead of taking the early afternoon bus back to campus, Michael rode with his father in the late evening into the early morning down Interstate 80 toward campus.

“It was during those five hours where Michael and I would talk about everything under the sun,” Dan said.

On one of those drives, Michael told his father he not only wanted to join the military but to become a Navy SEAL.

Dan, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran, questioned Michael’s idea. Life in the military wasn’t what he envisioned for his son, but he knew Michael’s character and sense of duty to what is right.

Michael’s choice also grew from a chance encounter with someone who was also a Navy SEAL in Vietnam. His father said Michael saw Ryan McCombie, a Penn State alumnus and veteran chopping wood in the backyard of his State College home and stopped to help him.

“Capt. McCombie said that had Michael not helped him with chopping the wood that it would have been a short conversation,” Dan said. “He recognized something in Michael.”

McCombie served in the Navy for 26 years and served as a Penn State trustee from 2012-18.

Earning the distinction of becoming a Navy SEAL

After graduating in 1998 with honors and bachelor’s degrees in political science and psychology, Michael completed a SEAL mentoring program. He set aside offers from five law schools, and delayed his entry into the Navy so that he could align his naval training courses so that he optimized and had the most direct path to become a SEAL.

Michael’s commitment to becoming a SEAL came to fruition in September 2000 when he entered training and graduated as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in December 2000. In January 2001, Michael began Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, an intense, highly selective six-month program. He was one of 28 out of 196 from his class to graduate Navy SEAL training.

Michael deployed four times: twice to Iraq, once to Africa, and another to Afghanistan where he’d give his life to save his team.

Read the second and third installations of Penn State alumnus LT. Michael P. Murphy’s story on Penn State News during Military Appreciation Week.

Military Appreciation at Penn State 

Penn State has a longstanding and proud tradition of serving the men and women of our military through education benefits, resources, support and more. This year, Penn State will highlight Medal of Honor recipients during a series of campus events, including the Military Appreciation football game on Nov. 8. Penn State students, faculty, staff and alumni with military connections can submit a profile of service for the opportunity to be featured on the University’s Military Appreciation website and other materials. Visit militaryappreciation.psu.edu to learn more.