On October 22, 2007, when President Bush posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to the family of Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy in a ceremony at the White House, it received little coverage by the media. That’s unfortunate, because Lieutenant Murphy joins an elite list of American heroes who should serve as role models to all Americans, regardless of their politics.

Murphy, the first person awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in combat in Afghanistan, was killed in 2005 during Operation Red Wing. He was leading a 4-man SEAL recon team that came under intense fire from several dozen Taliban fighters. Murphy, even after receiving a bullet wound, fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call for a rescue helicopter. Thinking only of his team members, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded.

The President, in the name of Congress, has awarded more than 3,460 Medals of Honor to our nation's bravest warriors since the decoration's creation in 1861, an extremely small number when you consider the millions who have served in 146 years. A little more than 600 have been awarded the medal posthumously.

Regardless of your views on any of America's wars, all Americans should appreciate and honor people like Murphy who act selflessly in service to their country. We can all learn much from their example. I don’t just mean what they did at one particular moment in time that resulted in their receiving the nation’s highest award for valor. What kind of person were they before that? What was it about them that enabled them to do what they did? The biographies of most Medal of Honor recipients are inspiring.

Older Americans are familiar with the stories of famous Medal of Honor recipients from World Wars I & II. Much was written about them. Movies were made about them.

Sergeant Alvin York was a poor farm boy from Tennessee who charged a machine gun nest and captured 132 German soldiers in World War I. New Yorkers gave him a ticker-tape parade upon his return from Europe and Hollywood later made a movie about him.

Eddie Rickenbacker was a race car driver before World War I. He later became as well known for what he did after the war as much for his heroism as a fighter ace. He founded Eastern Airlines among his many other notable achievements.

Audie Murphy was a country boy from Texas who enlisted in the Army and went on to become the most decorated soldier of World War II with 32 different decorations. Hollywood and the American public made him a movie star after the war. He made 44 movies, including To Hell And Back about his own combat experiences.

Since the Vietnam War, however, those awarded the Medal of Honor have become less familiar to the American public. They are known principally by their families, friends, and communities and by military people who understand and appreciate what they did. Hollywood rarely makes movies about them any more.