On June 28, 2005, near the city of Asadabad, Afghanistan, Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL, was killed while on a counter-insurgent mission known as Operation Red Wings. Murphy and 18 other U.S. military members were killed during an attempt to kill or capture a top Taliban leader.For his actions during the mission, Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in October 2007. Following his death, the high school he attended, a post office in his hometown, a park, a guided-missile destroyer (USS Michael Murphy, DDG-112) and a fitness challenge, known as the Murph Challenge, have been named in his honor.
"I believe it's important for people to know that barbeques and long weekends are not what Memorial Day is about," said Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Kelsey Geigle. "While I did enjoy the time off and went to a barbeque, I also made sure, and hope everyone else did as well, to take a moment to remember the ones who came before us and bless the ones to come."
Created in 2014, the Murph Challenge consists of a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and another one-mile run to be finished in under an hour. The event is also a fundraiser in which proceeds go to the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation.
"I hope to do this again next year as well," said Geigle. "Murphy and his guys who died alongside him were like us. They were working to get their jobs done and go home to see their families. We all volunteer and make sacrifices, but some sacrifice more than others."
The Murph Challenge has raised nearly a million dollars in donations from athletes throughout the Department of Defense and from participants around the world.
"I host this challenge every year with the purpose of providing the crew with an event that is so much more than just burning calories," said USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Fit Boss Justin Vigil. "Events such as this have a huge emotional factor, some of our crew have possibly known or served with the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We are honoring the lives they gave for us through our small and brief periods of suffering during the challenge."
Each year the challenge gains more popularity, and while not every participant completes the challenge successfully, the goal of scholarship fund donations, and our duty to remember our deceased veterans is accomplished.
Bush is in port in Norfolk, Virginia, conducting routine training exercises to maintain carrier readiness.
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