On December 11, 2000, my brother and very best friend in the whole world, Michael Murphy, was killed when the aircraft he was piloting crashed due to mechanical failure.  Mike, on the left, is with pictured with his friend and fellow Osprey pilot, Maj. Jim Schafer.

Michael is pictured below on the right, along with fellow Osprey crew member, Sgt. Jason Buyck, who was also killed with my brother on December 11, 2000.
Text Box: Please visit the official Osprey Memorial Foundation website for more information.

My brother, Michael, was killed on December 11, 2000, when the MV-22 Osprey aircraft he was piloting crashed due to mechanical failure.  Three other fine men were lost that day.  This crash followed an earlier one that year that killed four other Osprey Pilots and Air Crew and 15 Marines.

 

Michael was only 38 years old, and he left behind a wife and two young children, a son, Michael Jr. (12), and a daughter, Grace (7).

 

The families of the fallen Marines are building a memorial on the grounds of the new Marine Corp Museum located just outside the Base in Quantico, VA to honor these fine men and the sacrifice they made for their country.  You can help make our vision a reality by visiting the Osprey Memorial Website to find out more about the Osprey Program and the Memorial.  The Osprey Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, so your contributions are tax deductible.

 

Please help us in any way you can.  No amount is too small.  Contact me any time at patti@legal-eaze.com or (203) 458-6007.    Thanks so much… Patti Urban 

 

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Revised 12/11/06
Text Box: HOMELAND is a band that wrote and recorded the song, “The Few, The Proud, With Wings” in honor of my brother and the other deceased Osprey Pilots and Aircrew. You can order the Marine Honors Society Tribute CD containing “The Few, The Proud, With Wings” and other inspirational songs from HOMELAND’s website. A portion of the proceeds is automatically donated to the Osprey Memorial Foundation, Inc. ORDER CD HERE

“The Few, The Proud, With Wings”

Maj. John A. Brow

Maj. Brooks S. Gruber

Staff Sgt. William B. Nelson

Cpl. Kelly S. Keith

Lt. Col. Keith M. Sweaney

Lt. Col. Michael L. Murphy

Staff Sgt. Avely W. Runnels

Sgt. Jason A. Buyck

www.OspreyMemorial.com
Text Box: FROM MICHAEL’S MOM... Lt. Col. Michael L. Murphy, USMC ("Murf" as he was called) was a man of honor.  He loved God, his family, his friends, and his country. He was born on March 3, 1962, and was raised in a small hamlet outside of NYC called Blauvelt, NY.  He attended St. Joseph's Regional High School in Montvale, NJ, and upon graduation he continued his studies at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL.  While in college he joined the ROTC program and was commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps in 1985.  He graduated from flight school in Pensacola, FL, and made a decision to fly helicopters.  While in the Corps he flew many different type of planes including MARINE ONE, which is the Presidential helicopter, and Michael was one of President Clinton's pilots for three years.  Upon completion of this program, he was hand picked to be an operational test pilot for the MV-22 Osprey Program which was the number one aviation acquisition program in the United States Marine Corps. On the night of December 11, 2000, during a night training mission, Lt. Col. Michael L. Murphy along with Lt. Col. Keith M. Sweaney, Staff Sgt. Avely W. Runnels, and Sgt. Jason A. Buyck were killed in Jacksonville, NC,  piloting the plane that these brave men believed in for the future of our country. Michael left behind a wife, his son Michael Jr. and his daughter Grace.  In addition, his loving family includes his parents Anne and John, his sister Patti and her family, and his brother John and his family, and many nieces and nephews.  God Bless You Michael and Semper Fi and thank you for being in our lives.  We will always miss you! Love, Mom

Click here to go directly to the Osprey Memorial Foundation Website

 

With Love for Michael . . .

 

If tears could build a stairway , And memories were a lane

        We would walk right up to Heaven, And bring you back again

 

No farewell words were spoken, No time to say goodbye

        You were gone before we knew it, And only God knows why

 

Our hearts still ache in sadness, And secret tears still flow

        What it meant to lose you, No one will ever know

 

But know we know you want us, To mourn for you no more

        To remember all the happy times, Life still has much in store

 

Since you’ll never be forgotten, We pledge to you today

        A hallowed place within our hearts, Is where you’ll always stay

 

                                       Love,

                                                                             Patti 

Read at Michael’s Funeral by his Dad..

Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn’s rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush.

Of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there; I did not die.

…Cherokee Indian Poem

Update—December 11, 2005             Update—December 11, 2006

"It has been said, time heals all wounds."  I do not agree.  The wounds remain.  In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens.  But it is never gone.”    ...Rose Kennedy

North Carolina
December 11, 2000

 

HEADQUARTERS, U.S. MARINE CORPS, WASHINGTON, DC--Four Marines were killed when an MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed while on a night training mission near Jacksonville, N.C, about 7:30 last night .

Killed were the following Marines:
Lt. Col. Keith M. Sweaney, 42, of Richmond, Va., assigned to Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1), based at Quantico, Va.

Lt.Col. Michael Murphy, 38, of Blauvelt, N.Y., assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204 (VMMT-204), based at Marine Corps Air Station, New River, N.C.

Staff Sgt. Avely W. Runnels, 25, of Morven, Ga., assigned to VMMT-204.

Sgt. Jason A. Buyck, 24, of Sodus, N.Y., of VMMT-204.