The Legacy of Lieutenant Michael Murphy: A Conversation with Chris Wyllie

Scott: 00:00:08

The mountain erupted. Operation Red Wing had just gone seriously awry.

The first volley was deafening, delivered by an overwhelming force of an estimated 30 to 40 Taliban fighters, all heavily armed with machine guns and RPGs. They were led, ironically, by the target himself, Ahmad Shah.

Lieutenant Michael Murphy and his team of SEALs were immediately pinned down on the steep, exposed ridge in the Hindu Kush Mountains. Danny Dietz was hit almost instantly, taking shrapnel and bullet wounds as he tried to establish radio contact.

Axelson and Luttrell fought back, ferociously expanding magazine after magazine. Murphy, despite the chaos and impossible odds, coordinated their defense, constantly moving and directing fire.

They were falling, tumbling down the mountainside, their bodies bruised and bloody from the violent impacts as they desperately sought cover. Axelson was shot in the chest and Littrell suffered a deep groin wound.

Dietz, shot several more times, kept fighting until he was physically unable to hold his rifle. With his men badly wounded and the enemy closing in, Murphy knew they needed help now.

But the mission critical satellite phone wouldn't connect in the rocky terrain. Knowing exactly what about to do, Murphy scrambled out of the small depression that offered their only protection.

Moving into the open, enemy fire zeroing in on him. He calmly dialed the distress signal, reciting their position and the size of the attacking force. He was hit in the back, a bullet exiting his chest.

He clutched the phone, finished the call with the chilling sign off of thank you and then returned fire with his M4 until he collapsed. Lieutenant Murphy had been killed in action. The fight raged on. Two of the remaining three SEALs, Danny Dietz and Matthew Axelson, died fighting back.

The last member of the team, Marcus Luttrell, was blasted down a cliff by an rpg, losing consciousness. Meanwhile, back at the base, a massive quick reaction force had scrambled.

An MH47 Chinook helicopter carrying eight additional SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers sped towards the team's location. Before they could even deploy, an RPG slammed into the rear rotor.

The helicopter spiraled down the mountain, killing all 16 men on board in one devastating instant, making it the single deadliest day in naval special warfare history. Of the original four man team, only Marco Satrell survived. Found days later by local villagers and.

Scott: 00:02:43

Sheltered in their home, he was eventually rescued. Lieutenant Michael Murphy was posthumously awarded the.

Scott: 00:02:49

Medal of Honor for his actions that.

Scott: 00:02:51

Day from moving into the open and.

Scott: 00:02:53

Taking a bullet to ensure his teammates had a chance to survive. Welcome to Talk with History.

Scott: 00:03:05

I am your host Scott and my wife and historian Jen recently visited the.

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Lt. Michael Murphy Navy SEAL Museum in.

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Long Island, New York.

Scott: 00:03:13

Penn State graduate, class of: 1999

Jen was honored to tell the story of Lt. Murphy, whom you may know.

Scott: 00:03:28

From the popular movie Lone Survivor that recounts the events of Operation Red Wing and the heroic actions of all the.

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Seals there that day.

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Or you may be more familiar with the popular workout many know as the Murph, named in honor of this fallen hero.

Scott: 00:03:45

Today, we are lucky enough to have Mr. Chris Wiley join us. Chris is the current executive director of.

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The Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy Navy SEAL Museum.

Scott: 00:03:52

As a Long island native and former Navy SEAL himself, Chris is in charge of the daily operations of the museum.

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And actively drives the vision of the museum forward.

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He helps represent the museum through public engagement by participating in events like swimming.

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In the annual SEALS Swim in the.

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Hudson river and other activities with his fellow brothers in arms. I hope you enjoy our conversation with Chris.

Scott: 00:04:21

Thanks for joining us. So if you could, for our audience who doesn't know where you are and what you do, could you just give us a brief?

This is who I am and how you became the director of the Lieutenant.

Scott: 00:04:33

Murphy Navy SEAL Museum.

Chris: 00:04:34

So, okay. My name is Chris Wiley. I the executive director of the Lieutenant Michael Murphy Navy SEAL Museum.

I grew up on Long island and became a seal, got medically retired after seven years and came back home to raise my family. So when I started working back as a civilian on Long Island, I created a business for myself. And as that business grew was in electronics.

So I was doing a lot of home theaters and home automation and things of that nature.

And when I had heard of the potential that there was a Navy SEAL museum going, planned on being created in Long Island, I really felt like I needed to get involved. I didn't know what that involvement would be, but that was my initial reaction. I have to get involved. This is something near and dear to me.

And so I started reaching out to the museum. It took me quite a long time to make a connection where I could get in front of somebody just because everything was such in its infancy.

So about two years of me figuring out how do I get in touch with him. Some friend of mine invited me to a Rotary Club meeting, which I've never been to.

Scott: 00:05:54

Yeah.

Chris: 00:05:54

And didn't understand why they invited me to this meeting. And they said, well, Mr. Murphy's going to be there and he's going to be talking about the museum.

So I thought it would be a really good way to get in front of Them.

So when I attended that meeting, met with them, and they were there asking for help from all the different contractors that were part of that Rotary Club and donors and things of that nature.

So met with the family, and one of the board members explained who I was, explained what I wanted to do, and a few weeks later, they reached out to me and asked me to come onto the board. Now, this is way back before we even broke ground.

So for quite a few years, I was the only SEAL on the board and was helping navigate some of the choices and how to properly remember and display the history as a seal. I was that kind of insight. That's what I was providing.

Scott: 00:06:51

Absolutely.

Chris: 00:06:52

And, and my original idea was to take the relationships that I had with my company, with different manufacturers and potential donors, help the museum be built, created, and that would have been my contribution. So that was my original plan. Okay. And then as, as the museum grew and as we were building the museum, we got closer and closer to opening.

And then the family came to me just before reopened and said, we would love for you to run the museum. What, you know, what are your thoughts? And I was in a position in my life where I said, well, maybe this would be another.

A nice way to, to take that next step in my career. So that's how I got involved. I never expected to be running a museum dressing mannequins, as I was joking when we, when we were walking through.

Never thought I would be doing that. And it's very therapeutic for me. So that, that is definitely a benefit of being at the museum and being involved with, with this.

Scott: 00:08:08

No, I think, I think that's amazing. And it's, it's.

It's not too surprising to me, right, that as you got involved early, you're going through that the family would come to someone who was in the military, was in the same, the same part of the Navy. And military folks typically are good business owners, like, as you've proven with your own business, and be like, okay, I know what we need to do.

I know what we need to. I know what we need to get there. And I'm going to walk us from A to Z.

And all of a sudden they find someone that, that's, that's that driver that's, that's seeing the vision and driving the vision of the museum. So that's pretty cool.

Chris: 00:08:43

Yeah. And like I said, it was an honor actually to one that was the first board I was ever a part of.

I was unlisted guy, so I wasn't an officer, so didn't really have a lot of that white glove.

Scott: 00:08:54

I mean, they didn't. Rotary Club wasn't part of Navy SEAL training. I mean, come on.

Chris: 00:08:59

No, no. They left that part out.

Scott: 00:09:01

They left that part out.

Chris: 00:09:03

Yeah. So.

Scott: 00:09:04

So one of the things that I was curious about, and I know Jen has all. All her questions, but she got to go to the museum. I didn't get to go. So one of the things.

And if folks are watching this podcast or listening to this podcast, I encourage.

Scott: 00:09:16

You guys to go watch the video.

Scott: 00:09:17

That Jen was able to make while she visited, because you do an amazing job of telling the story of not just Lieutenant Michael Murphy, but the Navy SEALs. Like, how did you go about getting all of the equipment? And, I mean, there's a lot of Navy SEAL equipment, Navy Navy gear. All that stuff.

Was that from donors? Was that you reaching out to people you still knew in the service?

Jenn: 00:09:42

Is that some of your gear? Like, how did you get all of that?

Chris: 00:09:45

There's a. There's a quite a few displays that are my gear.

Scott: 00:09:49

Okay.

Chris: 00:09:49

But they're. So that's a great question. And what I try to explain to people is that we're not federally, state, or locally supported. There's no funding. Yeah.

This is a private museum. We're trying to work with the county and the local government right now to get some help in that sense. But. Great question.

We have a few items that came from the Navy. So we have a sdv, the SEAL delivery vehicle outside, like a mini submarine that actually did come from the Navy that was in use.

So that was an artifact that the Navy provided. But I would say 90% of the equipment and things have been private donors.

People that I've asked, friends of mine, where I call up saying, hey, what do you have laying around? I don't care if it's broken or out of date, because we're trying to tell the entire story. So some of the gear.

And you both know in the military, they'll just throw things out to them. It's useless.

So they would rather throw it out than deal with donating it and that logistics, because if they donate to one entity, then they have to donate to all the entities. So that's where I see it sounds wasteful, but I understand the logistics of, well, hey, you donated something to them. Why aren't you donating to me?

So I get it, but that's what we're doing. I'm beg, borrowing, and pleading with people saying, hey, you have old. Old pants, boots, whatever.

And then we go out and we find stuff there's displays that I would. Why? So we had. One of the newer displays is our winter warfare seal. Everybody sees soldiers in desert or camo, like that type of imagery.

And one of the driving forces for me being from New York, I don't like being hot.

Scott: 00:11:43

Yeah.

Chris: 00:11:44

So, so when I went through SEAL training, I picked SEAL Team 2 because we were the winter warfare experts. So we were skiing in Arctic warfare and having the white kind of camo and gear and it was just different. But nobody really remembers that.

Hey, if it's snowing out, you're not walking around in dark green clothing. So we had to go out and find. And I had to buy and searching on ebay and all these other different marketplaces to try to find used equipment.

Yeah, but that's, that's where we're. I'm always looking for stuff.

Scott: 00:12:18

Yeah, no, I, I, I just thought that was so amazing when I, I was watching the footage and I was editing it up and, and all that stuff and I was just like, oh my gosh. There is. For folks that are at, are listening to this podcast because we encourage people to travel and to go see historic sites.

If you are in the Long island area, this is absolutely worth, worth it because it's an amazing, it's amazing.

Jenn: 00:12:39

Well, you're not going to have experience to see those things. I, I especially like the log that's used during buns and I'm sure you didn't, did you go out to Coronado and get that? Like I'm sure you made it.

Chris: 00:12:48

No. That is a, I don't know how much time we have, but that was probably one of the harder things to get.

Jenn: 00:12:55

Really.

Chris: 00:12:56

A, A log doesn't make any sense. Why would it be so difficult to get.

Scott: 00:13:01

What was the story behind that?

Chris: 00:13:02

Because most pieces of wood that are shaped like that are telephone poles.

Jenn: 00:13:07

Yeah.

Chris: 00:13:08

Right. All of those telephone poles are treated so they don't rot or decay with chemicals.

We didn't want one of those logs there because if somebody accidentally got a splinter then that actually because it's a really nasty chemical that they use to pressure treat those pieces of wood. So you could actually get sick or really?

Jenn: 00:13:30

And you got kids touching it.

Chris: 00:13:32

Exactly. So. And Mr. Murphy is a lawyer, so he was, he, he constantly is worried about people being litigious. Right.

So finding a non pressure treated straight piece of wood that size, trust me, it took me probably a year to get somebody to have that available. It was, it was unbelievably difficult to find a lock. I wish I could have Went to San Diego. But that would have been just transporting.

Jenn: 00:13:58

It back, just drive across. Honestly, I think that's a great artifact because unless, I mean, we are so used to it. If you're on Coronado and you see the guys doing bud.

So used to them with the logs. But it's such a novice thing for people who have never seen that or not close to Coronado. Don't see the guys, right?

Chris: 00:14:16

No. And so I wanted to put the log. You, you saw how it is. And in the video you see how the log is. I wanted to put it on to like a pivot. Yeah.

So one side would be fixed, the other side it would pivot. You could try to lift.

Scott: 00:14:28

That's a cool idea.

Chris: 00:14:29

And then it was, well, somebody's going to get their finger pinched or somebody's going to. And because it, it's, it looks like it's hard, but until you actually try to pick it up, then you can really understand what we got.

Have gone through or went through during training. So it's just, it was a great, it's a great photo op for the kids and everybody that visits. So people love that display.

I just wish it was a little more interactive.

Jenn: 00:14:54

Yeah, yeah, I love that display too. So I had a question about the camel pack that you have. Murphy's actual camel pack. Now we, we know from his citation that he was shot in the back.

And someone had asked me, why is there no bullet holes in the camel pack? And my response was, I don't think it's thin enough and I don't think it was in the right area.

But I don't think you would wear your bulletproof vest first and then camel pack over the vest. It's not underneath your vest, is it?

Chris: 00:15:24

It usually is not underneath your vest. But the. It could, it could have been. I wasn't there.

I don't know how he liked wearing his gear because you have your mag pouches and everything else on front of the body armor. So there's a lot of layers. So sometimes having something even further on on your back is not correct or it feels off. So some.

So sometimes you would put your. Like when I had a camelback, we would put it on and then I would have my H gear and stuff on top of it.

Jenn: 00:15:53

Gotcha.

Chris: 00:15:54

So it just depends on how you like wearing your. Your gear.

Jenn: 00:15:57

Okay.

Chris: 00:15:58

So I'm not sure for that. It's like how you like that's individual.

Jenn: 00:16:04

Yeah.

Chris: 00:16:04

Yeah. So with the SEAL stuff, where a lot of the other units are a lot more uniform with how you wear things, how you have things laid out on your gear.

And that's just because if you're. If you go down, somebody can run over and grab stuff, and they know where it is in the dark.

So we have a lot more where it's customized to what we would like, so we know where it is, and it works for me. My arms and hands are bigger than some other people's body shapes, so sometimes it's harder for me to get in a certain direction.

So I would lay out my stuff differently. We would universally put our med packs and things always on the same matching side. So if you went down, everybody knew exactly where the med.

Something very important would be in those universally. But the rest of our gear would be different. Yeah, they have to match.

Jenn: 00:16:54

Yeah. That's the same for aviators, too.

Chris: 00:16:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is great. That makes sense. I understand being uniform, that. That makes sense too. But at a certain level, you need to be allowed.

Allow people to customize it where it works better.

Jenn: 00:17:08

Absolutely. Life and death, right?

Chris: 00:17:10

Yeah. So I'm not sure why.

Yeah, we thought at one point it had blood on the bottom, but, you know, when the person that we received it from described it, that's what the family thought.

And when I received the item, I realized it was more of a hydration stain from Gatorade or some sort of powder or mix, because blood will turn black, dark over time. And that was still a red.

Scott: 00:17:34

Yeah.

Chris: 00:17:34

So now for.

Scott: 00:17:36

For those who. Who aren't familiar with. Especially for our listeners or. Somebody's finding this podcast and they're. They're driving to Long Island.

They're driving potentially to the museum, and they want a little preview. Can you just give us a brief overview of what you guys cover through the museum?

Because I know you tell his story and the story of the seals, so can you talk briefly about that?

Chris: 00:17:56

Absolutely. And I. I love that topic because it is a Naval Special Warfare museum that has Michael's name on it.

e. It is a full timeline from: 1942

So going from back in: 1942

Mid World War II, we get renamed into the UDTs, Underwater Demolition Teams. And then when we See that we're moving into Vietnam.

Then we're renamed the Seals and the UDT Frogmen and all of the World War II, Korea, the training, the history, the legacy, all of that comes with it. And we to this day continue to use the same Hell Week training, all of that that they created 83 years ago.

So it's a pretty amazing origin story, but then you get rebranded from the seals and, and go forward. So, yes, we do cover Michael's story. We do cover. We do have artifacts that are directly Michael, like the camelback.

We have his trident, we have his helmets from training. But that's really, really it. We're not centralized on Michael.

Granted, this is the museum named after him, but we do want to make sure that everyone understands that we are covering all of those amazing men that have gone before him and after him that have given their ultimate, you know, the ultimate sacrifice and did all these different missions. So it is a full museum of Naval Special warfare.

Jenn: 00:19:55

So not only that, you honor every Medal of Honor recipient from Special Warfare, and you honor everyone who has paid the ultimate cost of freedom in special warfare, in training and in actual duty. You have the wall of the cost of freedom. And we talked you. That's your favorite artifact. And I'm putting a card.

Chris: 00:20:15

It's my most, it's my most impactful artifact. It definitely, we could use the word favorite. It's. But it's the, it's the one where I feel, I get the most feeling from is looking at the wall.

And I had my friend Drago, that he just visited the other day, and we price stood in front of that wall for 10 minutes almost in silence and just looking at the faces and remembering because there's so many people that it's such a small community that it's unfortunate that we know a lot of people that were killed. So reflecting back and then you see somebody you may not have thought of in a while. So that's, that's why that's one of my more special displays.

I'm sorry for cutting you off.

Jenn: 00:20:59

No, no, I, I, I love it. And what I, what I'm putting the call out if anyone's listening to this or watches the video.

Your mission with that wall is to have a photograph of every man who paid the ultimate cost of freedom. And right now, you don't have a photograph for every man. Some of them are just shadow silhouettes until you can find those photographs.

So if anybody wants to watch this, I love amateur historians. And you want to look at that wall.

Chris has done his best to go on, find a grave or contact their high schools and see where they went to school to get an actual photograph of these men to put on that wall. Instead of. Right now, it's the shadow silhouette. I would say you have about maybe.

Chris: 00:21:45

10, a little more than that. We. We started a little over three years ago with 90. About 90 to 89 or 90 silhouettes.

n't get a. Another photo from: 1944

So we have about 30 guys in the maybe high 20s, low 30s. So we've done a ton of work over the past three years trying to find a face. And it doesn't have to be an individual photo. It doesn't.

Just that headshot. We found school pictures or class pictures and zoomed in on people.

So the photos may not be great of the people that we had to find, but it was very important for us to actually have a photo of that individual, because even if it was a blurry photo or a grainy photo, it just was them, not just this universal silhouette. And. And. And it's definitely. If somebody could find it. I'm. I'll give you something out of the. Out of the store. I promise you, you'll get a reward.

So we'll put that call out to people. You find. You find a picture that's actually that person. I will give you a list.

And then if you find one person on there and you able to provide a picture for us, I'll give you a hat or a shirt or something, whatever of your choice. Out of the museum, the store.

Jenn: 00:23:11

Yeah, I think. I mean, we're talking about Veterans Day. We're talking about honoring veterans.

I think the Cost of Freedom wall, saying their name, looking at their pictures, remembering their lives. I think that is a way that those of us who live can honor those who gave it all. And that's why so important to do the video.

I think it was so important for me as a Penn Stater to be there. But to meet you and to see that wall, it was just. It really is an amazing, amazing artifact. It's a great part of your museum.

It tells a great, tremendous story and honors these men. And I really. I love that you guys do that well.

Chris: 00:23:49

And it's. It's sad that I know I'll probably have to put more photos up and that.

And that's what's part of the, I don't call it a negative, but part of the, part of the job running the museum and having space because we have a lot of kids that are. Don't understand why the, the wall is laid out. And when you watch the video, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

But the wall has depth and the wall has spacing and blank spots.

And that was just because we know it's a dangerous job and we know that there'll be people in the future that will unfortunately have to go on the wall. But we have a lot of young people that, they're 8, 9, 10 year old kids that ask that question, why does the wall look like this?

Or why is it like that? And one, I love getting questions from, from young kids, period, just because I like them interacting with adults and asking questions.

But two, it just being able to lay it out for people and have them understand that yet this isn't just a, this isn't finished. The wall's not. It's a living monument.

Jenn: 00:24:53

Yes. Now, how many visitors a year do you usually get to the museum?

Chris: 00:24:58

Well, I would love to increase that, but I think we're probably around 8 to 10,000 people right now. We have a lot of school trips that come local. We have a lot of visitors that travel all over the country that come to. To see the museum.

And I think we're at like 13 or 15 foreign countries and almost a visitor from every state in the past three years. So we, we keep track of that. We have a guest book and Donna, who runs a museum with me, she, she is diligent.

She'll go up every day and look through the guest book and see where these people are coming from and mark it off on. She has a little map. So she, she gets really excited when we get a new, new area covered. So for a while we, we had some.

Two states in the Midwest that you're like, come on, something come. I almost wanted to like raffle off an airline ticket.

Scott: 00:25:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So since again, you came into being the executive director of the museum semi unexpectedly, it's not something.

Chris: 00:25:56

No, absolutely not.

Scott: 00:25:57

Yeah.

Scott: 00:25:57

Since you've been the director and kind of running the museum for a few years and stuff like that, what's one of the standout moments for you as the director?

Since over your time as the director, either just like a super cool moment like you met a person, or just a moment that really stands out to you since you've been in this role?

Chris: 00:26:20

Okay, I'm getting chills so there has been a tremendous amount of those moments, varying in different capacities. I've had.

I've had the moments where I have veterans, young veterans that come from different states and pop in that I don't know that aren't seals and they just needed somebody to talk to.

Scott: 00:26:45

Yeah, cool.

Chris: 00:26:47

Have emotional tears and need help.

So I had a lot of interactions where that was very surprising for me, just because I'm out on the floor talking to people and they're there with their girlfriends, and then all of a sudden, we are in a different area, different things. So that has been very touching.

I feel like I'm there for a reason, to be able to be there and make sure those people know that they're not alone and that we were here to help. So that is a very special moment that I've had numerous times.

I've had moments where I've had guys that I haven't seen in 30 years walk through the door with their families. That's been a very happy moment.

And then a moment like where I am right now, I'm down at the American Veterans Conference and being the director here at the museum. The museum and Michaels foundation gives back and donates to the Veterans center. And I'm meeting all of these World War II veterans.

Rosie the Riveter yesterday.

Scott: 00:27:53

Oh, cool.

Chris: 00:27:55

Tuskegee Airmen, all of these different people. So I get the chance to speak. I speak on a panel. I moderate a panel of seals for these kids and for the veterans. So that's what we did yesterday.

And so there's been so many good, positive things that have come out of this position that I didn't expect, and I feel very blessed for it. It's really helped me speak in public, too. Another thing. No other.

But yeah, so I'm having a. I'm having a very good experience as a director at the museum. It's something like you brought up that I didn't look at these things impacting me the way they have. It was just more, oh, I'm going to run a museum.

Didn't think of all the other areas that would be affecting my life.

Scott: 00:28:42

Well, and that's what I tell. I mean, it's such a gift to someone, like, to you, to be able to continue to have an impact on people's lives. That's one of the things.

Like, I'm still serving. I was a former surface guy, and now I'm an HR guy. So I'm driving a desk.

It's not sexy, it's not super fun, but it's Important for larger Navy back end stuff. Make sure people get paid. Right. If people aren't going doing stuff, you got to make sure they get paid, things like that.

But the thing that, you know that I've is my favorite part of serving is having that impact on a sailor that works for me, a junior officer that works for me or whatever. It's the impact on people's lives.

And it's cool to hear you get to continue to have that opportunity through being the executive director of the Museum of Hey, here's a young veteran who's come in and just needs to talk to someone else who served or young kids who have questions about the service or whatever that is, is you continue to have impact on, on people's lives.

And that's just such an absolute gift that I'm so happy that, that you get as, as a museum director because that's probably not something a lot of people would, would think about when you're running a museum.

Chris: 00:29:50

No, you don't think about that.

And I'm trying to make that more a talking point, especially with other veterans, because having purpose after the service is a lot of times a very difficult transition.

Jenn: 00:30:03

Yes.

Chris: 00:30:04

And when I got out, a long time ago, when I got out, there was no transitional programs the way we have now. You had tap, you had the basic two days of here, how do you, how do you tie your tie? And yeah, yeah, everyone, everyone's going to love you.

Scott: 00:30:18

Here's how you write a resume.

Chris: 00:30:21

Exactly. And that, that's literally what they, what they do. They pump you up and off you go. And then there's, then it's like silent. There's.

There was no support and it was very difficult to transition, very difficult to find purpose, very difficult to deal with things that I didn't know I was dealing with. Yeah. So over time, and it took me a long time, over time I figured it out that when I was around other veterans didn't have to be just seals.

When I was around other veterans and I felt a little more calm, a little more peaceful and having to lead by example.

Maybe I was older guy, maybe, maybe I had different experiences, but then I got to meet these Marines that a lot of these guys would come home and they're the only person that's alive from their whole battalion that goes over there because IEDs and all of this horrific things that you don't have to, most people don't have to deal with and, and just talking to them and so my interactions with veterans has really changed my life. So that, that has been a big key focus and I'm glad you brought that up. It's like service after service.

Jenn: 00:31:28

Yeah.

Chris: 00:31:28

So to me, I'm still serving in a different role or different capacity, trying to give back. And a lot of times you don't get paid for this and I don't want to get paid for it. It's more of somebody needs a call, somebody needs to talk.

I'm going to pick up the phone because it's just, I don't need to know you, but I, I'll be the guy who tells you, hey, you're not alone. I'm, I'm here, I'm on the other side of the phone.

Scott: 00:31:49

Yeah.

Chris: 00:31:50

So it's an important thing.

And I, and I hope and wish and challenge all these, all the, all these other veterans that are sitting out there and you don't understand or you're frustrated. You get involved. You know that, that's it, Just get involved. Help another veteran get, go to a meeting, do something. You'll feel better.

I pretty much can guarantee you that.

Scott: 00:32:12

Oh yeah.

Jenn: 00:32:12

Oh yeah. I always, I agree with that. And I think in the military you lead a very purpose driven life and it's difficult when you get out to find.

To lead a purpose driven life. You need to find that purpose again. You, you never knew Michael Murphy. You never met him, right?

Chris: 00:32:29

No, no. I was older, just, just a little bit older than Michael. But making choices and decisions as you're younger.

I went in as an enlisted pretty much out of high school, so he went to college and so his entry into the military was delayed a little bit. He went to Penn State. He went to Penn State.

And then after he graduated Penn State, he would not take a commission yet until he had a guaranteed spot in a BUDS class because he knew that if he took a commission, if they could kind of mess with him and put him wherever they wanted. So he waited, I think 18 months before he would actually get a contract.

So his entry into the, into the military was delayed a little bit in, in that sense. So I jumped in early going into the military and got my degrees afterwards. But that was, that's why I did not know Michael.

I feel like I know Michael now because I've met every family member, every friend of his and people that just went to school with him. Maybe they weren't even friends with him.

And I bring this up and I don't know if I brought this up with you, Jen, when you're at the news at the museum, but you hear all of these stories about somebody's character after they're gone.

Jenn: 00:33:47

Yeah.

Chris: 00:33:47

Right. You hear all of these amazing stories of who they were.

And not to be a skeptic, but, you know, when I didn't know Michael, you hear all of these things. All of these from when he was young, and this is what I'm saying.

From when he was like, nine or ten all the way to what he did to sacrifice his life, there was all these different things that people were brought up. And you're thinking, is this all true? I didn't want to be skeptical, but it's just. It was just all true. And this is.

When I've said this in front of the family and when I got involved, I still had that. Let me. Let me see what's going on in the back of my head.

And I met and have met so many people that have validated that from every different angle of who that man was and his character that I now know, even though I never met him, who he was and the. The caliber of man that he was. I'm getting upset right now, but it just was an amazing individual. I wish I got to meet him.

Jenn: 00:34:52

Yeah.

Chris: 00:34:55

I guarantee you what you hear the stories and those things that you hear, they're. They're validated, and I validated them myself through every different channel I could, just meeting different people. And I'm. I don't.

I don't feel like I'd done enough yet. Let me say that, like, I. I wake up in the morning and I'm like, what else can I do for this world?

Jenn: 00:35:22

Yeah.

Chris: 00:35:22

And it's his story, and him makes me want to do more.

Jenn: 00:35:28

And I. I never met Michael Murphy. And so it. It was. So when I heard his story and was like, how did I not meet this guy? We're at Penn State at the same time. Where it.

Pensacola at the same time. Ocs. I'm at API. We're in North Island. Exactly. At the same time. I'm going through Cyr. He's going through buds. Like, oh, he just finished Hell Week.

Like, I was like. And then we're both deployed, and then I only learned about him after his death. And like you said, I.

And I feel like his life still makes a huge impact.

Chris: 00:36:04

And well. Well, it's 20 years later, and we're still talking about him. Isn't that amazing?

Jenn: 00:36:10

Yeah.

Chris: 00:36:11

20 years later, we're still talking about him. People are still inspired by him. And the reason why you didn't meet him is because he was a quiet person.

So while he had a tremendous character, he wasn't a character. He wasn't somebody that would make themselves stand out. He was somebody that just did the right thing. Okay.

So after the fact, people realize what they're missing when that's no longer around.

Scott: 00:36:40

Yeah.

Chris: 00:36:41

So, like, last night, Maureen, Michael's mother's here, and his brother John and his wife Lauren here, also with me down in D.C. and we had all of these cadets. West Point, Annapolis. I'm learning all these different other ROTC programs. Miami, Ohio.

Jenn: 00:36:59

Yeah.

Chris: 00:37:00

Which, like, all this stuff, right? Yep. A lot of Miami, Ohio, yesterday.

Jenn: 00:37:03

Yeah.

Chris: 00:37:04

And these. I brought them over to introduce themselves to Michael's mother, and they went right up to her and said, we just wanted to meet you.

Wanted to get a picture with you, because we're. We're learning about your son. He is, like, part of their curriculum in the. In the ROTC program.

Scott: 00:37:23

That's cool.

Chris: 00:37:24

And I was so happy to hear that, because you could see her just light up.

Jenn: 00:37:28

Yes.

Chris: 00:37:30

So I explained that. And we do the Murph Challenge every year at the museum, and it's all over the place. It's an international kind of a thing, too.

But, you know, this was the 20th anniversary of Operation Red Wings this past June, and when I had 320 people standing in front of me getting ready to enjoy the Murph workout.

Jenn: 00:37:52

So funny. And honestly, Chris, that became my mission, too, because we. Scott's a big crossfitter.

We would do the Murph every year, and anytime I'd go to the gym with him to do the Murph, I'd be like, do you know who Michael Murphy is? And hardly anyone would know him. They know the Murph. Everyone who's a crossfitter knows the Murph. Hardly anyone knows Michael Murphy.

And so I was like, this is my mission. Right? He's a Penn Stater. I'm a Penn Stater. I always wear a Penn State shirt when I do the mrf.

And I'm like, people need to know the man, the man behind the workout. And that was the whole point of the video. It's the whole point of I wanted all of people to know why this. This honor wad is for a man who.

So honorable and what he did. I want people to know more about him. So I just thank. Meeting you was a gift within a gift. And so. So thank you. It was a great. That interact.

We had a great conversation even before I made the video. It was so great to meet you. I love.

Chris: 00:38:52

Yeah. I was shocked when you sent me the video because I'm like, We just talked for, I don't know, hours, so.

And then I didn't really see that you took that much video. All of a sudden you send me the video. I'm like, wow, that's awesome.

Jenn: 00:39:04

Well, he's the magic maker. I'm not great at it. He, he edits it very well.

Scott: 00:39:10

She's.

Scott: 00:39:10

She's the talent, the face on camera and the researcher. Everything else is this guy.

Chris: 00:39:16

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:39:17

And so the museum is. Is this the city he grew up in? Was that where he grew up?

Chris: 00:39:22

It's. It's close to that. So he grew up in Patchogue. So he went to Patchog Medford School.

Jenn: 00:39:28

Okay.

Chris: 00:39:28

So we're in West Sayville, which is about eight minutes away.

Jenn: 00:39:32

Okay.

Chris: 00:39:32

And the reason being is that when the family was looking for location to build the museum, they were concerned that if they built a museum on a private piece of property with a mortgage, that if something happened to them in 10, 15 years, that maybe somebody wouldn't pay the mortgage and the museum would get shuttered and closed. So when we. I guess I wasn't involved at this point. But when they went and they reached out and tried to get county parkland.

So this was the closest piece of county parkland that was free that the county would ultimately give us 100 year lease on. So this museum will be in perpetuity for 97 more years. So long, long after I'm gone and he and the family's gone, the. The museum will be there.

Jenn: 00:40:22

Yeah.

Chris: 00:40:22

And that was very important for the family. So that's why they weren't so focused on making sure it was right in the hometown.

Jenn: 00:40:30

Sure.

Scott: 00:40:31

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:40:31

His story will live on.

Chris: 00:40:33

Only I don't, I don't see how they, how it couldn't. Yeah, it's. It's quite, quite amazing. Penn State right now, I think this. Tonight, they're honoring him.

Jenn: 00:40:41

They're honoring him today.

Chris: 00:40:43

That's cool. Yeah. And I think the Islanders are honoring him also tonight or yesterday.

Scott: 00:40:47

Nice.

Chris: 00:40:48

I. I don't follow sports that well.

Jenn: 00:40:51

I don't follow hockey that well.

Chris: 00:40:52

I'd rather follow veterans than sports.

Scott: 00:40:54

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:40:54

Now and then he's buried in Calverton National Cemetery, which is not about. I think it was like a 15 minute drive for me to get there and not too far. 20 minute drive. It's kind of across.

Chris: 00:41:06

Yeah, it's about, it's about 20 minutes or so. Depends on New York traffic. Three hours. But it's only about 10 or 15 miles away. So it could be 20, 30 minutes. Depends on your route. And yeah.

But, yes, it's fairly close. And he is the only Medal of Honor recipient or the closest Medal of Honor recipient in that area of the war on terror section.

Jenn: 00:41:30

And then. And then that. It's also for his to be close to home. That's why he was. He's buried in that national cemetery. To be close.

Chris: 00:41:36

Absolutely. They wanted to bury him in Arlington. The parents said no, they brought him home.

And then Mr. Murphy actually moved from Patchogue to Wading river, which is. I. I think Mr. Murphy's about three minutes away from Michael's grave. So he pretty much stops by daily or as many times as he can per week.

So when people leave things at the museum or bring things to the museum to. As a token or have served with Michael and just haven't made it out to the grave, Dan usually will bring it out and place it on the.

On the grave for them.

Scott: 00:42:13

That's awesome.

Jenn: 00:42:13

That's great.

Chris: 00:42:14

Yeah. No, it's. It's. It's impactful.

Jenn: 00:42:16

Yes.

Scott: 00:42:17

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:42:17

Oh, yeah. I was so proud. Go there.

Scott: 00:42:22

Yeah. And. And just kind of the.

Chris: 00:42:24

The.

Scott: 00:42:25

The picture that I have in my mind. And I think you did a good job of describing Michael earlier is he was this light.

And you don't notice what the light touches when it's lighting up a room or lighting up a space until that light is removed. But I think you.

And what you're doing with the museum and what everybody's done with the museum is doing a great job of bringing that light back to life and continuing to shine that. That light of Lieutenant Michael Murphy on everybody around, everybody who visits and continuing to tell that story.

So thank you so much for joining us on Talk with History and for talking about the museum and telling some personal stories. I absolutely love it. You get tingles. I get tingles. I'm sure there's people listening in the car. They're getting tingles.

Chris: 00:43:07

Give me a hug.

Scott: 00:43:08

Appreciate it.

Chris: 00:43:10

You're upset. I want to hug you.

Scott: 00:43:13

We'll try to visit again sometime so that I get to come.

Chris: 00:43:16

Absolutely. And thank you for having us. My hardest part of my job is getting the word out that we're here. We're a museum. A lot of people forget history.

They can go on their phones and scroll. And granted, that's great. You have quick access to information, but until you go and visit a place and what you guys are doing is absolutely amazing.

I never thought I would be a historian or into this the way I am now. Now I visit museums all the time. It's. It's really changed my life.

But I really appreciate everything you two are doing, trying to capture history and promote history and to make sure people go and visit these areas. There's so much history everywhere, everywhere you go. It just, it's all around us.

It's just if you just took the time to stop, breathe and look, get off your phone and look, you'll learn so much and you'll probably walk away with a whole different outlook on things. So thank you for what you're doing and I, I really, really am honored to have meet met you both now.

Scott: 00:44:17

So thank you so much again, Christopher, and for our listeners, for our watchers, please take a look in the video description or the podcast show notes. I'll put links directly to the museum. I always put a Google Maps link. You can just click on that. It'll open up Google Maps and you can start driving.

So thank you again, Chris, for for joining us and for our listeners. We'll talk to you guys next time.

Chris: 00:44:35

Thank you guys. Take care.

Scott: 00:44:44

That brings us to the close of one of the most powerful stories in.

Scott: 00:44:47

Modern military history, Operation Red Wing. It's impossible to recount the events of that day.

The sacrifice of Lieutenant Michael Murphy, Danny Dietz, and Matthew Axelson, and the bravery of the 16 men of that quick reaction force coming to rescue them without feeling the immense weight of their courage.

We were honored to speak with Chris Wiley who shared how Lieutenant Michael Murphy Navy SEAL Museum ensures that his legacy of honor, duty and sacrifice is never forgotten. The museum is a living tribute and we encourage everyone to learn more about its mission.

You can find links to the Lieutenant Murphy Navy SEAL Museum and all the resources mentioned in today's episode in the show notes or video description. A huge thank you to all the veterans out there who have served this great country.

Scott: 00:45:36

Jen and I are truly honored to call you brothers and sisters.

Scott: 00:45:39

Happy Veterans Day. We'll talk to you next time. This has been a Walk with History production. Talk with History is created and hosted by me, Scott Benny.

Episode researched by Jennifer Benny. Check out the show notes for links and references mentioned in this episode.

Talk with History is super supported by our fans@thehistoryroadtrip.com our eternal thanks go out to those providing funding to help keep us going. Thank you to Doug McLiberty, Larry Myers, Patrick Benny, Gail Cooper, Christy Coates and Calvin Gifford.

Make sure you hit that follow button in that podcast player and we'll talk to you next time.