Lance Cpl. Michael V. Postal

Lance Cpl. Michael V. Postal, 21, Glen Oaks, N.Y. died May 7 from explosions as a result of enemy action while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Postal was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Michael Postal devoured books on military strategy as a boy and shed 50 pounds to be in tiptop shape before leaving for basic training. There was a joke in the family about sneaking him to Canada to avoid the war. Michael was not amused, telling his grandmother: “Nan, that’s not what I’m all about.” Postal, 21, of Glen Oaks, N.Y., was killed by enemy fire May 7 while serving in Anbar province. He was based at Camp Lejeune. Postal joined the Marines after graduating from high school. He had worked part time at New York police headquarters as part of a police education program, and aspired to join the force. “The whole world loved Michael,” said his grandmother, Sandi Postal. “He was that kind of boy from the time he was a baby. He liked everybody.” He was idolized by his 6-year-old sister, Samantha. “She loved him like you wouldn’t believe,” said their father, John Rajeh. “She used to pretend to speak to him on the phone when she was playing.” Postal is also survived by his stepmother. His mother died five years ago.

LCpl Postal used to drive me around Iraq. Driving around was by far the most dangerous thing to do in 2005, and that’s what Postal did most of the time.

Our unit had taken plenty of IED hits at this point and suffered a good amount of KIA. This was the time right after Operation Al Fajr, and the amount of direct fire attacks against Marines was at an all-time low. IEDs and indirect fire were the attacks of choice.

I was mainly off base at night, which was a much safer time as we rode around on Night Vision Goggles, so it was much harder for the guys who triggered IEDs to get a good hit on you.

Postal got killed a week after I rotated out to western Al Anbar to take over for another Marine who was heading home.

A lot of times we see news about Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen who do great things and display exemplary courage under pressure.

Today I just want to say thanks to LCpl Postal who drove around Iraq in a HMMWV and got killed doing it. He did his job and he was a Marine. -Brian
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I assume that CrossFit is going to publish a 9/11 WOD, which we will do. In the meantime, you will be doing this simple 9/11 tribute WOD. I don’t want to do something complicated that would split the gym up into various scaled groups. I want to see the whole group moving through this WOD together. It will take some of you a long time, but everyone can do a moderately scaled version of this. We usually tell you to scale rounds or reps for the sake of intensity. Not today. The 9 and the 11 are obvious. The four movements represent the four planes and those we lost at each location.

“9/11”
9 Rounds
11 Push-ups
11 Box Jumps (24/20)
11 Pull-ups
11 Wall Balls (10ft target)
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