To his brothers-in-arms and those he fought to protect as a U.S. Navy SEAL, Penn State graduate Lt. Michael Murphy will forever be remembered as a fallen American hero.

And to 20-year-old John Murphy, Michael will always be the big brother -- 10 years his senior -- who never made him feel like he was tagging along.

Lt. Michael Patrick Murphy was found dead on July 4, 2005, while serving in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, according to a Department of Defense press release. The press release said Michael's whereabouts had been unknown since conducting counter-terrorism operations six days earlier. He was 29 years old.

According to his brother, Michael had become engaged in a gunfight with Taliban forces.

At one point in the incident, Michael was pinned down and under heavy enemy fire, but he managed to attempt to call for backup help -- in the process exposing himself to fatal gunfire, John said.

For his bravery, Michael is now being considered for the Medal of Honor, the country's most prestigious military award.

After growing up in Patchogue, N.Y., Michael graduated from Penn State in 1998 with a Liberal Arts degree and initially intended to go to law school, his brother said.

In the tradition of his father and grandfather, who served in Vietnam and World War II respectively, he said that Michael had changed his mind and joined the military in September 2000.

In 2003, Michael was deployed when troops were first sent to Iraq, his brother said. He would return to a base in Hawaii, spending Christmas at home with his family and in August 2004, John and his mother, Maureen, went out to visit him.

The last time Michael saw his family was on a return visit in March 2005. John said when Michael was leaving their mother told him, "Goodbye."

"Don't say goodbye," Michael said.

At that point his cousin offered, "See ya' later."

"That's better," Michael replied. He was deployed to Afghanistan the following month and was killed less than three months into his tour of duty.

"Looking back on it now, it seems almost symbolic," John said. "He was a good overall person -- he was strong, he was smart and he was very brave. He was a well-rounded character."

John described Michael as a "great" older brother who took him to watch his high school football games and handed down advice only a big brother could provide.

"He used to always say things like 'don't be a wuss, toughen up.' He wasn't mean about it, he just didn't want me to be fooling around," John said.

John said at a young age Michael instilled in him the virtue of not procrastinating or letting things go until the last minute, often telling him to "take care of it now."

"He and I were very close," John said. "Despite the age difference, he would include me in a lot of things. He was very good with me."

As John entered college, he said Michael repeatedly stressed to him the importance of making his own life choices.

"He told me, 'Do what you want to do, don't do what other people want you to do," John said.

When John last talked to Michael more than two years ago, he was a frustrated architecture student wondering if he should switch career paths and live out his goal of becoming a police officer.

"Well, you know, do what you need to do. If you have to switch out, don't do something that makes you unhappy," Michael told him.

John has since heeded his big brother's advice, and these days he's a year away from a degree in criminal justice.