Army Ranger to be second GWOT living Medal of Honor recipient
 

Army Ranger to be second living Medal of Honor recipient

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is set to award a Medal of Honor on Tuesday afternoon to Army Ranger Sergeant 1st Class Leroy Petry, the second living soldier to win the military's highest decoration for actions in Afghanistan.

Read it HERE

Congrats to SFC Petry, Good job and God Bless......:lifter

Ironically today this is the birthday of the activation of the MOH by congress during the Civil War..........;)

Well done Ranger..........:D:D

Big Teddy :munchin

Our country is blessed, to produce such men. Well done !

Excellent job, SFC Petry!

Job well done, SFC Petry!

RLTW :lifter

Anyone notice there was no salute from "The One" which has been by every president before him. IIRC

The One is too good for that. :mad:

I'm not defending him, but I think his error was, he didn't care enough to look it up, or perhaps his staff did, and they advised him, and he chose not to listen, but he might have listened, but didn't care, which in the big picture is quite sad.

His administration is moving from one fire to another without the aid of rehersal or practice, we're doomed.

------BT-------

As for our young brother, congratulations on accepting the MOH for your fire team, platoon, company and regiment.

We are very proud of your actions, they reflect great credit upon you, the US Army and the Ranger tradition. Good job!

Congradulations SFC Petry.

A true hero...

Ranger That!
 

......Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrad to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarass my country.....

Brother you embody the Creed. We're all damn proud of you.
RLTW!

I just reviewed the video for SSG Guinta's MOH to compare. He did not salute him either.

Off the Early Bird this morning
 

"To be singled out like this," he said, "is very humbling."

-- I'm proud to occupy the same planet as Soldiers like these.:)



USA Today, July 13, 2011

Soldier Gets Medal Of Honor As 'Very Essence Of America'
By Mimi Hall and David Jackson, USA Today

WASHINGTON -- Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, representing the warriors who have fought for a decade to prevent another 9/11, received on Tuesday the nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.

"Today, we honor a single act of gallantry," President Obama said as he presented the award to Petry, of Santa Fe. Petry has been deployed eight times to Iraq and Afghanistan. As the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks approaches, "this is also an occasion to pay tribute to a soldier and a generation that has borne the burden of our security during a hard decade of sacrifice," Obama said.

Petry's remarkable sacrifice was on display at the ceremony in the form of the prosthetic right hand he received after his own was blown off during a raid on an insurgents' compound in remote Afghanistan in 2008. Petry's wounds make it hard for him to stand for long periods of time, and his most recent deployment to Afghanistan, last year, was in a non-combat role.

Obama told the terrifying story of the day Petry could have died: When intelligence came in suggesting that a top al-Qaeda leader was in the compound, Army Rangers loaded into helicopters for a risky mission to try to take him out.

When they landed, Petry and another Ranger moved in, and the enemy opened fire. Petry was shot in both legs. "He's bleeding badly, but he summons the strength to lead the other Ranger to cover, behind a chicken coop," Obama said. "He radios for support. He hurls a grenade at the enemy, giving cover to a third Ranger who rushes to their aid. An enemy grenade explodes nearby, wounding Leroy's two comrades. And then a second grenade lands — this time, only a few feet away."

As Obama said, "every human impulse would tell someone to turn away."

Instead, "this wounded Ranger, this 28-year-old man with his whole life ahead of him, this husband and father of four, did something extraordinary," Obama went on. "He lunged forward, toward the live grenade. He picked it up. He cocked his arm to throw it back."

It exploded as he hurled it back at the enemy, blowing off his hand.

"Even his fellow Rangers were amazed at what Leroy did next," Obama said. "Despite his grievous wounds, he remained calm. He actually put on his own tourniquet. And he continued to lead, directing his team, giving orders — even telling medics how to treat his wounds."

His service, the president said, "speaks to the very essence of America — the spirit that says, no matter how hard the journey, no matter how steep the climb, we don't quit."

Veterans groups have pressed the Pentagon and White House to award the medal, typically given posthumously in recent years, to surviving troops.

Petry, only the second living Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said after the ceremony that he considers all those serving in uniform to be heroes. "To be singled out like this," he said, "is very humbling."

"Where do we get such men?"
James Michener

Salute
 

Even if The One didn't do it, all of us do salute SFC Petry! I have no doubt that means a lot more to him than anything The One could give him. SFC Petry, you have made us all proud, to include the entire state of New Mexico!

(We need a saluting emoticon.)