MOH Awarded to Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry

Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Army Ranger

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

President Barack Obama today [Tuesday] awarded the country’s highest military honor to Sgt. 1st Class Leroy A. Petry, an Army Ranger who was shot in both legs and had his hand blown off while saving his fellow soldiers during a firefight in Afghanistan.

Petry became only the second living veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor, which Obama presented during a White House ceremony attended by Petry, his wife and four children, and more than a hundred of his family members, mostly from his native New Mexico.

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, Army Secretary John M. McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey also attended the ceremony, as did the members of the legendary Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, with which Petry served.

Calling Petry, 31, “a true hero,” Obama recounted how the soldier was on his seventh combat deployment in Afghanistan on May 26, 2008, when he took part in a high-risk daytime operation to capture an insurgent leader in a compound in Paktia province, near the Pakistan border…

More:

Rare White House Ceremony for Medal of Honor – NYT

Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry Awarded Medal of Honor – WP

Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Army Ranger – AFPS

Remarks by the President in Presenting the Medal of Honor – White House

Exclusive Interview with Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry – S&S

Afghanistan Veteran Leroy Petry Awarded US Medal of Honor – BBC

Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, Live Action Hero – WP

US Army Medal of Honor – Official Web Page