The White House announced May 31 that Staff Sgt. Leroy A. Petry, now serving as part of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga., will receive the Medal of Honor. Photo through U.S. Army

An Army Ranger who lost his right hand and suffered shrapnel wounds after throwing an armed grenade away from his fellow Soldiers will be the second living Medal of Honor Recipient from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On July 12th, President Barack Obama will award Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry, with the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. Petry will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during combat operations against an armed enemy in Paktya, Afghanistan, May 26, 2008.

Petry now serves as part of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga.

“It’s very humbling to know that the guys thought that much of me and my actions that day, to nominate me for that,” said Petry, on learning he had been nominated for the medal.

At the time of his actions in Afghanistan, Petry was assigned to Company A, 2nd Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Petry’s actions came as part of a rare daylight raid to capture a high-value target.

On the day of the actions that would earn Petry the Medal of Honor, he was to locate himself with the platoon headquarters in the target building once it was secured. Once there, he was to serve as the senior noncommissioned officer at the site for the remainder of the operation.

Recognizing one of the assault squads needed assistance clearing their assigned building, Petry relayed to the platoon leader that he was moving to that squad to provide additional supervision and guidance during the clearance of the building.

Once the residential portion of the building had been cleared, Petry took a fellow member of the assault squad, Pvt. 1st Class Lucas Robinson, to clear the outer courtyard. Petry knew that area had not been cleared during the initial clearance.

Petry and Robinson, both Rangers, moved into an area of the compound that contained at least three enemy fighters who were prepared to engage friendly forces from opposite ends of the outer courtyard.

The two Soldiers entered the courtyard. To their front was an opening followed by a chicken coop. As the two crossed the open area, an enemy insurgent fired on them. Petry was wounded by one round, which went through both of his legs. Robinson was also hit in his side plate by a separate round.

While wounded and under enemy fire, Petry led Robinson to the cover of the chicken coop. The enemy continued to deliver fire at the two Soldiers.

As the senior Soldier, Petry assessed the situation and reported that contact was made and that there were two wounded Rangers in the courtyard of the primary target building.

Upon hearing the report of two wounded Rangers, Sgt. Daniel Higgins, a team leader, moved to the outer courtyard. As Higgins was moving to Petry and Robinson’s position, Petry threw a thermobaric grenade in the vicinity of the enemy position.

Shortly after that grenade exploded — which created a lull in the enemy fire — Higgins arrived at the chicken coop and assessed the wounds of the two Soldiers.

While Higgins evaluated their wounds, an insurgent threw a grenade over the chicken coop at the three Rangers. The grenade landed about 10 meters from the three Rangers, knocked them to the ground, and wounded Higgins and Robinson. Shortly after the grenade exploded, Staff Sgt. James Roberts and Spc. Christopher Gathercole entered the courtyard, and moved toward the chicken coop.

With three Soldiers taking cover in the chicken coop, an enemy fighter threw another grenade at them. This time, the grenade landed just a few feet from Higgins and Robinson.

Recognizing the threat that the enemy grenade posed to his fellow Rangers, Petry — despite his own wounds and with complete disregard for his personal safety — consciously and deliberately risked his life to move to and secure the live enemy grenade and consciously throw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers, according to battlefield reports.

As Petry released the grenade in the direction of the enemy, preventing the serious injury or death of Higgins and Robinson, it detonated and catastrophically amputated his right hand.

With a clear mind, Petry assessed his wound and placed a tourniquet on his right arm. Once this was complete, he reported that he was still in contact with the enemy and that he had been wounded again.

After the blast that amputated Petry’s hand, Roberts began to engage the enemy behind the chicken coop with small arms fire and a grenade. His actions suppressed the insurgents behind the chicken coop. Shortly after, another enemy on the east end of the courtyard began firing, fatally wounding Gathercole.

Higgins and Robinson returned fire and killed the enemy.

Moments later, Sgt. 1st Class Jerod Staidle, the platoon sergeant, and Spc. Gary Depriest, the platoon medic, arrived in the outer courtyard. After directing Depriest to treat Gathercole, Staidle moved to Petry’ s position. Staidle and Higgins then assisted Petry as he moved to the casualty collection point.

Higgins later wrote in a statement, “if not for Staff Sergeant Petry’s actions, we would have been seriously wounded or killed.”

Petry is the ninth servicemember to have been named a recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of prior recipients, all but Petry and Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta were awarded the honor posthumously.

Included among those recipients are Spc. Ross A. McGinnis, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, and Marine Corps Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, all for actions in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, Staff Sgt. Robert Miller, Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti and Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy were awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan.

Petry currently serves as a liaison officer for the United States Special Operations Command Care Coalition-Northwest Region, and provides oversight to wounded warriors, ill and injured servicemembers and their families.

He enlisted in the United States Army from his hometown of Santa Fe, N.M. in September 1999. After completion of One Station Unit Training, the Basic Airborne Course and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program — all at Fort Benning, Ga. — Petry was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Petry has served as a grenadier, squad automatic rifleman, fire team leader, squad leader, operations sergeant, and weapons squad leader.

He has deployed eight times in support of the War on Terror with two tours to Iraq and six tours to Afghanistan.

Petry and his wife Ashley have four children, Brittany, Austin, Reagan and Landon.

U.S. Army

White House Press Release

On July 12th, President Barack Obama will award Sergeant First Class Leroy Arthur Petry, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry.  Sergeant First Class Petry will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during combat operations against an armed enemy in Paktya, Afghanistan in May, 2008.  He will be the second living, active duty service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Sergeant First Class Petry’s wife, Ashley, and other family members will join the President at the White House to commemorate his example of selfless service.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND:

Leroy Arthur Petry was born on July 29, 1979.  He is a native of Santé Fe, New Mexico and enlisted in the United States Army in September 1999.  He attended Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia.  Sergeant First Class Petry is currently assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment and attached to Special Operations Command (SOCOM) with duty at Joint Base Lewis McChord as a liaison for the SOCOM Care Coalition where he tracks and monitors injured Rangers returning from the Theater of Operations to the initial place of care to home station care.

Sergeant First Class Petry has completed multiple combat tours to Afghanistan and Iraq totaling 28 months of deployment.

His military decorations include: two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, National Defense Service Medal, three Army Good Conduct Medals,  Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Combat Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with Combat Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, to name a few.

Staff Sgt. Michael E. Norton awarded Silver Star for actions in Afghanistan

A squad leader with the 75th Ranger Regiment was awarded the Silver Star for risking who his life to save two fellow Rangers in Afghanistan.

“Any Ranger would have done the same thing,” said Staff Sgt. Michael E. Norton of Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Rangers. “The Ranger Creed says, ‘I will never leave a fallen comrade.’ There was no moment of thinking about what to do. I had to get my brothers and the most important thing in my mind was how hurt they were.”

Norton led his squad on an objective, Aug. 4-5, to raid an enemy combatant’s headquarters camp in the mountains of northwestern Khowst Province in Afghanistan.

While moving to the objective, Norton and one of his team leaders were alerted to possible enemy combatants along the route and moved forward to assess the situation. As Norton and his team leader were attempting to identify the possible enemy in the valley, a seven to nine man enemy element initiated a complex, near ambush on Norton’s squad from the high ground with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire from a position of 25 meters to the squad’s front.

“The fire came from our 12 o’clock and then maybe a couple of seconds later from our right and left,” Norton said.

Behind the first enemy rocket-propelled grenade team, a medium machine gun on elevated ground to the northwest engaged them with highly effective fire. Two more enemy combatants were on the slope of the valley to the west, engaged the Ranger squad with an AK-47 and rocket-propelled grenades along the long axis of their formation, while another group of enemy fighters were on elevated terrain to the east, raked them with small arms fire from the rear of the Ranger squad formation.

The multiple enemy positions had effectively enveloped Norton’s squad from multiple directions at a distance of 25 to 50 meters, leaving Norton and his element pinned to the floor of the valley by the intense and accurate small arms fire.

The valley left no room for maneuver; Norton, his squad and the machine gun team element behind them immediately returned fire, but they were unable to gain fire superiority over the well-established enemy.

After the second rocket-propelled grenades knocked two of his Rangers temporarily unconscious and blasted the rest of his squad with shrapnel and debris and realizing his element could not gain fire superiority, Norton shouted for his squad to break contact.

When Norton realized that two Rangers had not gotten up and were still exposed to the heavy volume of enemy fire from the high ground to the east and west, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Norton turned around and with marked distinction, purposefully charged back into the interlocking fire of the enemy ambush kill zone in order to recover his downed Rangers.

“The example of personal courage that Staff Sergeant Norton showed, to get his men out of the kill zone is a testament to his character,” said Maj. Keith Carter, A Company commander. “NCOs such as Staff Sergeant Norton are the reason I wanted to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment, and it is an honor to lead them.”

Without hesitation, Norton dove down into the midst of enemy fire with his unconscious comrades, uncertain of their status.

“There was nothing fancy going on in my head besides hoping they weren’t dead,” said Norton.

While the rest of the element attempted to suppress the enemy, and lying next to the Rangers, Norton “started shaking and yelling as quietly as I could.”

After reviving his Rangers, Norton led them back to cover through the hail of direct fire and rocket-propelled grenade strikes, saving their lives and bringing his entire squad out of the enemy onslaught intact.

“I’m proud of the actions of my squad, because we continued the mission after that,” said Norton. “It was just two minutes out of our overall mission.”

As his platoon fought off the enemy ambush with direct fire, mortars and close air support, Norton quickly assessed his casualties and reorganized his squad to return to the fight.

Norton continued leading his squad in the follow-on assaults through two more direct fire contacts, killing two enemy combatants.

“We receive a lot of great training here at 3rd Ranger Battalion and I was just acting on instinct,” said Norton.

The training conducted by Rangers means everything on the battlefield.

“The goal of the company and battalion is to create the most realistic scenarios possible while minimizing risk,” Carter said. We constantly integrate new enemy tactics from overseas into our training so that we are ready in any situation.”

The overall assault force killed 20 enemy fighters, destroyed two enemy anti-aircraft guns and several other weapons, explosives and military supplies on the objective resulting in the disruption of a major enemy headquarters and encampment.

Norton joined the Army from his hometown of Pensacola, Fla., June 2004, after graduating from West Highland Christian Academy and has deployed six times in support of operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. He is the son of Jimmy and Deborah Norton of Holly, Mich.

U.S. Army