Leroy Petry

Leroy Arthur Petry (born 29 July 1979) is a Sergeant First Class in the United States Army and recipient of the Medal of Honor. Petry was nominated for the medal for his actions during a firefight in Afghanistan as a Staff Sergeant in the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Upon his Medal of Honor presentation ceremony on 12 July 2011 he became the second living recipient of the award for actions occurring since the Vietnam War.

Early life and family

Petry was born on 29 July 1979, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Larry Petry and Lorella Tapia Petry.[1][2][3] The middle child of five sons, his older brothers are Larry Armando and Lloyd and his younger brothers are Lyndon and Lincoln. Petry attended Santa Fe High School but was a poor student and had to repeat his freshman year. As a sophomore, he transferred toSt. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe and graduated from there in 1998; his was the last class to graduate from the school before its closure.[4] He spent the next year studying at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico.[2]

Petry and his wife Ashley have four children: Ashley's three children from a previous relationship (Brittany, Austin and Reagan), whom Petry is raising as his own, and one son, Landon.[2]

Influenced by a cousin who joined the U.S. Army Rangers, Petry enlisted in the Army in September 1999 and also became a Ranger.[2] He attended Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia.[1] On the morning of the September 11th Attacks he was in the process of training to become a Ranger.[5][6]

Medal of Honor action

At the time of his actions in Afghanistan, Petry was assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. His 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, 26 May 2008, 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.[7][8]

Special Operations forces typically conduct their missions at night, but this mission was conducted during daylight.[9] The operation involved about 70 Rangers, who encountered about 40 enemies, 12 of them armed.[10][11] Almost immediately after getting out of their helicopters, the Rangers came under strong fire.[9][12] Petry provided additional supervision to an assaulting squad during the clearance of a building, and afterward he took PFC Lucas Robinson to clear the outer courtyard that had not yet been cleared.[7][8]

Three enemy fighters were in the courtyard, which had a chicken coop within it.[7][8] The enemy fired on them; Petry was wounded by one round which went through both his legs,[7][9] and Robinson was wounded, being hit on his side plate.[7] Wounded, Petry led Robinson to the cover of the chicken coop and reported the contact and their wounded condition.[7][12][13] Petry threw a thermobaric grenade from cover.[7][10] There at the chicken coop, they were joined by SGT Daniel Higgins, who assessed the wounds of the two soldiers.[7][10]

An enemy threw a grenade at their position which landed 10 meters from them; it detonated, knocked them to the ground, wounded Higgins, and Robinson was further wounded.[7][13] Shortly thereafter the three were joined by SSG James Roberts and SPC Christopher Gathercole. Another grenade was thrown by an enemy which landed a few feet from Higgins and Robinson. Petry, knowing the risk to his life, moved toward the grenade, picked it up, and attempted to throw it in the direction of the enemy.[7][12][13] Petry later recalled his immediate reaction was "get it out of here, get it away from the guys and myself. And I reached over, leaned over to the right, grabbed it with my hand, and I threw it as hard as I could, what I thought was at the time. And as soon as I opened my hand to let it go, it just exploded instantly. And I came back, and the hand was completely severed off."[9] The detonation amputated his right hand,[7][14] and sprayed his body with shrapnel.[15][16] In throwing the grenade away, Petry likely saved the two other soldiers from serious injury or death.[7][12][14]

Petry placed a tourniquet on his right arm.[7][12] Roberts began to fire at the enemy, suppressing the enemy in the courtyard.[7][8] An additional enemy on the east end of the courtyard fired, fatally wounding Gathercole.[7][10] Higgins and Robinson returned fire, killing the enemy.[7][8]

They were then joined by SFC Jerod Staidle, the Platoon Sergeant, and SPC Gary Depriest, a medic.[7][17] Directing the medic to treat Gathercole, Petry was assisted by Staide and Higgins to the casualty collection point.[7]

Post-action service

Petry lost his right arm below the elbow. He was evacuated to a U.S. hospital in Germany, where he spent several weeks in recovery before being transferred to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas.[2] He now uses a state-of-the-art prosthetic called an iLimb Pulse, (Touch Bionics, Scotland) in place of his right hand.[18][19] On the prosthetic is a small plaque listing the names of the fallen Rangers of his regiment.[12] After recovering, Petry did not seek a medical discharge; rather he remains in the Army, and had a deployment to Afghanistan between recovering and receiving the Medal of Honor on 12 July 2011.[20] He has served in a series of combat tours, totaling 28 months within 8 deployments, in Iraq and Afghanistan.[1][21]

Petry is currently stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, where he assists injured Rangers.[1] In 2010, he re-enlisted in the Army for an indefinite term of service.[2] As of July 2011, Petry is attending Pierce College.[21]

Medal of Honor award

SFC Petry after receiving the Medal of Honor at the White House.

Petry received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on 12 July 2011 in a ceremony at the White House.[22][23] He is the second living recipient of the medal, after Salvatore Giunta, for actions occurring after the Vietnam War,[2] and the ninth recipient for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.[7] SSG Giunta was in attendance at the awarding ceremony.[24]

http://www.soc.mil/75th%20Ranger%20Regiment/Petry_Biography_1JUN.pdf

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Son--father--husband--hero

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Petry

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