Nationwide Medal of Honor Day, March 25, acknowledges U.S. army members who’ve completed acts of valor in service.
On behalf of Congress, the president of the U.S. awards the Medal of Honor to pick out army personnel who’ve outstanding tales of braveness and dedication.
A 2015 Medal of Honor recipient — Florent “Flo” Groberg, a 40-year-old wounded veteran and retired U.S. Military captain — shared a kind of unforgettable tales in an interview with Fox Information Digital this week.
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Groberg, a French immigrant who got here to America at age 11, mentioned he was first launched to the “world of evil” after his uncle was killed by a terrorist group in Algeria in 1996.
“That shook my world,” he mentioned. “It launched me to the world of ache.”
President Barack Obama applauds Medal of Honor recipient retired U.S. Military Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg, left, within the East Room of the White Home in Washington November 12, 2015. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
After the 9/11 terrorist assaults in 2001 – seven months after he grew to become a U.S. citizen – Groberg mentioned he felt much more compelled to guard his folks and “be part of the answer.”
Groberg obtained a level from the College of Maryland in 2006, then enlisted with the U.S. Military, deploying to Afghanistan in Nov. 2009.
Groberg was confronted with a dilemma that will price some troopers their lives.
“I wished to be the most effective of the most effective,” he mentioned. “I absolutely understood the necessities of the place — which meant that in the future I might be in fight and I must make selections.”
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“I went in as an officer and after 16 months of coaching, subsequent factor you realize, you are in Afghanistan and also you’re main a staff of 24 people.”
On his second Afghanistan tour in August 2012, Groberg was confronted with a dilemma that will price some troopers their lives.
‘Worst day of your life’
On Aug. 8, 2012, Groberg led his crew by way of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. There had been deliberate assaults in that location by an Afghan terror group, which included two suicide bombers ready to hit one of many U.S. Military models.
“Sadly, they picked us,” he mentioned. “It was an extremely heavy management group that we had been escorting, and they also noticed this as a chief alternative to trigger injury.”
On Aug. 8, 2012, Groberg served as a private safety detachment commander throughout fight operations in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. (Semper Fi & America’s Fund)
The opposition created a diversion with bikes to cease the motion of Groberg’s unit whereas one particular person approached the group wearing a suicide vest.
“I did not see him at first as a result of everybody was targeted on the bikes,” he mentioned. “I had my platoon sergeant in entrance of me… and he stared at my left, and I noticed him begin elevating his weapon.”
He added, “And that is once I noticed this man out of nowhere, about 20 toes from us, strolling backward, parallel and appearing in a shady manner.”
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Groberg mentioned the person began “strolling towards us actually quick” — to which Groberg reacted along with his personal “escalation of power.”
He mentioned, “I ran towards him. I mentioned some very nice phrases that I wouldn’t repeat to my mother, and I hit him with my rifle throughout the chest once I acquired to him.”
The Medal of Honor for retired U.S. Military Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg (not pictured) is seen earlier than the presentation within the East Room of the White Home in Washington on Nov. 12, 2015. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
“Realizing at that time that he was sporting a suicide vest, I simply grabbed him by the vest and pushed him as distant from all people as rapidly as I might, yelling, ‘Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!’ After which I threw him to the bottom.”
The soldier shared that every one he might consider at that second was defending his “brothers” from the menace.
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“You do not take into consideration the implications of that motion,” he mentioned. “You consider doing all of your job.”
The bomb detonated after Groberg pushed the bomber to the bottom — which threw the soldier about 30 toes into the air.
He awakened “a few minutes later” to the sight of his foot “dealing with” him and an uncovered fibula.
President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Military Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg, left, within the East Room of the White Home in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12, 2015. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
“I used to be bleeding in every single place,” he mentioned. “I took my helmet off my head. It was free, [I] clearly had a fairly extreme concussion… I knew that I used to be most likely within the kill zone.”
Groberg was in a position to inch himself out of the “kill zone” till SFC Brian Brink grabbed him by his vest and took him to a medic — who saved his life by making use of a tourniquet to cease the bleeding.
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The soldier’s second of bravery — the choice to deal with the suicide bomber — all got here all the way down to the “love of brotherhood and sisterhood,” he mentioned.
“I speak quite a bit in regards to the significance of affection in conflict,” he mentioned. “I went into conflict with lots of hatred and anger in opposition to the enemy.”
“I absolutely understood the necessities of the place, which meant that in the future I might be in fight, and I must make selections.”
Groberg went on, “And I noticed that the ability of conflict for us, as a combating power, is the clear understanding of what real love is, which is love of brotherhood and sisterhood, the concept you are prepared to die for one another, regardless of who you might be.”
And “since you’re sporting that uniform, you discover a approach to study from one another, recognize one another, love one another to the purpose the place you’re prepared to die for one another.”
Medal of Honor recipient retired U.S. Military Capt. Florent “Flo” Groberg listens to the nationwide anthem after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch earlier than the beginning of the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals recreation at Nationals Park on Might 29, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Rob Carr/Getty Photographs)
Whereas Groberg survived a grotesque encounter that day, the veteran mentioned the worst of the incident was the lack of 4 Individuals within the blast. They had been killed by ball bearings that the bomb deployed.
These troopers embrace U.S. Military Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, U.S. Military Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, U.S. Air Drive Maj. Walter D. Grey and USAID Overseas Service Officer Ragaei Abdelfattah.
“These had been 4 superb people who had been nowhere close to the blast,” he mentioned.” And [I] lived once I was actually on high of the man who blew up.”
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Stated Groberg, “It modified my life, as you’ll be able to think about — however I am right here right now alive [and] I get the chance to say these names, which is, to me, crucial factor on the earth aside from my household.”
In 2015, President Obama introduced Groberg with the Medal of Honor for his heroism. But the veteran admitted that it “wasn’t day.”
He advised Fox Information Digital, “Nothing that you simply do within the army is about one particular person. It is at all times in regards to the staff and the mission.”
President Obama embraces Medal of Honor recipient retired U.S. Military Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg within the East Room of the White Home in Washington, Nov. 12, 2015. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
“And so, if you’re singled out and highlighted for the worst day of your life, but in addition for one thing that you simply felt that you simply failed as a result of 4 guys died, I felt slightly little bit of disgrace.”
Groberg spoke with President Obama about highlighting the 4 males who misplaced their lives and invited their households to attend the ceremony.
“My Medal of Honor just isn’t mine,” he mentioned. “It represents these 4 guys as a result of they’re those that made the final word sacrifice.”
The street to restoration
On account of the blast, Groberg suffered a traumatic mind harm and was left fully deaf in his left ear. He has solely 50% of his left calf remaining.
This precipitated numbness under the knee, plus on the backside of his foot, so he needed to relearn the right way to stroll.
In addition to different “little accidents,” Groberg talked about the toll of psychological illnesses, together with PTSD, which he’s been in a position to fight along with his help staff, he mentioned.
“Publish-traumatic stress is one thing that nearly each conflict fighter will get and goes by way of,” he mentioned. “And you must establish it as a result of conflict adjustments you.”
He added, “I went by way of lots of survivor’s guilt, lots of blaming. I used to be suicidal early on in my restoration and principally because of the medication that they had been giving me.”
All through his whole restoration, Groberg, who at the moment lives in Dallas, Texas, shared that the help from his spouse, Carsen, helped him essentially the most.
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“I’ll always remember: The primary evening that I had the chance to sleep subsequent to her is the primary evening that I slept with none sort of Ambien or sleeping capsules in two plus years,” he mentioned.
“I used to be like, ‘This woman, she’s completely different.’ So clearly I married her.”
Groberg additionally shouted out the Semper Fi & America’s Fund, a nonprofit group that assists and helps wounded veterans and their households.
The Grobergs have a 15-month-old son. Flo Groberg joked that he has “an excessive amount of of me in him.” (Semper Fi & America’s Fund )
The fund reached out to Groberg whereas he was nonetheless recovering at Walter Reed Military Medical Middle in Washington, D.C., to debate his post-military aspirations.
In working with the fund, Groberg gained the power to financially get well. He was in a position to buy a automobile at a “drastically” lowered price.
“For me, it was about combating in opposition to an evil that wished to harm the US of America.”
“How blessed we’re that there is a corporation just like the fund that’s on the market dedicated to us,” he mentioned.
“They always remember, and it is the most effective illustration of our nation.”
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Added Groberg, “For me, it was about combating in opposition to an evil that wished to harm the US of America. And it was the best job I’ve ever had in my life.”
He additionally famous, “So now that I am house and I’ve a corporation just like the fund that is round to help us … it is one thing that I am really blessed with.”
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