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National Medal of Honor Day, March 25, acknowledges U.S. navy members who’ve achieved acts of valor in service.
On behalf of Congress, the president of the U.S. awards the Medal of Honor to choose navy 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. Army captain — shared one of these unforgettable tales in an interview with Fox News 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 introduced me to the world of pain.”
President Barack Obama applauds Medal of Honor recipient retired U.S. Army Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg, left, in the East Room of the White House 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 protect his individuals and “be a part of the solution.”
Groberg acquired a level from the University of Maryland in 2006, then enlisted with the U.S. Army, deploying to Afghanistan in Nov. 2009.
Groberg was confronted with a dilemma that may price some troopers their lives.
“I wanted to be the best of the best,” he mentioned. “I fully understood the requirements of the position — which meant that one day I would be in combat and I would have to make decisions.”
“I went in as an officer and after 16 months of training, next thing you know, you’re in Afghanistan and you’re leading a team of 24 individuals.”
On his second Afghanistan tour in August 2012, Groberg was faced with a dilemma that would cost some soldiers their lives.
‘Worst day of your life’
On Aug. 8, 2012, Groberg led his crew by means 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 the U.S. Army models.
“Unfortunately, they picked us,” he mentioned. “It was an incredibly heavy leadership group that we were escorting, and so they saw this as a prime opportunity to cause damage.”
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 dressed in a suicide vest.
“I didn’t see him at first because everyone was focused on the motorcycles,” he mentioned. “I had my platoon sergeant in front of me… and he stared at my left, and I saw him start raising his weapon.”
He added, “And that’s when I saw this guy out of nowhere, about 20 feet from us, walking backward, parallel and acting in a shady way.”
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Groberg mentioned the person began “walking toward us really fast” — to which Groberg reacted along with his personal “escalation of force.”
He mentioned, “I ran toward him. I said some really nice words that I wouldn’t repeat to my mom, and I hit him with my rifle across the chest when I got to him.”
The Medal of Honor for retired U.S. Army Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg (not pictured) is seen earlier than the presentation in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Nov. 12, 2015. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
“Realizing at that point that he was wearing a suicide vest, I just grabbed him by the vest and pushed him as far away from everybody as quickly as I could, yelling, ‘Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!’ And then I threw him to the ground.”
The soldier shared that each one he may suppose of at that second was defending his “brothers” from the menace.
“You don’t think about the consequences of that action,” he mentioned. “You think about doing 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 couple of minutes later” to the sight of his foot “facing” him and an uncovered fibula.
President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Army Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg, left, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12, 2015. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
“I was bleeding everywhere,” he mentioned. “I took my helmet off my head. It was loose, [I] obviously had a pretty severe concussion… I knew that I was probably in 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 down to the “love of brotherhood and sisterhood,” he mentioned.
“I talk a lot about the importance of love in war,” he mentioned. “I went into war with a lot of hatred and anger against the enemy.”
“I fully understood the requirements of the position, which meant that one day I would be in combat, and I would have to make decisions.”
Groberg went on, “And I realized that the power of war for us, as a fighting force, is the clear understanding of what true love is, which is love of brotherhood and sisterhood, the idea that you’re willing to die for each other, no matter who you are.”
And “because you’re wearing that uniform, you find a way to learn from each other, appreciate each other, love each other to the point where you’re willing to die for each other.”
Medal of Honor recipient retired U.S. Army 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 sport at Nationals Park on May 29, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
While Groberg survived a ugly encounter that day, the veteran mentioned the worst of the incident was the loss of 4 Americans in the blast. They had been killed by ball bearings that the bomb deployed.
Those troopers embody U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, U.S. Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, U.S. Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray and USAID Foreign Service Officer Ragaei Abdelfattah.
“These were four amazing individuals who were nowhere near the blast,” he mentioned.” And [I] lived when I was literally on top of the guy who blew up.”
Said Groberg, “It changed my life, as you can imagine — but I’m here today alive [and] I get the opportunity to say those names, which is, to me, the most important thing in the world other than my family.”
In 2015, President Obama introduced Groberg with the Medal of Honor for his heroism. Yet the veteran admitted that it “wasn’t a good day.”
He advised Fox News Digital, “Nothing that you do in the military is about one individual. It’s always about the team and the mission.”
President Obama embraces Medal of Honor recipient retired U.S. Army Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Nov. 12, 2015. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron)
“And so, when you’re singled out and highlighted for the worst day of your life, but also for something that you felt that you failed because four guys died, I felt a little bit of shame.”
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 is not mine,” he mentioned. “It represents those four guys because they’re the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice.”
The highway to restoration
As a end result of the blast, Groberg suffered a traumatic mind harm and was left utterly deaf in his left ear. He has solely 50% of his left calf remaining.
This brought on numbness under the knee, plus on the backside of his foot, so he had to relearn how to stroll.
Besides different “little injuries,” 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.
“Post-traumatic stress is something that almost every war fighter gets and goes through,” he mentioned. “And you have to identify it because war changes you.”
He added, “I went through a lot of survivor’s guilt, a lot of blaming. I was suicidal early on in my recovery and mostly due to the drugs that they were giving me.”
Throughout his complete restoration, Groberg, who at present lives in Dallas, Texas, shared that the help from his spouse, Carsen, helped him essentially the most.
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“I will never forget: The first night that I had the opportunity to sleep next to her is the first night that I slept without any type of Ambien or sleeping pills in two plus years,” he mentioned.
“I was like, ‘This girl, she’s different.’ So obviously 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 “too much of me in him.” (Semper Fi & America’s Fund )
The fund reached out to Groberg whereas he was nonetheless recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to talk about his post-military aspirations.
In working with the fund, Groberg gained the flexibility to financially get better. He was in a position to buy a automotive at a “drastically” diminished price.
“For me, it was about fighting against an evil that wanted to hurt the United States of America.”
“How blessed we are that there’s an organization like the fund that’s out there committed to us,” he mentioned.
“They never forget, and it’s the best representation of our country.”
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Added Groberg, “For me, it was about fighting against an evil that wanted to hurt the United States of America. And it was the greatest job I’ve ever had in my life.”
He additionally famous, “So now that I’m home and I have an organization like the fund that’s around to support us … it’s something that I’m truly blessed with.”
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