| Leroy Arthur Petry | |
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Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry |
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| Born | 29 July 1979 Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1999 – present |
| Rank | Sergeant First Class |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment |
| Battles/wars | Iraq War War in Afghanistan |
| Awards | Medal of Honor Bronze Star (2) Purple Heart |
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 July 12, 2011 he became the second living recipient of the award for actions occurring since the Vietnam War.
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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 to St. 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]
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][13][12] 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]
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[update], Petry is attending Pierce College.[21]
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]
Petry has received the following awards:[1][21]
| Medal of Honor | |
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Bronze Star Medal with a bronze Oak leaf cluster |
| Purple Heart | |
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Army Commendation Medal with two bronze Oak leaf clusters |
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Army Achievement Medal with a bronze Oak leaf cluster |
| Joint Service Achievement Medal[25] | |
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Army Presidential Unit Citation with one silver Oak leaf cluster[26] |
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Valorous Unit Award with one silver and three bronze Oak leaf clusters[26] |
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Meritorious Unit Commendation with three bronze Oak leaf clusters[26] |
| Army Good Conduct Medal with four Good Conduct Loops[21] | |
| National Defense Service Medal | |
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Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two Service stars |
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Iraq Campaign Medal with two Service stars |
| Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal | |
| Global War on Terrorism Service Medal | |
| Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon with award numeral 3 | |
| Army Service Ribbon | |
| Army Overseas Service Ribbon | |
| Combat Infantryman Badge | |
| Senior Parachutist Badge | |
| Ranger Tab | |
| No image available | Canadian Jump Wings |
SFC Petry also has 4 Overseas Service Bars and 4 Service Stripes.[27]
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on May 26, 2008. As a Weapons Squad Leader with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Staff Sergeant Petry moved to clear the courtyard of a house that potentially contained high-value combatants. While crossing the courtyard, Staff Sergeant Petry and another Ranger were engaged and wounded by automatic weapons fire from enemy fighters. Still under enemy fire, and wounded in both legs, Staff Sergeant Petry led the other Ranger to cover. He then reported the situation and engaged the enemy with a hand grenade, providing suppression as another Ranger moved to his position. The enemy quickly responded by maneuvering closer and throwing grenades. The first grenade explosion knocked his two fellow Rangers to the ground and wounded both with shrapnel. A second grenade then landed only a few feet away from them. Instantly realizing the danger, Staff Sergeant Petry, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, deliberately and selflessly moved forward, picked up the grenade, and in an effort to clear the immediate threat, threw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers. As he was releasing the grenade it detonated, amputating his right hand at the wrist and further injuring him with multiple shrapnel wounds. Although picking up and throwing the live grenade grievously wounded Staff Sergeant Petry, his gallant act undeniably saved his fellow Rangers from being severely wounded or killed. Despite the severity of his wounds, Staff Sergeant Petry continued to maintain the presence of mind to place a tourniquet on his right wrist before communicating the situation by radio in order to coordinate support for himself and his fellow wounded Rangers. Staff Sergeant Petry's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, 75th Ranger Regiment, and the United States Army.[28]
