Leroy A Petry was born on the 29th of July, 1979 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was the third of five sons to Larry and Lorella. He attended Santa Fe High School and after repeating his freshman year of school, transferred to St Catherine Indian School where his academics improved. Leroy played football and basketball and enjoyed cooking and fixing cars. His class was the last class to graduate from St Catherine in 1998 before closing. He went on to study at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas and also worked at the vehicle maintenance department of Pecos Public Transportation and made signs at Al’s Signs, a local business.

Leroy’s cousin had joined the US Army and became a Ranger and this influenced Leroy to do the same. He enlisted in September of 1999 and attended basic training and advanced individual training in Fort Benning, Georgia. Leroy was in Ranger training during the attacks on September 11th and once he had completed training, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. During his enlistment, Leroy would go on a total of eight deployments; two in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and six in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, totaling 28 months of being deployed. He filled the roles of grenadier, squad automatic rifleman, fire team leader, squad leader, operations sergeant, and a weapons squad leader. It was during his second to last tour to Afghanistan that Leroy would display actions that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

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.

Now, I have made a point with this podcast to not go off on a tangent during the stories and just stick to the facts. However, in case you missed it, Leroy’s hand was severed off because of the grenade and he still took the time to apply his own tourniquet. Just keep this in mind the next time you need to take a day off from work because you stubbed your toe, Sharon.

Leroy was evacuated to a casualty collection point and then to an American hospital in Germany. His right arm had to be amputated below the elbow and he spent several weeks in recovery and was then transferred to Carl R Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas. He received an advanced prosthetic which contains a small plaque list the names of the fallen Rangers of his regiment. Leroy did not seek a medical discharge and went on to deploy again to Afghanistan and then in 2010, he would re-enlist and be stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and would serve as a liaison officer for US Special Operations Command’s Care Coalition Northwest Region. Here he helped ill and injured Rangers, as well as their families. In 2011, Leroy began attending Pierce College and then on the 12th of July, he received the Medal of Honor from President Obama in a ceremony at the White House. Leroy was the second living recipient since the Vietnam War, the first being Salvatore Giunta who was in attendance at Leroy’s ceremony. Leroy would then attend Dakota Meyer’s ceremony, who was the third living recipient.

Leroy wanted to complete 20 years of active duty service but was unable to and decided to seek medical retirement. He was promoted to Master Sergeant and was awarded the Legion of Merit during his retirement ceremony. He was also inducted into the Honorable Order of Saint Maurice and officially retired from the US Army on the 29th of July, 2014. Leroy A Petry and his wife Ashley have four children: Landon, Brittany, Austin, and Reagan.