Medal of Honor Recipient US Army Ranger Leroy Petry: On May 26, 2008, Staff Sergeant Petry and his unit were on a mission in Paktia Province, Afghanistan.

Medal honor Recipient US Army Ranger Leroy Petry: On May 26, 2008, Staff Sergeant Petry and his unit were on a mission in Paktia Province, Afghanistan. 

He was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, which was on a daylight raid to capture a high-value target from the Taliban. Petry was to locate with the platoon headquarters in the target building once it was secured. 

Once there, he was to serve as the senior non-commissioned officer at the site for the remainder of the operation. The team of 7 Rangers encountered about 40 Taliban, 12 of them Armed. 

Almost immediately after getting out of the helicopters, the Rangers came under strong fire. 

Petry provided additional supervision to an assaulting squad during the clearance of a building, and afterward he took Private First Class Lucas Robinson to clear an outer courtyard.

Three Taliban fighters were in the courtyard, which had a chicken coop within it.

 The Taliban fired on Petry and Robinson; Petry was wounded by one round that went through both his legs, and Robinson was wounded, being hit on the armor plate protecting his side. Petry led Robinson to the cover of the chicken coop, and reported the contact and their wounded condition. 

Petry threw a thermobaric grenade from cover. At the chicken coop, the two men were joined by Sergeant Daniel Higgins, who assessed the wounds of the two soldiers.

A Taliban fighter threw a grenade at their position which landed 10 meters from them; it detonated, and the blast knocked the three soldiers to the ground, wounding Higgins, and further wounding Robinson. 

Shortly thereafter the three were joined by Staff Sergeant James Roberts and Specialist Christopher Gathercole. 

A Taliban fighter threw another grenade, which landed a few feet from Higgins and Robinson.

 Knowing the risk, Petry picked up and attempted to throw the grenade in the direction of the Taliban. 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.

The detonation amputated his right hand, and sprayed his body with shrapnel. Petry likely saved the two other soldiers from serious injury or death.

Petry placed a tourniquet on his right arm. Roberts began to fire at the Taliban fighters, suppressing them in the courtyard. 

An additional fighter on the east end of the courtyard fired, fatally wounding Gathercole. Higgins and Robinson returned fire, killing that fighter.

 They were joined by Sergeant First Class Jerod Staidle, the platoon sergeant, and Specialist Gary Depriest, a medic.

 Directing the medic to treat Gathercole, Petry was assisted by Staide and Higgins to the casualty collection point.

Petry's wounds resulted in his right arm having to be amputated below the elbow. 

He was evacuated to an American hospital in Germany, where he spent several weeks in recovery.

 He now uses an advanced prosthetic in place of his right hand. On the prosthetic is a small plaque listing the names of the fallen Rangers of his regiment. 

After recovering, Petry did not seek a medical discharge; instead, he deployed to Afghanistan between recovering and receiving the Medal of Honor. He was later promoted to the rank of Sergeant First Vlass.

In 2010, Petry re-enlisted in the U.S. Army for an indefinite term of service. Although he had wanted to complete 20 years of active duty service, due to medical and "psychological issues", Petry decided to seek medical retirement.

God Bless Our Vets!