Obama: Medal of Honor Recipient Summoned 'His Very Best'

The Maryland soldier who insists he’s not a hero for jumping on a suicide bomber was lauded by President Barack Obama as he bestowed the Congressional Medal of Honor on Capt. Florent A. “Flo” Groberg.

The French-born Army officer who became a U.S. citizen the year he graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, MD, was honored Thursday.

The heroes, in Groberg’s view, are the four men he served with who died on Aug. 8, 2012, in Afghanistan. It’s a day when a seemingly routine escort of Army VIPs turned into “the worst day of my life,” Groberg says.

“On his very worst day, he managed to summon his very best, that’s the nature of courage,” Obama said at the White House ceremony.

Groberg, 32, now medically retired, received the Medal of Honor from President Obama during a White House ceremony. The medal is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon a military member.

“He had the instincts and courage to do what was needed,” Obama said of Groberg, who repeatedly shoved the bomber to get him away from the group of Americans and Afghans headed to a meeting with the provincial governor.

When the bomb detonated, a second bomber exploded his device, killing three American soldiers and one aid worker. President Obama noted the military careers of those who died in the August 2012 attack, and Groberg became emotional as their families were recognized by the president.

Groberg spent nearly three years at Walter Reed Medical Center undergoing 33 surgeries and rehabilitation to keep his leg. While he lost nearly half the calf muscle in the leg from the bomb blast, he plans to run again as did while attending the University of Maryland.

Obama joked that while Groberg is not yet running, he is “putting the hurt on” the rehab center’s CrossFit routine.

“For all the valor we celebrate, all the courage we honor, these actions were required by some of the most dreadful moments of war,” the president said Thursday.

Deadly Afghanistan Attack

Groberg’s comrades were mortally wounded despite his attempt to save them by throwing his body on top of a combatant he knew had strapped on a vest of explosives and released a dead-man’s trigger. The vest ignited, sending thousands of metal ball-bearings flying into the group of Americans and Afghans.

“We defeated the enemy on that day, and we sent a message that no matter how bad you want to hurt us, we’re always going to keep standing up and we’re going to bring it back [twicefold] on you,” Groberg said in an Army interview. “It was the worst day of my life because even though we defeated the enemy, I lost four of my brothers.

“This medal is not about me, it’s about the four individuals that I lost. It’s about them, it’s about their families. It’s about true heroes who sacrificed everything for their country,” Groberg continued. “That medal represents them.”

Anything But Routine Escort

Groberg’s team was protecting several VIPS – two brigade commanders, three battalion commanders and an Afghan general – who were targeted by two suicide bombers.

Groberg noticed an abnormal bulge under one man’s clothing. As Groberg grabbed the suspected bomber by the vest, his radio telephone operator, Sgt. Andrew J. Mahoney, also piled on to drive the man into the road. Groberg said he tried to throw the man away from his contingent because he knew the bomb’s trigger had been squeezed and was seconds away from detonating.

“I just wanted to make sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone,” said Groberg, who was thrown 15 feet by the explosion.

Mahoney received the Silver Star for his actions that day, and was recognized as the USO Soldier of the Year during an October 2014 ceremony.

Brigade commander Col. Charles Mingus, who witnessed the suicide attack, told the Army in an interview, that Groberg had tried to subdue the attacker with no regard for himself.

“He knew the mission, saw the threat, and with complete disregard for himself, did everything to neutralize the threat,” Mingus said.

Among those killed in the two bomb blasts were Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin, the brigade’s senior enlisted advisor; Maj. Thomas Kennedy; Maj. Walter Gray, an Air Force officer who helped coordinate air strikes; and Ragaei Abdel Fattah, a volunteer worker with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Groberg said.

“I remember waking up in shock,” Groberg said. “I thought I had stepped on an IED [improvised explosive device]. My fibia was sticking out of my left leg, my skin was melting, and there was blood everywhere. I checked myself for internal injuries and started to drag myself out of what was probably a kill zone for small-arms fire.”

»Photos of Army Capt. Florent Groberg shown with President Barack Obama at the White House, from NBC Washington; Groberg and the president with his parents and fried at Walter Reed National Medical Center during his recovery on Sept. 11, 2012; in Afghanistan before his injury; and in an interview with Army officials after he was selected for the Medal of Honor, all courtesy of the U.S. Army.