“It was an honor to speak to the president on that day”.
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Four soldiers died in the attack.
Florent Groberg was in charge of a team of six men whose job was to protect Col. James Mingus, brigadier commander of 4,000 men deployed to Afghanistan from his unit, the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade.
“I pushed him as hard as he could and I just wanted to get him as far away from my guys as possible”, Groberg said in account provided by the Army.
“Sgt. Mahoney to my left moved in with me and struck him, then Mahoney and I threw him”.
Noticing a bulge under the man’s clothing, Groberg and his platoon sergeant rushed the man.
“I couldn’t find my rifle, so I took my pistol out, and I made sure I had a round in there”, Groberg told Army Times. On August 8, 2012, Groberg and five other soldiers were providing a personal security detail for senior military leaders traveling to the provincial governor’s compound in the city of Asadabad.
Florent Groberg saw a man approaching the soldiers while they were on patrol and realized he was wearing a suicide vest.
“I couldn’t remember what happened”.
Groberg lost about 50 percent of his left calf muscle and suffered a blown eardrum and a mild traumatic brain injury. “I must be in the kill zone, and they’re probably going to follow up with small-arms fire”.
He attempted to continue leading his troops but needed medical attention and was put into in an armored truck.
A naturalized USA citizen who was born in France, he graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda in 2001 and the University of Maryland in 2006.
“It felt like a blow torch was burning through my leg”, he said.
Groberg is the 10th living service member to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Medal of Honor ceremony will be held at the White House on November. 12. In May 2006, he graduated from UMD with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Groberg was in treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center until May this year, undergoing 33 surgeries on his leg. He medically retired from the Army in July.
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The meritorious conduct must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life.
