MOH Sgt. 1st Class Leroy A. Petry " Troops Can Draw Strength From Each Other"

War Hero: Troops Can Draw Strength From Each Other
 By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON,
March 30, 2012 –
Service members can draw strength from each other rather than attempt to deal with tough times alone, a highly decorated wounded warrior who triumphed over great adversity said here today.

Adversity “is not best dealt with by oneself; it’s overcome by the help of others and hard work and the will to get through it,” Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy A. Petry, the Army’s most recent Medal of Honor recipient, told an audience of nearly 750 behavioral health experts and military leaders.

Petry discussed his recovery and the people who helped pull him through during the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury’s Warrior Resilience Conference. This conference, in its fourth year, is intended to equip service members, units, families and communities with resilience-building techniques and tools.

Petry was wounded May 26, 2008, during an operation to capture an insurgent leader in a compound in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, near the Pakistan border. His unit was met with heavy automatic weapons fire when they moved into the area. He and several of his fellow soldiers were wounded and sought cover as an enemy lobbed a grenade at the unit. Although wounded in both legs by assault-rifle fire, rather than turn away or seek cover, Petry picked up the grenade to throw it back at the enemy. Instead, the grenade detonated, amputating his right hand. Still, Petry remained calm, put on his own tourniquet and continued to lead.

Last summer, President Barack Obama awarded the country’s highest military honor to the Ranger. Petry became only the second living veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor.

Petry credits his ongoing recovery to the troops, medical personnel and family members around him. He recalled his first night in the hospital.

A female soldier, part of an explosive ordnance disposal unit, visited him before even his family arrived. She had lost both of her arms above the elbow during deployment. Still, “she had the greatest attitude,” Petry said, recalling how she played ping-pong without arms.

“I was in awe,” he said. read more here