Retired Army Captain Florent Groberg relishes every opportunity to tell the world about the men with whom he served. The Medal of Honor recipient served two tours in Afghanistan and was medically retired after a bomb blast that killed four men he was protecting.
In his new book "8 Seconds of Courage," the Montgomery County native relives his military experience and tells the story of his comrades.
"I woke up a couple minutes later, about 20 feet away with my foot facing me and my fibula out, bleeding everywhere, leg melting and in eight seconds my entire life changed," Groberg said.
He calls August 8, 2012 the worst day of his life.
It was a few months into his second tour in Afghanistan. Groberg, then a first lieutenant, was in charge of a protective detail for an Army colonel. In his new book, Groberg tells the story of a suspicious man approaching his colonel and a group of other military officials he and his men were escorting to a meeting.
"Yelled at him, screamed at him, hit him with my rifle, realized he had a suicide vest on," Groberg explained. "I threw him as far away from the patrol as possible, as quickly as possible."
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Four men Groberg had grown to respect and revere died when that suicide vest detonated. Writing his book was an opportunity to tell their stories, and the stories of every soldier with whom he served.
"We go through some pretty tough times together and you love,” Groberg said. "So, I went in with hate and I came out with love. And it's just an incredible transformation that I try to put in the book."
The explosion Groberg survived left him with a traumatic brain injury, hearing loss in one ear and, even after 33 surgeries, 50 percent of his left calf. The whole experience almost cost him his sanity.
"The pain and the doubts, the self-doubts and the survivor's guilt, that was really tough for me. I was on the brink of figuring out ways to end it all,” Groberg said.
As much as his book is a tribute, it's also Groberg's therapy. Talking about what happened to him and singing the praises of the men who died allowed him to find daylight again. That, and the love of life, Carsen.
"Beyond our relationship, being engaged to be married and everything, we just make up a really good team," Groberg’s fiancée Carsen Zarin said.
They’ll marry late next year. But since Groberg met her in 2014, Zarin has been his rock.
"When I slept next to her, I actually slept," Groberg said after enduring years of sleepless, nightmare-filled nights. "It was just something comforting about her that I couldn't pinpoint."
"It's kind of one team, one fight," Zarin followed. "So, if he's having a rough night, it means I'm there next to him getting through that night with him."
Captain Groberg received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama in November 2015. In his book, he writes of that surreal moment and the excruciating pain in his left leg as he stood next to the president. He thought of the men who died and fought back tears as he stared into their families' eyes. Those same eyes brought him some degree of comfort.
"They were there, even though someone so close to them -- a loved one, a father, a son, a brother -- didn't come home," Groberg recounted. "They were all there to support me that day and that to me represents everything."
Groberg dedicated his new book and his life’s work from now on to those men who died that summer day in Afghanistan.
"You have a responsibility to be a better person," Groberg said. "You have a responsibility to honor those who didn't come home and be an inspiration for others."
