A Bethesda, Maryland, man will become the 10th living recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan for taking down a suicide bomber in 2012, the White House announced.
During his second deployment to Afghanistan, U.S. Army Capt. Florent Groberg, 32, headed security for a senior Army officer in command of 5,000 troops. On Aug. 8, 2012, Groberg was protecting 28 military personnel when he identified a suspicious person in a suicide bomb vest. He rushed the individual, and with the help of Sgt. Andrew Mahoney, pushed him to the ground and away from the task force he was protecting, the Army said.
The suicide bomber’s vest detonated, causing a second suicide bomber to detonate his vest early, according to the Army.
Groberg’s actions saved most of the lives in the task force, though 16 soldiers were injured, and four were killed: U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, U.S. Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, U.S. Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray and USAID Foreign Service Officer Ragaei Abdelfattah.
Groberg lost about 50 percent of his left calf muscle and suffered a blown eardrum and a mild traumatic brain injury. He required extensive surgery and therapy, spending almost three years at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center until May. He was medically retired in July.
Among his awards and decorations, Groberg received the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.
President Barack Obama will award him the Medal of Honor Nov. 12.
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Grobert was born in France but naturalized in February 2001 and graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda in June 2001. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006 and worked as an account executive in northern Virginia before joining the Army in July 2008.
He currently works as a civilian employee for the Department of Defense.