Rare honour for Afghan veteran

The President shakes the prosthetic hand of Ranger Leroy Petry. Photo: AP

PRESIDENT Barack Obama has awarded the prestigious US Medal of Honour to an Army Ranger for his courageous actions during combat in Afghanistan - just the second time since the Vietnam War that a living American service member from an ongoing conflict has received the distinction.
Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry, 31, who had been shot in both legs, lost his right hand after tossing a live grenade aside during a 2008 firefight in Afghanistan's Paktia province. His body was also riddled with shrapnel, according to US Army field reports, but his actions spared the lives of his fellow Rangers.
In an emotional ceremony at the White House, Mr Obama grasped Sergeant Petry's prosthetic right hand and said his bravery was ''the stuff of which heroes are made''.

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''I consider every one of our men and women in uniform serving here, abroad, to be our heroes,'' he said.
Four others have been awarded the Medal of Honour for action in Afghanistan. Only one of them - US Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta - was living when he received it.
Over the past decade, Sergeant Petry, a father of four, has deployed eight times to war zones - twice to Iraq and six times to Afghanistan - and has been awarded two Bronze Star medals and a Purple Heart, among other honours.
At the time of the firefight in eastern Afghanistan, he was part of a helicopter assault force with the 75th Ranger Regiment. Members of the unit had been deployed to raid an insurgent compound when they came under AK-47 fire.
One round went through both of his legs, and another hit a Ranger near him in his armour. Sergeant Petry, according to the field reports, led his comrade to safety behind a nearby chicken coop before re-engaging in battle.
He was near the chicken coop when a grenade tossed by insurgents exploded nearby, wounding two Rangers. When yet another grenade landed near the pair, he moved quickly to throw it in the direction of the insurgents. It detonated near his right hand.
Sergeant Petry assessed the wound and placed a tourniquet on his own wrist, according to the field reports. He then reported to his comrades that he was still in contact.
WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORK TIMES


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