caption serviceyears branch birth_place allegiance unit awards name battles birth_date rank image article_title birth_name
petry in 2011 1999 2014 united states santa fe , new mexico , u.s. united states of america 25px 2nd battalion , 75th ranger regiment 23px leroy arthur petry global war on terrorism 29 july 1979 25px master sergeant leroy a petry.jpg border leroy petry
 leroy arthur petry
leroy petry

leroy arthur petry -lrb- born 29 july 1979 -rrb- is a retired united states army soldier and recipient of the u.s. military 's highest decoration , the medal of honor , for actions in 2008 during operation enduring freedom .
born in santa fe , new mexico , petry had an active youth , and joined the army after high school .
completing the ranger indoctrination program , he saw extensive deployments to both iraq and afghanistan as a member of the 2nd battalion , 75th ranger regiment .
on 26 may 2008 during his seventh deployment , petry was a member of a team on a mission to capture a taliban target in paktia province .
despite being wounded in both legs by gunfire , petry continued to fight and give orders .
when a grenade landed between him and two other soldiers , petry grabbed it and attempted to throw it away from them when it exploded , saving the soldiers ' lives but severing his right hand .
petry , who now wears a prosthesis , became the second recent living recipient of the medal for the war in afghanistan when he received the award from u.s. president barack obama in 2011 .
opting to reenlist in spite of his wounds , petry remained on active duty in the u.s. army until his retirement on 29 july 2014 .
as part of paying tribute to missing in action/prisoners of war -lrb- mia/pow -rrb- of whom over 80,000 servicemembers are still unaccounted for from wwii , korea , vietnam and the current conflicts in iraq and afghanistan , leroy participated and completed a 10-day cross country run for the wall -lrb- rftw -rrb- in may 2015 to pay honor for those who ca n't ride in a customized harley davidson triglide motorcycle .
he was part of a four-man ceremonial team to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns in arlington virginia on may 2015 .
