Armed Forces News

Retired Army Capt. Florent A. Groberg received the Medal of Honor from Defense Secretary Ash Carter during a Nov. 13 Pentagon ceremony, for his role in staving off an Aug. 8, 2012, attack by a suicide bomber in Asadabad, Afghanistan. Official records recount how Groberg led a team of Afghan soldiers into the provincial governor’s compound, when he witnessed the attacker moving forward and ready to detonate his suicide vest. Appearing Nov. 16 on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Groberg described how he and his comrades were attending a security meeting at the provisional governor’s compound when he saw two motorcycles moving toward them. “I turned to my left and there was a guy that came out of nowhere walking backwards … parallel to my patrol,” Groberg told Colbert. “He does a 180 and cuts through towards us. That’s when I left my position.” Groberg reacted by hitting the assailant with his rifle and grabbing his suicide vest. Then blast knocked Groberg out. When he awoke shortly afterward, he saw that his leg was badly injured. A fellow soldier dragged him into a ditch, where a medic applied a tourniquet and saved his life. The detonation also killed four soldiers – Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin, Maj. Tom Kennedy, Maj. David Grayk and Ragaei Abdelfattah, a U.S. Foreign Service officer. Groberg wears a bracelet with the three fallen soldiers’ names, and told Colbert he thinks about them every day and has dedicated his life to their memory and being “a better person.” He was medevacked to the military hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, where he underwent multiple surgeries to save what was left of his leg. He recounted to Colbert that when he woke up in his bed at Landstuhl, standing above him was a nurse and Jonathan Davis, the lead singer of the rock group Korn. “They were in Landstuhl, doing a concert,” he told Colbert. Colbert and his comrades were attached to Task Force Mountain Warrior, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at the time. He is now medically retired.