Retired Army Capt. Florent Groberg (left) and President Obama stand in prayer Nov. 12, 2015, at a White House ceremony awarding Groberg with the Medal of Honor.
Florent Groberg stood on Capital One Field as an announced crowd of 44,678 cheered for him, just as loudly as they did each time the Terrapins football team scored a touchdown. During Saturday’s homecoming game, the University of Maryland recognized the retired Army captain, a 2006 alumnus, for his military service.
Five days later, he was honored again — this time at the White House. President Obama draped the Medal of Honor around Groberg’s neck Thursday morning, making him the 10th living recipient of the award for actions in Afghanistan.
While serving in the Kunar Province in 2012, Groberg pushed a suicide bomber away from a group of senior Army leaders he was providing a security detail for.
“Today, we honor Flo because his actions prevented an even greater catastrophe,” Obama said. “You see, by pushing the bomber away from the formation, the explosion occurred farther from our forces, and on the ground instead of in the open air.”
Groberg, who was born in France and became a U.S. citizen when he was 18, graduated from this university with a degree in criminology and criminal justice. He is the second university alumnus to earn the military’s highest distinction, university President Wallace Loh said.
“Whenever people from the university are recognized at the White House, it’s a very special moment. It makes all of us feel proud,” Loh said. “We all bask in the reflective glory in their accomplishments.”
Groberg ran track and cross country for this university, and Obama said the skills that made him “a great runner also made him a great soldier.”
“Day after day, month after month, he pushed himself to his limit,” Obama said. “He knew that every long run, every sprint, every interval could help shave off a second or two off his times. And as he’d find out later, a few seconds can make all the difference.”
The attack in 2012 took place in the span of eight seconds, according to The Baltimore Sun.
First, Obama recounted, there was a man in dark clothing walking backward about 10 feet from the group of American and Afghan soldiers. When the man turned toward their formation, Groberg rushed him.
He pushed him away from the group before noticing that, beneath his vest, was a bomb.
“And at that moment, Flo did something extraordinary — he grabbed the bomber by his vest and kept pushing him away,” Obama said. “And all those years of training on the track, in the classroom, out in the field — all of it came together. In those few seconds, he had the instincts and the courage to do what was needed.”
Groberg and another soldier shoved the man to the ground — and that’s when the bomb detonated, killing four men.
Groberg blacked out after being thrown about 15 or 20 feet. He was left with a ruptured eardrum and a traumatic brain injury. Half of his left calf muscle was blown off.
The explosion also caused a second bomb to detonate prematurely.
“Had both bombs gone off as planned, who knows how many could have been killed,” Obama said.
During Thursday’s ceremony, Obama recognized the four men killed: Command Sergeant Major Kevin Griffin, Major Tom Kennedy, Major David Gray and Ragaei Abdelfatah, a USAID foreign service officer. Three of their families attended and stood to the audience’s’ applause.
“Flo says that day was the worst day of his life,” Obama said. “And that is the stark reality behind these Medal of Honor ceremonies — that for all the valor we celebrate, and all the courage that inspires us, these actions were demanded amid some of the most dreadful moments of war.”
Soldiers whose lives Groberg saved were also present.
Groberg spent the last three years recovering from his injuries and underwent 33 surgeries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“He’s not running, but he’s doing a lot of CrossFit,” Obama said. “I would not challenge him to CrossFit.”
Groberg is now medically retired and works as a civilian in the U.S. Defense Department. Each day of work, he wears a bracelet bearing the names of the men killed Aug. 8, 2012.
“This medal belongs to the true heroes — Command Sergeant [Kevin] Griffin, Major [Walter] Gray, Major [Thomas] Kennedy, Ragaei Abdelfattah — who made the ultimate sacrifice and didn’t come home,” Groberg said after the ceremony. “It also belongs to their families, true heroes who live with that day every day missing one of the members of their families.”
