In July 2011, Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord received the Medal of Honor - the nation's highest medal for valor in service - for his heroic actions during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008. During action in the Paktia Province in Afghanistan, Petry was shot in the legs. Even then, action continued and an enemy grenade landed near Petry and two other soldiers. Rather than run for cover, the wounded Petry picked up the grenade save his fellow soldiers. The grenade exploded in his hand, severing his hand just above the wrist, but his actions likely saved his life as well as those of the other two soldiers.

In July 2011, Pres. Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Petry at a White House ceremony. Petry was also honored at a ceremony in his current hometown of Steilacoom, where he lives with his wife, Ashley, and their four children. While Petry is originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Steilacoom has been his and his family's home for about 10 years.

While Petry journeyed away from Steilacoom for treatments for his injuries, he returned to Steilacoom.

Steilacoom is a small town and, as such, people get to know each other. Petry and his family have grown to be friends with Steilacoom's mayor Ron Lucas.

"I know Leroy both as mayor and somebody here in town," said Lucas. "It really became accelerated when it became clear that he was going to become a recipient of the Medal of Honor."

To honor Petry's medal, Lucas and the town of Steilacoom held a ceremony a year ago, designated a section of a street in downtown Steilacoom as Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry Medal of Honor Way, and put up a plaque at 1717 Lafayette. There is also a print of the moment right before the grenade went off inside Steilacoom's town hall.

"We coordinated each one with Leroy because he's really a low maintenance kind of guy," said Lucas. "He's not looking for a whole lot of publicity. He's just not that kind of guy. And so we were trying to do something from a small town perspective where he used to live for a long time."

Still, while Steilacoom is Petry's current hometown, he is technically a son of New Mexico and as such the state of New Mexico gets first dibs, so to speak, on honoring his Medal of Honor in a more major way. As part of that honor, a bronze statue of Petry was unveiled in Santa Fe Monday, June 24. The statues is entitled "Hometown Hero" and created by sculptor George Rivera. As part of the ceremonies, Petry descended by parachute into the heart of town with the American flag waving from his parachute. Talk about making an entrance!

Keeping the Steilacoom ties on strong, Mayor Lucas was also in attendance.

"I was there because Ashley emailed or texted me and said - hey we're going down there in May and we'd like you and Jan to come on down," said Lucas. "I'm going as a friend. I have no ceremonial function."

Petry has also been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, a Purple Heart and numerous other awards and decorations.