The pride shown by Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Leroy A. Petry toward his family and his fellow soldiers is evident as he leans over his knees and talks about his retirement. Petry is a big man full of heart, grace and confidence. He twists his prosthetic hand, the fingers moving with the grace of George Gershwin, and talks of that day of May 26, 2008 near Paktya Province, Afghanistan. Unlike many veterans who have experienced traumatic events and often attempt to forget the experiences, Petry is eager to tell the story factually, as just another occurrence in the life of a soldier who has been deployed eight times: two times to Iraq and five times to Afghanistan.

Petry retired from the Army and was promoted to master sergeant in a ceremony at Joint Base Lewis-McChord July 23, three years after receiving the nation's highest award for valor.

As a weapons squad leader with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, the unit was deployed to clear the courtyard surrounding a house containing enemy combatants. A larger courtyard surrounded a smaller one where the house sat. The unit advanced and fought through the larger clearing and secured the smaller enclosure but did not completely clear and safeguard the larger one. Petry and Pvt. Lucas Robinson reentered the larger enclosure to begin clearing operations and guard against any rear attack.

>>> Sgt. Leroy A. Petry

Afghans placed them under fire as they moved across the compound, bullets kicking dust from the ground and into the hot afternoon sun. They returned fire, their weapons jerking against their shoulders, as they ran for cover behind a chicken coop, the only cover in the dusty field. On the way, Petry felt the sting of a single round bore through both his legs and he fell to the ground. Robinson spun, hit by another round in his side armor plate. Petry grabbed Robertson and helped him through the zinging bullets to the cover of the chicken coop. Already the smell of cordite filled the air as Petry contacted the rest of the unit and reported that he and Robinson were hit.

Sgt. Daniel Higgins rushed from the smaller compound to their aid making his own blind leap of faith across the inferno as bullets and the sun beat down. To offer him protection, Petry tossed a thermo baric grenade toward the enemy. Higgins safely slid behind the protection and, as he started to access the severity of the wounded men, another enemy grenade came flying over the roof of the coop, landing 10 meters from the soldiers. The blast knocked the men over wounding Higgins and, for the second time, Robinson.

Sgt. James Roberts and Spc. Christopher Gathercole, realizing their brothers were in trouble, now entered the courtyard to lend assistance. As they started to move out another enemy grenade flew over the chicken coop and landed just feet from the wounded Robinson and Higgins. In an effort to save the lives of his comrades, Petry jumped on the grenade and, grasping it tightly, attempted to throw it away. The fuse had already burned short. With blinding light and noise the grenade detonated ripping off Petry's right hand and shattering him with shrapnel.

Such a blast would have knocked any soldier senseless. Somehow Petry remained cool and conscious and functional and with his left hand he applied a tourniquet to his bloody stump. As if calmly giving a situation report he then informed the unit that they were still engaged.

As Petry attended his fellow soldiers, Roberts and Gathercole continued their deadly jog across the compound. Roberts worked his way to the side of the coop where he killed the enemy crouched behind. But the danger had not subsided and he and Gathercole came under fire from the opposite end of the compound. Gathercole, hit, tumbled over. Higgins and Robinson, lying beside the coop, managed to work up the strength and fight through the pain of their wounds, and return fire, killing the enemy.

With the arrival of more Rangers, the wounded were moved to a casualty collection point. Sgt. Higgins later wrote, "if not for Staff Sergeant Petry's actions we would have been seriously wounded or killed."

Petry leans back and shows off his hand as he thinks about the future. "It works with sensors," he says, rolling up his sleeve. The device runs to his elbow. "I thought I was going to end up with a hook. This is the next best thing to a real hand." He rolls the hand into a fist, and then opens the fingers again pleased and surprised at how well it works.

He wears the hand as much as possible. Occasionally the hand is removed to air out the arm. He talks about how interesting the body operates. With the hand off he experiences occasional phantom pains, as if he had injured his real hand. The pain goes away when the prosthetic is replaced.

He talks, with wonder and awe, about the amazing survival rate of injured soldiers. "If you get to the medical unit with a heartbeat you will be saved." It's that wonder and awe so evident on his face that proves him so remarkable. He is a positive man with positive attitudes.

Holding the Medal of Honor requires great responsibility and can even be exhausting. Many people recognize him. "I know what the medal represents," he says. As long as he can remember he wanted to be a soldier. "I never thought I would ever meet a Medal of Honor recipient so I know how important it is to give of my time. I enjoy telling the story knowing it might impact people in a positive way." He is careful to save time for his family and he talks about the support they have given him. "I am not obligated to attend any functions and I know I must give time to my wife, Ashley, and to my family." They have four bright and alert children.

Petry has been spending his time working with wounded soldiers. "We try and find soldiers with similar injuries and put them in places where they can get the best medical treatment." Injuries are often more than physical and he finds being injured is an asset in his work with all soldiers and they can look to him as someone with similar experiences. "Because I am injured I look to help others through their problems."

He is sorry to say that various units do not always congeal, even with the wounded. Soldiers have a strong bond with their own kind. As an example "Special Operations and Seals do not always work together. That both hurts and helps. We are, after all, all family. We have a strong sense of unit pride."

He is not just involved in hands-on work with veterans and their families, but also with various fundraisers and working with various businesses to get them to hire veterans. Working with Oprah Winfrey, he helped raise 30 million dollars for traumatic brain injury and, through his help; Starbucks has agreed to hire 10,000 veterans.

With that much-expended energy, Petri deserves a quiet retirement. That does not appear to be in his future.

>>> Sgt. Leroy A. Petry

Petry has decided to make his home in Washington. After giving a graduation speech at William and Mary University, he decided to return to college. "After seeing all those young people with their degrees made me want one all the more." He has enrolled at Pierce College and will soon be working toward a degree in Business.

To further his transition to civilian life he has also returned to activities he enjoyed before the injury. Skydiving is one of his favorites. Golf is another. Washington offers great golf courses. For the remainder of his life the only thing he may have to pick up and toss away are golf balls.