WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says an Army captain who spared fellow soldiers by tackling a suicide bomber in Afghanistan had the instincts and courage to do what was needed.
Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Florent Groberg at a White House ceremony Thursday.
The medal is the nation’s top military honor for battlefield bravery.
The 32-year-old Groberg is credited with saving many lives when he tried to stop the suicide bomber in August 2012. Three service members and a foreign service officer were killed when the bomber’s vest exploded.
Groberg suffered a severe leg injury and underwent 33 surgeries to save it.
He is medically retired from the Army. Groberg has said he shares the Medal of Honor with the four who didn’t make it home alive.
