The Patriot Post® · St. Catherine's Finest

There was a time in Leroy Petry’s life when he almost dropped out of high school. He was getting into fights, was often suspended and skipping class in Sante Fe, N.M. Finally his parents, in a last ditch effort, transferred him to the Saint Catherine’s Indian School.

It was there he turned his life around. St. Catherine’s, run by Catholic nuns, was a no-nonsense, disciplined place and, 120 years before, it was among America’s first schools for “Indians and Negroes.” Had it not been for St. Catherine’s, who knows what might have happened to Leroy Petry.

I tell you this because I want you to know what did happen to him. Leroy Arthur Petry just became St. Catherine’s most famous graduate. Next month President Barack Obama will award him the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor displayed three years ago when his Ranger platoon was under attack in Paktya, Afghanistan.

Sgt. 1st Class Petry, who joined the Army shortly after leaving St. Catherine’s, displayed “conspicuous gallantry” when he grabbed a live enemy grenade and threw it back before it could badly injury or kill his wounded comrades.

The split-second the grenade was being thrown to the side, the explosive did go off, brutally amputating Sgt. Petry’s lower arm, but it saved the lives of two other Rangers who were seeking cover in a chicken coop with the already-injured Petry.

The account of the incident, which makes him the second living Medal of Honor winner from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, reads like a suspense thriller and here’s the way The Army Times partially described what happened:

Petry and (Lukas) Robinson, both Rangers, moved into an area of the compound that contained at least three enemy fighters who were prepared to engage friendly forces from opposite ends of the outer courtyard.

As the two soldiers entered the courtyard, to their front was an opening, followed by a chicken coop. As they crossed the open area, an enemy insurgent fired on them. Petry was wounded by one round, which went through both of his legs. Robinson was also hit in his side plate by a separate round.

While wounded and under enemy fire, Petry led Robinson to the cover of the chicken coop as the enemy fighters continued to fire at them. As the senior soldier, Petry assessed the situation. He reported that contact was made and that two wounded Rangers were in the courtyard of the primary target building. Upon hearing the report, Sgt. Daniel Higgins, a team leader, moved to the outer courtyard.

As Higgins was moving to Petry and Robinson’s position, Petry threw a thermobaric grenade near the enemy position. Shortly after that grenade exploded and created a lull in the enemy fire, Higgins arrived at the chicken coop and was assessing his comrades’ wounds when an insurgent threw a grenade over the chicken coop at the three Rangers. The grenade landed about 10 yards from the soldiers, knocking them to the ground and wounding Higgins and Robinson.

Shortly after the grenade exploded, Staff Sgt. James Roberts and Spc. Christopher Gathercole entered the courtyard and moved toward the chicken coop.

With three soldiers taking cover in the chicken coop, an enemy fighter threw another grenade at them. This time, the grenade landed just a few feet from Higgins and Robinson. Recognizing the threat that the enemy grenade posed to his fellow Rangers, Petry – despite his own wounds and with complete disregard for his personal safety – consciously and deliberately risked his life to move to and secure the live enemy grenade and throw it away from his fellow Rangers, according to battlefield reports.

As Petry released the grenade in the direction of the enemy, preventing the serious injury or death of Higgins and Robinson, it detonated and amputated his right hand. Petry assessed his wound and placed a tourniquet on his right arm. He then reported that he was still in contact with the enemy and that he had been wounded again.

After the blast that amputated Petry’s hand, Roberts began to engage the enemy behind the chicken coop with small-arms fire and a grenade. His actions suppressed the insurgents behind the chicken coop. Shortly after, another enemy fighter on the east end of the courtyard began firing, fatally wounding Gathercole.

Higgins and Robinson returned fire and killed the enemy. Higgins later wrote in a statement, “If not for Staff Sergeant Petry’s actions, we would have been seriously wounded or killed.”

The nuns at St. Catherine’s Indian School would be proud.

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