WASHINGTON — An Army Ranger from Santa Fe who almost dropped out of high school will receive the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama, the White House said Tuesday.

Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry, a graduate of the now-closed St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe, will receive the nation's highest military decoration in a ceremony July 12.

In its announcement, the White House said Petry, 31, was being recognized for courageous actions during combat operations against an armed enemy in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia in May 2008 when he lost his hand after saving others from a grenade.

The White House says Petry, who now has a prosthetic hand, will be the second living active-duty service member to receive a Medal of Honor for actions in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars.

According to the Army News Service, Petry was serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment when he was wounded during a rare daylight raid to capture a high-value target. Petry was clearing the courtyard of a targeted compound with Pvt. 1st Class Lucas Robinson when they came under fire.

A bullet pierced both of Petry's legs, and he and Robinson took cover by a chicken coop. As Sgt. Daniel Higgins arrived, a grenade was thrown from the other side of the coop. It landed about 30 feet away and exploded, wounding Higgins and Robinson.

A second grenade landed even closer to the three wounded Rangers — just a few feet away. Petry grabbed it and tried to toss it away, but it exploded in his hand.

"If not for Staff Sgt. Petry's actions, we would have been seriously wounded or killed," Higgins later wrote in a report cited by the Army News Service.

"It's very humbling to know that the guys thought that much of me and my actions that day, to nominate me for that," Petry told the Army News Service.

At the time of his actions in Afghanistan, Petry was assigned to Company A, 2nd Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Petry was interviewed by The New Mexican in 1998 when he was an 18-year-old graduating senior at St. Catherine Indian School — the institution's final graduating class.

Petry told a reporter he was failing all of his classes at Santa Fe High School and almost flunked out before his parents transferred him to St. Catherine. "It helps because you have a lot of support," he said. "I could have graduated last summer, but I came back this year because I like this school."

Also that year, he was given The Bootstrap/SER Award honoring area high school seniors who have committed to improving themselves and the community.

"With a record of fights, suspensions, and ditching school, Petry realized that he was on a path that led nowhere. He tried harder in school and appreciated how it felt to make his parents proud," wrote a teacher who nominated him.

Petry serves as a liaison officer for the U.S. Special Operations Command Care Coalition-Northwest Region in Washington State, and provides oversight to wounded warriors, ill and injured servicemembers and their families.

He enlisted in the Army from Santa Fe in September 1999. After completion of One Station Unit Training, the Basic Airborne Course and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program — all at Fort Benning, Ga. — Petry was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Petry has served as a grenadier, squad automatic rifleman, fire team leader, squad leader, operations sergeant, and weapons squad leader.

Petry and his wife, Ashley, have four children: Brittany, Austin, Reagan and Landon.



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