Florent Groberg

“I will live the rest of my life to be a better person and make a positive difference for our community, our country and our world,” U.S. Army captain (ret.) Florent Groberg said in a 2016 University of Maryland University College commencement keynote. The French immigrant was recalling a decision he made during his nearly three-year convalescence at Walter Reed hospital, recovering from injuries sustained in 2012 after he tackled a suicide bomber in Afghanistan while on security patrol. Groberg was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his “extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty at the risk of life” becoming the 10th living service member awarded the nation’s highest honor for battlefield bravery in Iraq or Afghanistan. Four service members were killed during the attack in Afghanistan and Groberg dedicated the medal to their memory. “This medal is not about me, it’s about the four individuals that I lost. It’s about them. It’s about their families. It’s about true heroes who sacrificed everything for their country,” he said. Groberg is currently chief of staff for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Updated July 2016