Medal of Honor Recipient MSG Leroy Petry to be Presented with Harley Davidson Motorcycle

Category: Non-Local News Releases Non-Local News Releases
Published: 11 August 2014 11 August 2014

Thursday, August 28 (11:00 am)
Albuquerque, NM/Thunderbird Harley Davidson
5000 Alameda Blvd. NE

(ALBUQUERQUE, NM)— Medal of Honor Recipient and retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant Leroy Petry will be the recipient of yet another special honor on August 28 in Albuquerque.

The Santa Fe native will be presented with a Harley-Davidson Tri Glide Ultra Classic three-wheel motorcycle in a special 11am ceremony at Thunderbird Harley Davidson, located at 5000 Alameda Blvd. NE.

The three-wheel deluxe "ride" is being presented in honor of MSG Petry's service and sacrifice to our country by the Run For The Wall Central Route Committee. According to event organizers, this is the first time a Harley-Davidson motorcycle has been presented to a Medal of Honor Recipient.

New Mexico's two other living Medal of Honor recipients—Drew Dix of Mimbres, NM, and Hiroshi Miyamura of Grants—have been invited to the ceremony as well.

Sgt. Petry was awarded the Medal of Honor—our nation's highest combat award—for his heroic actions on the battlefield on May 26, 2008 in Paktia Province, Afghanistan. On that date, then-Staff Sergeant Petry—who was serving his seventh Post-9/11 combat tour-- was credited with saving the lives of his pinned-down fellow Army Rangers when he picked up a "live" enemy grenade tossed at his unit's pinned-down location. The grenade detonated just as Petry was about to toss it away—resulting in the loss of his right hand and resulting in serious shrapnel-related injuries--but saving his life and those of two other nearby soldiers.

SSG Petry was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama at a special White House ceremony on July 12, 2011—becoming only the second living post-Vietnam War recipient of the award. He was just the ninth MOH recipient since the dawn of our nation's Post-9/11 Global War on Terror commenced—and is just the 13th recipient from New Mexico.

During his lengthy recovery process, SSG Petry was fitted with a special high-tech prosthetic hand. Despite suffering from lingering leg injuries, he then re-enlisted with the Army for an eighth tour of duty in 2010 and served as a liaison officer for the U.S. Special operations Command/Northwest Region before being promoted to Master Sergeant and then retiring on July 29, 2014, from nearly fifteen years of service.

For more information, contact Barbara Montoya at (505) 250-6495.

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