More than a year after joining one of the nation's most exclusive groups, retired Army Capt. Florent "Flo" Groberg still pauses when asked about sharing a room, and a legacy, with Medal of Honor recipients from across the decades.
"It's something that's hard to really grasp," said Groberg, who received the award in 2015 from President Obama for rushing a suicide bomber while with a security detail in Afghanistan in 2012. His fellow honorees, he said, have "done acts that you read in books or you see in Hollywood movies. The fact that I get to hang out around them … it just makes me realize that I’m a lucky dude."
Groberg joined Navy Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers, who received his Medal of Honor in February 2016 for actions during a hostage rescue, alongside four other recipients of the valor award during a Tuesday gathering in Annapolis, Maryland, in connection with the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman. The six men shared a podium and their stories with an audience of sponsors, VIPs and invited guests, including Command Sgt. Maj. John W. Troxell, the senior enlisted adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff who'd returned the night before from a USO tour to Iraq and has just served his second stint as the grand marshal of the bowl game's parade.
Troxell called the gathering "humbling, because all of these men, regardless of whether they served in the current fight or in Vietnam or whenever, they are true American heroes. But they are so humble, and they just continue to give back … not only to the military, but to our country, by being at events like this."
Other honorees at the event, which was sponsored by the New Day USA Foundation and spotlighted efforts by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation to educate the public on the values exemplified by the medal, were three Vietnam War-era recipients (Harvey "Barney" Barnum, Walter Joseph "Joe" Marm and Brian Thacker) and Hershel "Woody" Williams, who has worn the medal for 71 years after earning it with a flamethrower on Iwo Jima.
Asked during a panel discussion to name the best thing about wearing the medal, Williams cited his service as chaplain of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which lasted nearly half of those seven-plus decades.
"You couldn’t serve a greater [group] of people, regardless of where you would be or what you would be doing," Williams said.
There are 3,498 recipients of the medal, according to CMOHS figures. Seventy-six of those are living. When Groberg joined that group, a key piece of advice he received was to choose his engagements, from speaking to interviews to charity events, with care.
"It’s a humbling feeling, but sometimes you have to say no," said Groberg, who has served as a spokesman for LinkedIn's veterans-transition programs and has worked as Boeing's director of veterans outreach since September. "Because I have a mission in life, which is to continue serving. And I need to go out there and earn a paycheck, work and serve my community."
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
