SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 2

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first special session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Phil A. Griego

A JOINT MEMORIAL

DECLARING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2011, AS "UNITED STATES ARMY RANGER SERGEANT FIRST CLASS LEROY A. PETRY DAY AT THE LEGISLATURE".

     WHEREAS, on July 9, 2011, Sergeant First Class Leroy A. Petry received the medal of honor from President Barack Obama at the White House; and

     WHEREAS, Sergeant Petry graduated from St. Catherine Indian school in Santa Fe in 1998; and

     WHEREAS, he attended New Mexico highlands university for a year before deciding to enlist with the United States Army rangers in September 1999; and

     WHEREAS, he was in the middle of training when the September 11, 2001 attacks happened; and

     WHEREAS, on May 26, 2008, his unit was pinned down by heavy enemy fire during a rare Army ranger daytime raid in the remote eastern part of Paktia province, Afghanistan; and

     WHEREAS, he was already shot and wounded in both his legs when an enemy grenade exploded near his location, wounding some of his comrades, and moments later, another grenade landed even closer; and

     WHEREAS, Sergeant Petry grabbed the grenade to throw it away from his unit, but it detonated as he released it, and the grenade blew off his right hand; and

     WHEREAS, Sergeant Petry underwent extensive rehabilitation and was fitted with a prosthetic bionic hand, but rather than retire from military service, he asked to remain enlisted on active-duty status and be sent back to Afghanistan; and

     WHEREAS, he is the first medal of honor recipient from the seventy-fifth ranger regiment, only the second active-duty person since the end of the Vietnam war to be awarded the medal of honor, the ninth soldier to receive the medal from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the thirteenth medal of honor recipient from New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, he has served two hundred thirty combat missions and has been deployed eight times to Iraq and Afghanistan; and

     WHEREAS, he has already received two bronze stars, one purple heart, three Army commendation medals, two Army achievement medals, three army good conduct medals, the valorous unit award, the national defense service medal, the Afghanistan campaign medal with combat star, the Iraq campaign medal with combat star and the global war on terrorism expeditionary and service medals; and

     WHEREAS, he enjoys golf, pheasant hunting and fishing and is pursuing a bachelor of science degree in business management at Pierce college in Washington state;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Sunday, September 11, 2011, be declared "United States Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Leroy A. Petry Day at the Legislature"; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to United States Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Leroy A. Petry.

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