The latest Medal of Honor recipient is being honored for tackling a suicide bomber in Afghanistan
Groberg is credited with saving fellow soldiers' lives through his actions. He was also badly injured in the attack, which killed four people.
The ceremony took place at the White House and marks only the 10th time a living service member has received the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. Seven more were posthumously awarded the medal.
Groberg was born in Poissy, France. He became a naturalized US citizen in 2001, the same year he graduated from high school in Maryland. He also competed in track and cross country at the University of Maryland before entering the Army in 2008.
Groberg deployed to Afghanistan's Kunar Province in November 2009 and again in February 2012. He was helping to escort two brigade commanders, three batallion commanders, and an Afghan general to a meeting with an Afghan provincial governor when his unit encountered a suicide bomber, in what Groberg described to the US Army News and Media as "the worst day of my life."
Initially, the bombers used motorcycles as a distraction while the real bomber prepared to charge the unit. "A man came out of a building, he was walking backwards, which was eerie. Then he started walking towards us," said Groberg in the interview with the US Army.?
Groberg, with assistance from another soldier in the security detail, Sgt. Andrew Mahoney, tackled him to the ground where the bomber's vest detonated.
When the bomber hit the ground, he released the detonator. The blast killed four of Groberg's company. Thanks to Groberg's heroism, the rest survived.
"I remember waking up and my leg had the fibula sticking out," Groberg recalled for US Army News and Media. "My skin was melting."
Groberg spent nearly three years recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and endured more than 30 surgeries.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald spoke about Groberg during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. He said Groberg is emblematic of the sacrifices made by every generation of veterans.
"Captain Groberg acted in a manner that saved the lives of many of his comrades. Tragically, he could not save them all," McDonald said.
"When he was informed last month that he would receive the Medal of Honor, he said, and I quote, 'This medal belongs to them," McDonald added.