By Rebecca Rainey
@thedbk
For The Diamondback
When University of Maryland alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg spoke at the Democratic National Convention, he said he wasn’t there as a Democrat or a Republican.
Standing in front of a national television audience of about 28 million people, Groberg wanted to spread a message about the military and the issue of terrorism facing the United States.
“It [is] an opportunity to spread the word [and] speak about the essence and ethos of a warrior,” he said. “Soldiers spend years training for one moment — we don’t know when it will come.”
And that moment came four years ago in Afghanistan, when a suicide bomber approached his fellow soldiers.
“I grabbed him by the vest. I threw him far as I could because that’s exactly what I was trained to do,” Groberg said. “The vest exploded. It took a part of my leg with it.”
Groberg wasn’t the only Marylander to take the stage at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Other speakers included former Gov. Martin O’Malley, Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who is vying for Mikulski’s Senate seat when she retires next year.
“Captain Groberg made all of Maryland proud on that stage,” Van Hollen wrote in an email. “His devotion to this country and his fellow soldiers reminds us of the values that have kept our nation strong for so many generations.”
Groberg’s opportunity to speak also impacted members of the university community, including those involved in student government.
“As a current UMD student, it makes me proud to see UMD alum succeeding in whatever they put their mind to, and it gives me hope to see that I too can succeed at what I put my mind to,” said Mihir Khetarpal, the Student Government Association’s director of governmental affairs.
“His message also resonated with me and made me realize that experienced leadership is what will drive this country forward,” the junior government and politics major added.
While his speech was not based upon party lines, Groberg still endorsed Hillary Clinton later on in the speech.
“Hillary Clinton has been training for this moment for decades,” Groberg said during the speech, adding that Clinton would support injured soldiers, defeat ISIS and reform the Veteran Affairs Department.
Groberg said the experience of giving the speech in front of the Democratic Convention was “unbelievable.”
“It was a surreal, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to push a message that I truly believe in,” he said.
Groberg’s message was an important reminder that in order to move forward, Americans need to stand together, Van Hollen wrote.
“His positive message of unity and bravery in the face of adversity stand in stark contrast to the politics of fear and hate that some are using to divide us,” he wrote.
Former SGA President and 2016 graduate Patrick Ronk added that Groberg’s speech was an image of his character.
“It’s incredible that [he] got the opportunity to speak on a national stage,” Ronk said, “and for him to use that time to advocate for better treatment for veterans and to reform the [Department of Veteran’s Affairs] just shows how great of a person he is.”
