Floa Great Runner News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

I also want to welcome flo's girlfriend, carson, who apparently, flo tells me, he had to help paint an apartment with just the other day. [laughter] so there's some honey-do lists going on. [laughter] his many friends, fellow soldiers and family, all of our distinguished guests. a day after veterans day we honor this american veteran whose story, like so many of our vets and wounded warriors speaks not only of gallantly on the battlefield, but resilience here at home. as a teenager just up the road in bethesda, flo discovered he had an incredible gift. he could run. fast. half mile, mile, two ...

That he had to be prepared for any scenario. he deployed to afghanistan twice. first as a platoon leader and then a couple years later when he was hand-picked to head up a security detail. so it was on an august day three years ago that flo found himself leading a group of american and african soldiers as they escorted their commanders to a meeting with local afghans. it was a journey that the team had done many times before. a short walk on foot, including passage over a narrow bridge. at first, they passed pedestrians, a few cars and bicycles, even some children, but then they began to appro...

Before it was in place. had both bombs gone off as planned, who knows how many could have been killed. those are the lives flo helped to save. and we are honored that many of them are here today. brigadier general james mingus, sergeant andrew mahoney who was awarded a silver star for joining flo in confronting the attacker, sergeant 1st class brian brink who was awarded a bronze star for pulling flo from the road, specialist daniel valderrama, the medic who helped to save flo's leg, private 1st class benjamin sicor and eric who also served with distinction on that day. gentlemen, i'd ask you ...

And so today, flo, i want to assure you, you are not hallucinating, you are actually in the white house. those cameras are on. i am not the lead singer from korn -- [laughter] we are here to award you our nation's highest military honor, distinction, the medal of honor. now, flo and i have actually met before three years ago. i was on one of my regular visits to walter reed to spend some time with our wounded warriors, and flo was one of them. we talked. turns out he liked the chicago bears, so i liked him right away. [laughter] and i had the chance to meet his parents who could not be more gr...

A lot of crossfit. i would not challenge him to crossfit. he's putting some hurt on some rowing machines and some stair climbers. i think it is fair to say he is fit. today flo is medically retired, but like so many of his fellow veterans of our 9/11 generation, flo continues to serve. as i said yesterday at arlington, that's what our veterans do. they are incredibly highly skilled, dynamic leaders, always looking to write that next chapter of service to america. for flo, that means civilian job with the department of defense to help take care of our troops and keep our military strong. and ev...