Washington: Wrapped around Florent Groberg's right wrist is a scratched, black metal band he hardly ever takes off.
The soldier's bracelet is engraved with a date in 2012, along with the names and ranks of three comrades who were killed in a suicide blast in Afghanistan.
Next week, President Barack Obama will give Groberg the Medal of Honor, the highest award any US service member can receive, for his actions during the attack.
"It doesn't belong to me," the retired Army captain told AFP in a recent interview. "It belongs to the true heroes in this instance, which are the ... men I lost."
Groberg, a native of France who became a naturalized US citizen in 2001, is being credited for his actions on August 8, 2012 when he hurled himself at a suicide bomber in the Afghan city of Asadabad.
The blast left Groberg with serious injuries to his left leg and killed three of his colleagues, along with a US Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign service officer.
