Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ruben Gomez awards a Military Order of the Purple Heart JROTC Leadership Medal to Cadet Staff Sgt. Gregory Smith, 16, at the St. John's College High School JROTC Award Ceremony May 14 in Washington, D.C. The medal is awarded to JROTC and ROTC cadets who exhibit outstanding leadership. Smith said he was honored to have a combat veteran present the award to him.

In February 2011, Gomez, a combat medic, was hit by a rocket during a night assault by insurgents in Afghanistan. He lost most of the fingers on his left hand and sustained injuries to his left leg that required multiple surgeries and long, painful therapy. In December 2013, after two years of trying to save his lower left leg, Gomez elected to have a below the knee amputation.

Gomez is assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigade at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he continues his recovery.