WASHINGTON — Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who rushed into enemy fire and pulled three wounded soldiers to safety during a harrowing battle in Afghanistan in 2007, on Monday became the first living soldier since the Vietnam War to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
At a White House ceremony, President Barack Obama noted that nearly 40 years had passed since a recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor had received the award in person. Nine others have been awarded the medal posthumously for their service since the Vietnam War.
“I really like this guy,” Obama said in an off-script remark that drew applause from the audience. “When you meet Sal and you meet his family, you are just absolutely convinced that this is what America is all about.”
“This is an incredible time, but it’s also kind of a bittersweet time,” Giunta said after the ceremony. “Although this is so positive, I would give this back in a second to have my friends with me right now.”
On Oct. 25, 2007, Giunta’s platoon was ambushed by Taliban insurgents in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Two soldiers were immediately injured. Then a third was struck.
“Sal charged headlong into the wall of bullets to pull him to safety behind what little cover there was,” Obama said. In the process, Giunta was struck by two bullets.
Giunta and others on his team mounted a counterattack, eventually reaching another injured soldier. Giunta continued pressing ahead in search of Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan, the third wounded soldier and one of Giunta’s best friends.
“He crested a hill alone, with no cover but the dust kicked up by the storm of bullets still biting into the ground,” Obama said.
Giunta found two insurgents attempting to carry Brennan away. He opened fire on the insurgents, killing one and wounding the other.
“Even as bullets impacted all around him, Sal grabbed his friend by the vest and dragged him to cover,” Obama said. “For nearly half an hour, Sal worked to stop the bleeding and help his friend breathe,” until help arrived.
Brennan was one of the two soldiers who died that day. Obama told Giunta that his “courage prevented the capture of an American soldier and brought that soldier back to his family.”
Obama described Giunta as a “low-key, a humble guy,” who would say that he “didn’t do anything special, that he was just doing his job.”
“You may believe that you don’t deserve this honor,” Obama told Giunta, “but it was your fellow soldiers who recommended you for it.”
Giunta, 25, was raised in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha, Iowa. He has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart, among other awards. He is a member of Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, stationed in Vicenza, Italy.
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