WASHINGTON — The first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor for action during any war since Vietnam described the experience Wednesday as bittersweet.
“It is such a huge, huge honor,” said Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, 25, of Hiawatha, Iowa. “It’s emotional, and all of this is great. But it does bring back a lot of memories of all the people I’d like to share this with who I can’t. They gave everything for this country, and because of that we’re not going to be able to share this moment together.”
Giunta, with his wife, Jenny, seated beside him, spoke from his current post in Vicenza, Italy, via a live satellite videoconference at the Pentagon.
Giunta will receive his medal on a date to be announced.
During the videoconference, Giunta told of the Oct. 25, 2007, attack when insurgents ambushed him and his small rifle team of airborne soldiers.
The day was quiet, he said. His platoon was watching over another platoon from a ridge- line as it entered a village for a meeting with elders. Soon after they left the area, Giunta said, they were attacked along a trail.
Giunta was knocked flat by the gunfire, but a well-aimed round failed to penetrate his armored chest plate. As the paratroopers scrambled for cover, Giunta ran straight into the heart of the ambush to aid three wounded soldiers, one by one, who had been separated from the others.
Two paratroopers died in the attack, and most of the others suffered serious wounds. But the toll would have been far higher if not for Giunta’s bravery, according to members of his unit and Army officials.
