First Living Soldier Since Vietnam Awarded Military's Highest Honor
On Oct. 25, 2007, 22 year-old Army Spc. Salvatore Giunta raced head-on into an enemy ambush to save the lives of two American soldiers during a deadly fire fight in one of the most inhospitable regions of eastern Afghanistan.
Giunta saved the life of one soldier and prevented Sgt. Josh Brennan, who later died of his wounds, from being carried away by Taliban fighters.
Giunta, who has since been promoted to sergeant, got a call two years later from President Obama -- he was to be the first living soldier since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor.
Giunta says he doesn't feel like a hero. "No more than every single service member in the United States military today," he told Fox News.
But he'll be the first living recipient to receive the award from either Iraq or Afghanistan, and a hero's treatment is what he's likely to receive.
"Sgt. Giunta distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty," the White House, which has not yet announced the specifics for the ceremony, said in a written statement.
Brennan's father, Mike Brennan, told Fox News that if it wasn't for Giunta's actions, "we may never have gotten my son back."
Giunta, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is now the eighth service member to receive the award since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All those before him received the award posthumously.
At the time of the firefight, Giunta was serving in the notoriously dangerous Korengal Valley in Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based out of Vicenza, Italy....
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Giunta saved the life of one soldier and prevented Sgt. Josh Brennan, who later died of his wounds, from being carried away by Taliban fighters.
Giunta, who has since been promoted to sergeant, got a call two years later from President Obama -- he was to be the first living soldier since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor.
Giunta says he doesn't feel like a hero. "No more than every single service member in the United States military today," he told Fox News.
But he'll be the first living recipient to receive the award from either Iraq or Afghanistan, and a hero's treatment is what he's likely to receive.
"Sgt. Giunta distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty," the White House, which has not yet announced the specifics for the ceremony, said in a written statement.
Brennan's father, Mike Brennan, told Fox News that if it wasn't for Giunta's actions, "we may never have gotten my son back."
Giunta, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is now the eighth service member to receive the award since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All those before him received the award posthumously.
At the time of the firefight, Giunta was serving in the notoriously dangerous Korengal Valley in Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based out of Vicenza, Italy....