So spoke the famous Audie Murphy, Medal of Honor Winner.
Today another young soldier joined his rank, and the file that only a handful have ever obtained….and lived to tell about it.
In fact the Medal of Honor has become almost exclusively a posthumous award as of late, leading some in the military community to refer to it as The Dead Mans Award.
The last living awardee, Retired Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Thornton, received his on October 15, 1973.
Today, 38 years later, 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta of Iowa becomes the first living Medal of Honor recipient for valor in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There have been 7 Medal of Honor winners in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, all posthumously.
I won’t belittle his actions with my thoughts on the award through either of these men’s actions. I won’t inject politics in to his gallantry.
I will salute him.
Then-Specialist Salvatore A. Giunta distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment during combat operations against an armed enemy in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan on October 25, 2007. When an insurgent force ambush split Specialist Giunta’s squad into two groups, he exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a comrade back to cover. Later, while engaging the enemy and attempting to link up with the rest of his squad, Specialist Giunta noticed two insurgents carrying away a fellow soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other, and provided medical aid to his wounded comrade while the rest of his squad caught up and provided security. His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands.
Hooah, Sgt. Lead from the Front!
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