SSgt, U.S. Army — War on Terror
Salvatore Augustine Giunta was born on January 21, 1985, in Clinton, Iowa, and grew up in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha. The son of Italian American parents — Steven, a medical equipment technician, and Rosemary, a preschool teacher — he was the first in his immediate family to serve in the armed forces since his grandparents emigrated from Italy. At seventeen, while working at a Subway sandwich shop, he decided to enlist, joining the United States Army in November 2003. After Infantry and Airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, in Vicenza, Italy. He completed two combat deployments to Afghanistan, the first from March 2005 to March 2006 and the second from May 2007 to July 2008.
On October 25, 2007, then-Specialist Giunta was serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, when his patrol was ambushed by a well-armed and well-coordinated insurgent force in the Korengal Valley, near Gatigal Spur. While under heavy enemy fire, he sprinted to cover and engaged the enemy. Seeing that his squad leader, Sergeant Joshua Brennan, had fallen, Giunta exposed himself to withering fire, raced to Brennan, dragged him to cover, and administered medical aid — even as enemy fire struck his body armor and his secondary weapon. He then engaged the enemy and threw grenades, using the explosions for cover. Learning another soldier was still separated from the element, he pushed forward alone over the crest of a hill, where he found two insurgents carrying away the wounded Brennan. Giunta opened fire, killing one and wounding the other, and began treating his comrade until the squad arrived to provide security.
Brennan later died of his wounds, but Giunta’s actions prevented the insurgents from taking his body and saved the lives of other wounded soldiers that day. On November 16, 2010, President Barack Obama presented him with the Medal of Honor at the White House, making Giunta the first living recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor since the Vietnam War. Characteristically humble, he said the medal belonged not to him alone but to every soldier who served alongside him. He left the United States Army in June 2011 as a staff sergeant.
Sources: Wikipedia · Congressional Medal of Honor Society