By Katie Knapp Schubert
Ashland, NE – An Army Staff Sergeant from Iowa awarded the Medal of Honor says he'll be leaving the military next month.
Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta was one of five Medal of Honor recipients who spoke Saturday at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland. He was awarded the Medal for his efforts to save a fellow soldier when his unit came under ambush in 2007 in Afghanistan. Specialist Hugo Mendoza and Sergeant Josh Brennan died in that ambush.
Giunta says receiving the Medal of Honor was both an incredible and sad moment. "Truly, I'm only here because Sergeant Brennan, Specialist Hugo Mendoza, and the men who were over to the left side at the back all had my back. The only reason I did what I did is because they were there doing their part and looking out for me and taking care of everything else."
Giunta was joined at the event by Medal of Honor recipients Thomas Hudner, Hershel Williams, Peter Lemon, and Donald Ballard.
He is the first living soldier to receive a Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.