"Rare Honor for a Living Service Member"
By Helene Cooper
In Washington D.C. this past Tuesday Salvatore Guinta was honored by President Obama with the Medal of Honor. Guinta, 25, three years ago was ambushed in the Korengal Valley in a coordinated attack from three sides. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for placing himself in the line of fire to try to save his squad mates and comfort and dying soldier. The Medal of Honor, the most prestigious award hasn't been awarded to a living service member since the Vietnam War. In the packed East Room, President Obama recounted the nights events of October 25, 2007, "They hadn't traveled a quarter mile before the silence was shattered. It was an ambush so close that the cracks of the guns and whizzes of the bullets were simultaneous." Sergeant Guinta was hit twice trying to pull the fallen soldiers to safety. When he recovered two of the fallen soldiers he ran up the hill to look for the other and saw a chilling sight, President Obama recounted, "the silhouette of two insurgents carrying away the other wounded American, his friend, Sgt. Joshua Brennen. Sgt. Guinta leapt forward killing one of the insurgents and wounding the other. He rushed to the aid of his friend and tried to stop the bleeding until aid arrived 30 minutes later. Sadly two soldiers did in the ambush and five others were wounded, Guinta said that the honor was "bittersweet."
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