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 Post subject: The Medal of Honor
PostPosted: January 15th, 2011, 1:27 pm 
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This video is interesting for a couple of reasons-- one, you rarely get to see a video of the awarding of the Medal of Honor.

And SSGT Giunta is the first soldier in over 40 years to have won the MOH for current operations and lived to tell about it. All other receipeints of the award given since the end of the Vietnam War (I think there are 9 of them) were given the award posthumously, having died in combat.

Listen to what this man did to earn the award. Makes Rambo seem like a Cub Scout.

I can't make out all of his ribbons, but in addition to a Purple Heart, Sgt. Giunta is also wearing a Silver Star.

[youtube]R2RWscJM97U[/youtube]

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 Post subject: Re: The Medal of Honor
PostPosted: January 15th, 2011, 1:47 pm 
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Taken from Wikipedia

Quote:
Medal of Honor action

Shortly after nightfall on October 25, 2007, rifle team leader Giunta and the rest of the seven troops of 1st Platoon had just finished a day-long overwatch of 2nd and 3rd Platoon in the valley below. Although dark, there was sufficient moonlight that night vision equipment was not needed. They were returning to Combat Outpost Vimoto and Korengal Outpost. They walked about 10 to 15 feet (3.0–4.6 m) apart through the thin holly forest, along the Gatigal Spur of Honcho Hill at about 2,438 metres (7,999 ft) elevation.

Within 50 to 100 metres (160–330 ft) of leaving their position, 10 to 15 insurgents ambushed the main body of the squad from cover and concealment only about 10 metres (33 ft) away, so near that the Apaches overhead could not provide close air support.[11] The ambushing force was armed with AK-47 assault rifles, 10 Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers and three belt-fed PKM machine guns. They fired an unusually high proportion of tracer rounds. Giunta described it later:

“ There were more bullets in the air than stars in the sky. A wall of bullets at every one at the same time with one crack and then a million other cracks afterwards. They’re above you, in front of you, behind you, below you. They’re hitting in the dirt early. They’re going over your head. Just all over the place. They were close—as close as I’ve ever seen. ”

Ambush on October 25

The ambush was initiated with intense RPG and PKM fire
Giunta's squad used grenades to suppress enemy fireSergeant Joshua Brennan, leader of alpha team and one of Giunta's best friends, was walking point. He was followed by SPC Frank Eckrode, squad leader Erick Gallardo, and then Giunta, who was then a specialist. PFC Kaleb Casey and Garret Clary followed Giunta. A 13-man Headquarters (HQ) unit led by Lt. Brad Winn, including a five-man gun team from weapons squad, along with a nurse who volunteered for the mission, followed immediately behind them. When the Taliban opened fire, Brennan was struck by eight rounds and Eckrode was hit by four rounds.Gallardo attempted to sprint forward, but RPGs exploding among the thin trees and 18 inches (46 cm)-high bushes around him along with machine gun and small arms fire stopped him. Unable to advance, he fell back to join Giunta's bravo team. While backpedaling and firing at the same time, he fell and was in the same moment struck in the helmet by an AK-47 round. An RPG round struck very near Giunta, who was returning fire and directing bravo team from a small defilade. Giunta was puzzled that the lip of the small depression he lay in was not protecting him from rounds cracking by his head, that they appeared to be coming from the north as well as the west.

Giunta saw Gallardo take the bullet to his head and fall. Assuming he'd been shot, Giunta rose and ran through the intense wall of fire to Gallardo's side. As he helped the uninjured sergeant find cover, the ceramic plate in the front of Giunta's protective vest was struck by a bullet. Another round struck the SMAW-D slung over his back. Giunta recognized that the extremely heavy tracer fire was coming not just from his west but from the north as well, a classic L-shaped ambush that threatened to roll over the squad. He ordered Casey and Clary to pull back a few steps to prevent the Taliban from flanking them. Casey was firing his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon cyclic and Clary was firing his M203 grenade launcher as well.

The platoon commander in the HQ unit, Lieutenant Brad Winn, radioed Captain Kearney to advise him that their unit had five wounded men. The squad's medic, Specialist Hugo Mendoza, was among them. He had been shot through the femoral artery at the beginning of the ambush and died. Kearney ordered Second Platoon to assist Winn's platoon, but Second Platoon was in the valley below, some distance away, and had to first cross a river to reach them.

Giunta and Gallardo gathered Casey and Clary. They were pinned down by the concentrated small arms and cyclic machine gun fire from a number of Taliban positions at close range. Less than 15 seconds into the ambush, Giunta and his men acted to disrupt the attack. They alternated throwing volleys of fragmentation grenades towards the Taliban about 15 metres (49 ft) to their west and moving north. Firing Pfc. Casey’s M249, Clarey's M203, and their other weapons, they advanced until they reached Eckrode. Shot twice in one leg and with two other wounds, Eckrode was attempting to unjam his M249 SAW. Gallardo, who later received a Silver Star for his actions, dressed Eckrode's wounds and called for MEDEVAC.

Giunta, seeing that Eckrode was tended to, continued with Pfc. Clary to advance over the exposed, open ground of the ridge in the dark, looking for Brennan. When they could not locate him where they expected to find him, they ran after the retreating Taliban. The anti-Coalition militia covered their rear with effective small arms fire but the Americans ran after them, trying to overtake them. Guinta saw three individuals and then recognized that two of them were Afghans dragging Sgt. Brennan, one by the legs and one by his arms. Giunta pursued them, firing his M4 carbine as he ran, killing one (later identified as Mohammad Tali, considered a high-value target). The second Afghan dropped Brennan and fled. A Spectre AC130 gunship shortly afterward spotted someone carrying Brennan's rucksack and killed him. Giunta said, "I ran through fire to see what was going on with [Brennan] and maybe we could hide behind the same rock and shoot together ... He was still conscious. He was breathing. He was asking for morphine. I said, 'You'll get out and tell your hero stories,' and he was like, 'I will, I will.'"

After reaching Brennan, Giunta pulled him back towards the rest of the squad and cover, comforted him, and examined him for wounds in the dark. Brennan was grievously hurt. The 2nd and 3rd Platoon arrived to reinforce their squad and render aid. Spc. Giunta continued to assist the medic and adjust security while they waited for evacuation.

The ambush had lasted three minutes. Later the next day, Brennan died while in surgery. Gallardo told Giunta later on, "You don't understand . . . but what you did was pretty crazy. We were outnumbered. You stopped the fight. You stopped them from taking a soldier." Eckrode said of Giunta. "For all intents and purposes, with the amount of fire that what was going on in the conflict at the time, he shouldn't be alive."

Awards
Right breast

Italian Military Parachutist Badge
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation w/ one oak leaf cluster
Army Presidential Unit Citation w/ two oak leaf clusters

Left breast

Combat Infantryman Badge
Medal of Honor
Bronze Star Purple Heart
Army Achievement Medal Army Good Conduct Medal National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal w/ two campaign star Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon
Army Service Ribbon Army Overseas Service Ribbon NATO Service Medal (ISAF)
Basic Parachutist Insignia Expert marksmanship badge for rifle
Army Commendation Medal w/ one oak leaf cluster

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 Post subject: Re: The Medal of Honor
PostPosted: April 21st, 2011, 12:39 pm 
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i watched a documentary similar to this on tv. This man deserves the award. I can't really say enough about him, so I hope "He is a hero" will suffice.

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 Post subject: Re: The Medal of Honor
PostPosted: May 4th, 2011, 3:58 pm 
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I heard about this when i was still over seas. Kudos to him he deserved it. Hell his whole damn squad earned it

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