living MOH recipient Salvatore Giunta

New York Times wrote:In the most dangerous valley of the most rugged corner of eastern Afghanistan, a small rifle team of airborne soldiers fell into a vicious insurgent ambush, a coordinated attack from three sides.

A young Army specialist, Salvatore A. Giunta, took a bullet to the chest but was saved by the heavy plates of his body armor. Shaking off the punch from the insurgent round, he jumped up and pulled two wounded soldiers to safety before grabbing hand grenades and running up the trail to where his squad mates had been on foot patrol.

There, he saw a chilling image: Two insurgents hauling one of his American comrades into the forest. Specialist Giunta hurled his grenades and emptied the clip in his automatic rifle, forcing the insurgents to drop the wounded soldier. Still taking fire, he provided cover and comfort to his badly wounded teammate until help arrived.