Medal of Honor

Every morning I get online and go to my homepage, Yahoo.  Once there I pick through there some 40 stories and read the ones that look interesting to myself.  Usually it’s mindless gossip, financial blurbs, personality discourses, relationship advice, and mind-numbing sports stories.  Sometimes, I come across something really special.  For the first time, today, I came across two stories that really touched me.  They were about two completely different things but both were more inspiring than anything I’ve ever read on the internet.

Meet Sal Giunta,  He's the first living person to recieve the Medal of Honor since Vietnam.

They couldn't have chosen a better person.  Giunta is humble and courageos.  He told reporters, "I'm not at peace with that at all.  And coming and talking about it and people wanting to shake my hand because of it, it hurts me, because it's not what I want. And to be with so many people doing so much stuff and then to be singled out--and put forward. I mean, everyone did something" (about recieving the award.)

A film was produced called The Sal Giunta Story (which is shown on the link).  At first I was surprised at how much video footage there was of the platoon.  It made me wonder if there was a lot of video footage of the war (and the government was keeping it under wraps) or if this was an odd occurance (that just happened to be filming the man who would recieve a Medal of Honor the day after).  As I continued to watch, my mind left these ideas behind and focused on his story.

This is the story of a man who represents thousands of other soldiers out there right now.  These things happen every day.  Our men are fighting for freedom and liberty of more than just a nation.  Giunta said everything in the last monologue of his interview in the video.  I typed it up and posted it below.

“It sounds great in theory, it sounds really awesome in theory but it’s , I mean what’s it worth?

Brennan, Andoza?  No.  Is it worth, no.  I don’t know what its worth.  It’s worth a lot, I don’t wanna like, I don’t wanna down play it at all.  It is the Medal of Honor.   Its the greatest, given to just some real tough guys out there doing s**t for other people that isn’t necessary but they do it and that’s not me.  I didn’t do s**t.

            I did what I did because in the scheme of this whole of painting the picture of that ambush that was just my brushstroke.  It’s not above and beyond, that picture wouldn’t have been complete without that brushstroke and it was my brushstroke to take.  I didn’t take the biggest brushstroke and it wasn’t the most important brushstroke. It was just one that completed the picture.

            This is the nation’s highest honor.  Awesome.  And it’s given to me, ok.  But just as much as me, every single person that I’ve been with deserves to wear it.  Deserves to…  they are just as much of me as I am.  Out of all these people that I’ve been with, out of two combat tours I’m sitting here in this studio with you right now and battle company second of the 5 O third the 173^rd is out there doing it again, just being brave.

            My name in lights doesn’t look that good but if I can bring everyone else’s name with me then cool.  I think that looks pretty cool with everyone else’s name there.”