WASHINGTON – An Army staff sergeant who stepped into the line of fire to help a pair of comrades on the Afghan battlefield received the Medal of Honor on Tuesday — the nation's top military award.
President Obama awarded the medal to Salvatore Giunta at a White House ceremony, making the 25-year-old Iowan the first living service member from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars to be so honored. Seven others have received the award posthumously. Giunta was a rifle team leader in eastern Afghanistan's Korengal Valley when his squad was split in two after an ambush by insurgents. While under fire, Giunta pulled a fellow soldier to cover and rescued another who was being dragged away by the enemy.