Giunta, family have mixed emotions about Medal of Honor award

Unlike in ceremonies for other prestigious awards - the Heisman, Pulitzer or Oscar, for example - there will be no joy today when Hiawatha soldier Sal Giunta accepts the nation's highest military honor from President Barack Obama.

The heroism for which Staff Sgt. Giunta is being recognized occurred during a battle in which two of his closest friends were killed.

The deaths of Sgt. Joshua Brennan, 22, of Ontario, Ore., and Spc. Hugo Mendoza, 29, of Glendale, Ariz., will ensure that today's ceremony is solemn and bittersweet, according to Giunta's parents, Steven and Rosemary Giunta of Hiawatha, who will be at the White House along with their son's wife Jennifer, a Dubuque native, at 1 p.m. for the presentation.

The Giuntas said they are thrilled to be attending the ceremony, proud of their son's accomplishments and grateful their son, unlike all previous Medal of Honor recipients who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is alive to accept the award in person.

More coverage

• TODAY - Watch live broadcast coverage on KCRG.com and KCRG-TV9 of the White House ceremony, in which Giunta, accompanied by wife Jenny and his parents, is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama.
• More coverage at http://thegazette.com/medal-of-honor/

The Giuntas said they also are looking forward to meeting some of the men from their son's squad, as well as members of Brennan's and Mendoza's families.

“He was very close to Josh and Hugo. He hung out with them and talked about them. It was easy to see that the closeness was absolutely needed to support each other in difficult circumstances,” Rosemary Giunta, 52, said.

Being singled out for the medal “is hard for me to stomach,” Giunta told The Gazette shortly after Obama announced the award on Sept. 10. “I wasn't there alone. I was doing my job, just like everyone else in the squad.”

Like every other member of his eight-man squad, Giunta was hit by enemy fire during the Taliban ambush on Oct. 25, 2007. His armored vest stopped one round and a weapon slung on his back stopped another.

“His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon's ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands,” the White House said.

In his public comments since the announcement of the medal, Giunta has repeatedly discounted his own valor, instead reflecting credit on the soldiers in his unit and the typical American soldier.

In his words and deeds, he has helped to elevate the status of the American soldier and to underscore the training and esprit de corps that saved his squad from destruction in a surprise attack by a numerically superior foe, according to Col. George Day, 85. of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., the last Iowan to receive the Medal of Honor.

The hearts of a combat soldier's parents feel their child's struggles differently, according to the Giuntas.

“A mother's heart is more oriented toward the child's safety and well being,” Rosemary said.

“Not that I didn't feel that too, but I had a peaceful heart about his being in battle because of his training,” Steve Giunta, 51, said.

Staff Sgt. Giunta acknowledged that his heroic action in the 2007 battle was not the result of a conscious decision. “It was training kicking in,” he said.

While most Americans appreciate the grave danger of combat, Rosemary Giunta said she thinks they don't always understand the routine hardships that combat troops endure - “backbreaking loads, hostile weather and terrain, bad food, no food, frozen water.”

Americans do, however, appreciate and respect soldiers' contributions and sacrifices in defense of their freedom and security, the Giuntas said.

Steve Giunta said today's recognition will be a great gift to his son.

“I believe he will rise to his new responsibilities, just as he did as a soldier. I can honestly say I have full trust in his decisions. I am completely at peace with that.”

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