Medal of Honor moment

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Veterans Day honors those deceased who sacrificed so much, even died, while serving our nation in the military. Just as important, this national holiday recognizes the sacrifices of veterans still living and the men and women on duty at home and abroad.

Today, as we remember all of those who have served and are serving in our armed forces, a national spotlight shines on two Iowans. Both still living. Both outstanding soldiers. One a recipient of the nation's highest military honor and the other soon to be.

George Day is the last Iowan to receive the Medal of Honor but that status is about to change. On Tuesday, Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta will be at the White House, where President Barack Obama will bestow the medal on the former Hiawatha resident and 2003 Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School graduate.

Giunta will become the nation's first living recipient of the Medal of Honor who has served in the Afghanistan conflict. He's also the first living soldier to be so honored since the Vietnam War.

Day told a Gazette reporter he hopes to join Giunta's family at Tuesday's ceremony. How fitting that would be. How incredibly moving the moment. Not only for the two brave soldiers but for all Iowans who have some understanding and appreciation for what they achieved and endured.

Day, 85, a Sioux City native living in Florida, is a veteran of three wars and 30 years of military service. The jet he piloted was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967. Seriously injured, Day was captured, imprisoned and tortured. He escaped, was recaptured and repeatedly gave his captors false information that helped save the lives of fellow aviators. Day is the nation's most decorated officer since another fellow you may have heard of: Gen. Douglass MacArthur.

In October 2007, during his second tour in Afghanistan, Giunta was part of an eight-man squad ambushed at night by a large and heavily armed Taliban force. Guinta charged into the fire, rescuing wounded comrades. He helped kill and drive off attackers, and forced release of a captive U.S. soldier.

“I am most impressed with his courage, integrity and humility,” Day told The Gazette.

So are we.

And so are we thankful for both of these men's remarkable performance in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. They bring honor to other Iowa soldiers and veterans who know what it takes to serve in harm's way. They make all Iowans proud.