AUSA ISSUE 4 SCRIPT PENCILS AND INKS COLORS Chuck Dixon Rick Magyar Peter Pantazis LETTERING COVER PRODUCER AND EDITOR Troy Peteri Rick Magyar Joseph Craig DESIGNER Kevin Irwin Special thanks to Matthew J. Seelinger, Donald P. Wright, Kyle Hatzinger, and Jim McLauchlin. Medal of Honor: Sal Giunta, October 2019. Published by the Association of the United States Army, 2425 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201. President and Chief Executive Officer: GEN Carter F. Ham, USA Ret.; Vice President, Education: LTG Guy C. Swan III, USA Ret.; Vice President, Membership and Meetings: LTG Patricia E. McQuistion, USA Ret.; Vice President, Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier Programs: SMA Kenneth O. Preston, USA Ret. © 2019 Association of the United States Army All rights reserved. The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is the Army’s professional association. If you have a connection with the Army—professionally or personally—AUSA is your resource for educational resources, business opportunities, local and national support, philanthropy initiatives, scholarships, family programs, influential representation, and genuine relationships with a supportive Army community. Become a member today at www.ausa.org/join. The Medal of Honor graphic novel series is brought to you through the generous sponsorship of it was a moonlit night in the korengal valley near the afghanistan/pakistan border, a place renamed by us soldiers ‘the valley of death.’ salsal giuntagiunta sal giunta was he went through basic and working at a subway infantry school at fort sandwich shop in cedar beNNing, georgia. rapids, iowa when he decided to enlist in the army in 2003. giunta was aSSigned to the 173rd airborne brigade. he deployed to and banana pePPers and afghanistan in olives… 2005 and again in 2007. move it! move it! I ain’t tired yet! october 25, 2007. giunta’s rifle squad was returning to their outpost after a day of providing overwatch for operations in the valley. the rest of first platoon followed at a distance. second platoon moved along the valley floor on the far side of a river that separated them from their guardian angels above. the full moon allowed but it also them to move without the exposed them aid of night vision gear. to the eyes of the taliban. heads on a swivel, everyone. furious fire from two as many as fifteen fronts took down the taliban trained fire on soldiers walking point the rifle team from with serious wounds. concealed positions. unable flying air suPPort above, to engage! apache gunships could friendlies and see the claSSic l-shaped un-friendlies in ambush below them. tooclose proximity! under heavy rifle and he saw squad leader rocket attack, giunta gallardo fall with a directed return fire at wound to the head. the enemy positions. contact front! contact left! disregarding his own safety, two rounds struck giunta; giunta ran for his fallen one to his ceramic armor comrade under covering fire chest plate and another from pfcs gaRRett clary bounced oFF a rocket and kaleb casey. launcher straPPed to his back. through a storm of shrapnel the wound through gallardo’s and small arms fire, giunta helmet turned out to be a continued dragging gallardo minor gouge to his scalp. to cover. but there were two more wounded men out there in the dark. rather than stay in place, the the resulting blasts gave forward unit counterattacked them cover to advance. with fragmentation grenades to disrupt the ambush. giunta led the covering fire that allowed gallardo to dreSS the wounds of spc eckrode. there was still one man unaccounted for. fully exposed to enemy breNNan! gun fire, giunta searched we need to find the ground for sgt. breNNan! joshua breNNan--his best friend in the unit. roger that! he saw two taliban dragging giunta killed one of the breNNan away. enemy and wounded the other, who ran oFF. he found breNNan alive you'll get he examined breNNan and and conscious. out and tell found him seriously wounded. your hero stories. we’re goNNa move now, okay? I will… I will… intense fire raked the hill giunta aSSisted medics from as giunta dragged his the second and third injured friend back toward platoons who had aRRived the rest of the platoon. hang on, to lift the ambush. bro. stay with me. breNNan would die of his wounds the next day. a b-1 droPPed a pair the enemy began to of bombs on the scatter, creating a taliban position. gap between them and first platoon. this gave the apache gunships an ac-130 spectre gunship room to operate. caught up with the second of breNNan’s captors. giunta helped organize security for the choPPers coming to evacuate the wounded. with a secured landing they would leave the zone the wounded were valley of death behind. medevaced out. by the time it was finished, every member two days later giunta of first platoon had shrapnel or a bullet learned that he was hole in their gear. being recoMMended for his nations’ highest coMMendation. why me? I just did my job, just like every- one else in the unit. erick gallardo had a on november 16, 2010, giunta diFFerent viewpoint. received the medal of honor with all surviving members of his squad in attendance. you don't understand... what you did was pretty crazy. we were outnumbered. you stoPPed the fight. you stoPPed them from taking one of our own. on july 5, 2017, at 173rd airborne for his selfleSS courage and headquarters in vicenza, italy, sacrifice in confronting the enemy salvatore giunta chose to give his and rescuing his wounded brothers, medal of honor to the brigade staFF sergeant salvatore giunta combat team. will always be remembered. he was the first living recipient of the medal honor since the vietnam war. the end The Medal of Honor graphic novel series is brought to you through the generous sponsorship of For information on the AUSA Book Program and to download copies of the Medal of Honor graphic novels, visit www.ausa.org/moh. 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