A Memorial Day Tribute

(Editor's Note: Thanks to reader Ron Perella for contributing this story.)

On Wednesday, I was fortunate to be invited to a dinner to honor U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta. Giunta is our most recent Medal of Honor recipient. The dinner was hosted by the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Medal of Honor Foundation.

There are currently 81 living recipients of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is bestowed to any member of the United States Armed Forces who distinguishes himself "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."

I was impressed by the sergeant and his dedication to serving his country and helping other countries try to gain the freedom we enjoy. His Medial of Honor was awarded for his bravery and sacrifice in Afghanistan. While wounded himself, he tried to save his army buddies while they were being ambushed by insurgents who were on an assignment to bring the body of an American soldier whom they had just killed back to their encampment.

The details of what he did have been in the newspapers and on TV but the reason I am writing about this hero is because of his attempt to prevent several more of our military from becoming on a list of names to be read off at a Memorial dedication somewhere in our country on Monday morning.

During his interview he explained how he felt about receiving the award while many of the members of his platoon didn’t make it. In fact, one of the men he saved and helped load onto a medivac helicopter while holding his hand died on the way to a field hospital.

“Sal” kept repeating that he did nothing more than the rest of their platoon and as much as he tried to prevent it; several gave their personal and greatest sacrifice for us and the freedom we enjoy.

He knows that the joy he has brought to his family by returning home alive can’t be weighed by the grief those families who have lost their loved ones on battlefields all over the world.

The wounds will heal but the grief will last forever.

As you share the holiday with your families, keep in mind that it is because of those brave men and women who died, so that we may enjoy life.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta, may God bless you for your bravery, and we hold you dear to our hearts for trying to save those who didn’t make it.

Click here to watch the YouTube video of Giunta receiving the Medal of Honor from President Obama.